The D.C. Office of Planning (OP) has awarded a $75,000 “ArtPlace Arts and Culture Temporium” grant to Partners for Livable Communities (Partners) to develop and manage temporiums in underutilized spaces in the Deanwood neighborhood, one of the District’s earliest African American communities.
Under this grant, Partners will develop and manage DeanwoodxDesign, a project that showcases the rich arts, cultural, historical, and green space assets of Deanwood and Ward 7 through a community-wide, intergenerational, and collaborative effort. This project engages artists and a diverse network of Deanwood institutions and stakeholders to cultivate community pride, showcase and create great art, and invigorate the creative economy. Collaborating partners include:
- Cultural Tourism DC
- Deanwood Heights Main Street
- DC Office of Planning
- East River Family Strengthening Collaborative
- George Washington Univeristy’s Event Management Program
- The Fishing School
- IDEA Public Charter School
- Life Pieces To Masterpieces
- Word Beats and Life
- WeACT Radio
During a four-month period beginning this summer, DeanwoodxDesign (pronounced as Deanwood by Design) will feature workshops, exhibitions, and cultural events that reflect the theme of “design” from four unique aspects: community, sustainability, multimedia, and lifestyle. This effort will illustrate how this neighborhood has historically developed and continues to nurture its creative community. (Read more about the historic neighborhood.) Ongoing and special promotion events will provide more than 15 hours per weekend of free activities that are open to the public. A call for artists will be announced in late May.
The project objectives include:
- Stimulate community building and promote neighborhoods through creative placemaking by seeding temporary arts, cultural, retail, entertainment, recreation, education, or demonstration activities in vacant spaces
- Support creative entrepreneurs and provide residents with access to unique arts and cultural activities and experiences
- Showcase the District of Columbia’s creative economy and innovative energy, by building partnerships among private property owners, city agencies, and creative stakeholders
- Highlight the long-term tenanting and creative use opportunities along corridors
- Help realize strategies identified through neighborhood planning efforts, the Creative DC Action Agenda, the Retail Action Strategy, and other citywide programs like Great Streets
Funding for this project was made possible by the D.C. Office of Planning and ArtPlace, an unprecedented new private-public collaboration, www.artplaceamerica.org. ArtPlace is a collaboration of 11 of the nation’s top foundations, eight federal agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, and six of the nation’s largest banks. The new foundation invests in art and culture at the heart of a portfolio of integrated strategies that can drive vibrancy and diversity so powerful that it transforms communities.
For more information, please contact Jessica Scheuerman,
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Terms:Announcements, Arts & Culture, CBC Best Practice, CBC Event, Community Building, Community Engagement, Creative Economy, Culture Builds Communities, Design, Multicultural, Neighborhood Revitalization, Placemaking, Public Art, Public-Private Partnerships, Urban, Washington, DC
Rarely does the subject of water inspire poetic phrases or passionate dedications. While we may occasionally recognize its importance, this appreciation is usually offset by the size of the water bill at the end of the month. Regardless, I’m going to ask an odd question: have you ever celebrated water? If I got a single “yes” I would be very surprised, for the simple reason that there are few formalized occasions for the public to appreciate water. This year, a multitude of civic and non-profit organizations have teamed up to give individuals the opportunity to celebrate their “love for water” in the annual Rachel Carson Sense of Wonder Contest.
 2012 marks the 40th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act. Although it was originally enacted in 1948, the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972 to regulate discharges of water pollutants and monitoring water quality standards in the United States. The Annual Rachel Carson Sense of Wonder Contest is honoring this anniversary and renaming itself the “Sense of Water Contest” for 2012.
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Terms:Aging, Aging in Place, AIP Best Practice, Arts & Culture, Community Building, Community Engagement, Diversity, Environment, Families, Intergenerational, Youth
Investors in America Award
Janet W. Thompson is honored for her expertise in community development, engagement, and reinvestment in nonprofit and financial management. As Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, community consultant to Morgan Stanley, and former Corporate Directorof Community Reinvestment at Citibank, her spirit and leadership has propelled public and private community engagement for more than 35 years.
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Founders Award for Civic Leadership
James O. Gibson is honored for his leading advocacy in urban revitalization, community development, and race relations. His demonstrated commitment to social equity for more than three decades on issues ranging from civil rights to economic opportunity has provided critical progress for our country’s social fabric.
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Entrepreneurial American Leadership Award
Robert Pohlman is honored for his foundational advocacy as the Executive Director of the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development. His influential support of the Housing Production Trust Fund and leadership has provided critical construction, rehabilitation, and acquisition of affordable housing units in Washington, D.C. during the past 10 years.
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Investors in America Award
Ron Grzywinski is honored for his support of community reinvestment as co-founder of ShoreBank Corporation, a bank holding company that provided capital, credit, and management assistance to minority-owned businesses and families. His passion to require banks to meet the credit needs of their local communities became a catalyst of social change and renewal in America.
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In the recent online poll, conducted by Outdoor Magazine, Chattanooga was recently voted by readers as the top choice in the “Best Town Ever” contest of 2011.
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Whether you are engaged in a conversation, changing the song on your iPod, or “trying to make a light” suddenly in the midst and wonder of city excitement you can feel like you are in the middle of a real life Frogger game. Next time you have the uncomfortable realization of immediate danger in the middle of a busy intersection, put yourself in the running shoes of an older adult.
Take a moment to envision what it would be like to go about your daily activities with a more gentle and careful step to get an understanding of the true accessibility of a city for people of all ages.
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"So, what is the point of public art? ” This question, posted online by Voice of San Diego's Kelly Bennett, came in response to the city of San Diego’s recent pull from public art funding; after its release on Twitter the post quickly turned viral. Responses to the post ranged from views of public art as superfluous and its place in the public sphere as luxury, to public art as necessary for community well-being, safety, and cohesiveness.
Many of us believe in the arts as integral to the livable community— but when measuring out our federal dollars, the arts are usually the first to go. But what if we could prove that in addition to instilling neighborhood pride and value in our public space, public art could actually serve as a deterrent for crime and violence?
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Terms:2010, Arts & Culture, Community Building, Community Development, Community Engagement, Creative Economy, Downtown Development, Economic Development, Multicultural, Neighborhood Revitalization, Placemaking, Public Art, San Diego, CA, Urban
What can you do to improve your community? There are many directions one can take but often times it requires a bit of foresight and planning. For many older adults, something as enjoyable and simple as volunteering can be a perfect use of time, but for many the willingness to volunteer can be met with physical and economic hurdles. Realizing there is much potential in their community members, the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center of Florida utilized an Aging in Place Initiative “Jumpstart the Conversation" Grant to engage more older adults in the local arts and culture community.
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Bridge Builders Award
For the Initiative’s innovative approach to creating sustainable cities through the cross-disciplinary engagement of scholars, community leaders, and project partners.
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“When you start with everything, you start with nothing,” Beth Osborne, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Policy at the US Department of Transportation (DOT), stated of the importance to narrow the focus of a livability agenda in order to be effective. At Partners’ recent forum on September 22, “ Building Livable Communities: Creating a Common Agenda”, many discussed livability’s ubiquitous nature on both macro and micro levels. The panelists spoke of the need for access and affordability to the many factors that serve as part of a system to create livable communities: transportation, housing, and education, to name a few. But when does a boundless agenda for livability, incorporating all relatable factors that serve to shape a livable community, become unproductive? In brief, what is the ‘tipping point’ for livability?
Oakland, CA
A Senior Theatre Company that uses theatre and storytelling to bridge generation gaps and break down stereotypes about aging.
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President of Partners for Livable Communities, Robert McNulty, was quoted in The Wall Street Journal article “ Artists vs. Blight ,” discussing artist occupations of blighted homes and neighborhoods in transitioning communities such as Cleveland and Detroit.
Terms:2010, Arts & Culture, Cleveland, OH, Community Building, Community Development, Creative Economy, Detroit, MI, Economic Development, Housing, Neighborhood Revitalization, Partners Press, Placemaking, Urban, Visioning & Planning
Nonprofit urban café creates opportunities for local residents in arts and culture and most importantly, in employment.
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Terms:Arts & Culture, Business, Community Building, Community Engagement, Diversity, Education, Health & Wellness, Jobs, Neighborhood Revitalization, Social Capital, St. Louis, MO, Workforce Development, Youth
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