ABC launches Master Practitioner Certificate in Creative Placemaking

Arts Build Communities has just launched a new initiative to help urban planners, public affairs professionals, and elected and appointed officials build sustainable creative communities and economies.

The Master Practitioner Certificate in Creative Placemaking program combines learning in creative placemaking skills with client and business development.  Creative placemaking is an emerging field focused on community and economic development through the arts.

The year-long program is entirely online, but learners will be able to meet their classmates in person at least twice a year.  Program faculty include top experts in the field, including Tom Borrup, Juana Guzman and Rhonda Phillips.

Classes begin March 2012, and registration for the program will begin by December 1, 2011.

To earn a Master Practitioner Certificate, learners must pass all six Deep Learning courses, complete at least eight of the ten client/business development sessions, and prepare a reflective paper that demonstrates how they have applied what they learned to a creative placemaking project.

This is a continuing education program and currently is not eligible for graduate credit.  However, it offers more on the subject of creative placemaking than any other training or professional development program.

Arts Build Communities provides expertise on how arts connect economic and community development.  ABC supports creative sector professionals, economic development professionals, elected and appointed public officials, and urban planners -- as well as the communities they serve.  We conduct research, provide training and coaching, and engage in thought leadership.


Arts Build Communities is a center at Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.  In addition to the Master Practitioner in Creative Placemaking program, ABC provides these programs and services:

• Community coaching in creative placemaking
• New Jersey Creative Vitality Index
• ABC NJ-ArtiFacts

For more information, please contact ABC Director Leonardo Vazquez by email or 732-932-3822, x711

Arts Build Communities is a co-sponsored project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.  It is supported in part by the Council and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

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Please help create a toolkit for building, growing and sustaining creative communities

Please help us create a toolkit for public affairs and cultural professionals who want to build, grow or sustain creative communities.  The toolkit will help us define actions for Sustainable Jersey certification.  It will also be the most comprehensive toolkit of its kind.

On July 27, 2011 starting at 10 am, at the Bloustein School, we’ll gather to do online research to find examples and stories from communities around the country.  We'll look at how they plan and use existing resources, programming and outreach and awareness to support creative communities.  We'll also explore the different ways communities connect the arts with the creative economy and environmentalism.

Everybody who participates will be asked to do guided research on one of 26 topics.  Not a "researcher"? Don't worry.  We'll give you training and guidance, as well as lend you a computer (if you don't have one available to bring.)

You can stay for as long or as little as you wish.  Join us in the morning or in the afternoon -- anytime is a good time to build a creative placemaking tookit!  We'll start at 10 and do as much as we can through the end of the day.

If you can join us, please send a note to Swena Gulati at swena@rutgers.edu.  Please also let us know what times you will be available, and whether you can bring your own laptop.

The school is at 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, New Jersey.  It is a 5-8 minute walk from the train station, and there's street parking and a parking garage nearby.

If you can't make it on July 27, but would like to help out, please Swena know.  There will probably be follow up work to be done.

Hope you can make it.  Yea, it's geeky, but we'll make it fun.

Questions?  Feel free to email Arts Build Communities Director Leonardo Vazquez at vazquezl@rutgers.edu  or call 732-932-3822, x711.

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Work of Arts Build Communities mentioned in Trenton Times

The Trenton Times recently ran a story that mentioned the work of Arts Build Communities in developing a cultural tourism plan in the city.  ABC Director Leonardo Vazquez was also interviewed for the article.

Read the article: Trenton arts community seeks collaboration to drive economic growth in the city

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ABC offers communities coaching in creative placemaking

Neighborhoods, towns, or regions interested in building, growing or sustaining creative communities can get help from Rutgers University's Arts Build Communities.

ABC is offering communities in and around New Jersey four months of coaching in creative placemaking.  This coaching will help community leaders who want to do such things as attract more artists to their communities, make their areas more welcoming for the arts, promote cultural tourism, or take advantage of the growing creative economy.

ABC will provide experts in arts planning, community development, or economic development to community teams.  Each team can have up to 10 people and must have at least one elected official and one working artist.  Teams will meet with their coaches five times over a 16-week period.

Coaches will challenge, support and guide community teams as they explore their creative placemaking goals.  Teams will come away from the experience being able to make smarter, more cost-effective and sustainable choices.

The initiative begins in May 2011 and continues into 2012.  Communities can choose any of three coaching periods -- May through September 2011, October 2011 through February 2012, or March through July 2012.

To learn more about community coaching or to apply, please read about the ABC Cultural Planning Leadership Program community coaching initiative.

Arts Build Communities helps leaders of communities and cultural organizations make better and more sustainable choices in connecting the arts and community and economic development.  It is produced by the Professional Development Institute of Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

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About the ABC Cultural Planning Leadership community coaching initiative

The ABC Community Coaching initiative is designed to help your community (neighborhood, town, county or region) make more sustainable and cost-effective decisions in promoting community and economic development through the arts.

In other words, this program is to help communities become more livable, sustainable or prosperous through the arts -- not just to help the arts.

For example, the kind of initiatives we will support have a direct benefit to a community. We might help a community help an arts organization create a strategic plan that helps support arts education in the community. But if the project is to create strategic plan only to help the arts organization thrive, we would not accept that project in this initiative.

Every client community will get a coach, who will meet with the community team five times in each coaching period. Current coaching periods are May through September 2011, October 2011 through February 2012, and March through July 2012

Apply now for the program, or read on

The coach will help the community team explore its goals, challenge the team to critically examine its assumptions and objectives, and support team members as they explore their strategies.

At the end of the coaching period, the community team will have a well-developed set of strategies for creative placemaking that they can begin to implement in 2012.

Example: The team from Anytown, NJ wants to create a comprehensive vision for the arts in Anytown.  In four months, they are able to reach out to enough residents, businesses and stakeholders to create a draft vision.  By the end of the coaching session, they will have a draft vision statement that could be presented to the public, and (assuming they did the right types and amount of outreach), adopted by the Anytown Town Council.   Or, the team isn’t able to reach out to stakeholders in four months because there are too many divisions and tensions in the town about the arts.  In this case, the team will work on how to engage stakeholders and build consensus. At the end of the coaching session, the team will have an action plan for building a vision. 

The coach will:

•  Help the community team make good, cost-effective and sustainable decisions for the right reasons.
  
•  Help team members build their capacity to ask good, tough questions about creative placemaking and to make difficult decisions.    
  
•  Provide useful information about creative placemaking.   
  
•  Guide team members as they analyze their own community’s opportunities and constraints for building, growing or sustaining creative placemaking.

But the coach will not:

• Conduct interviews or primary research in the community. However, the coach will review your work to help you determine if you have enough information to make effective decisions.
  
• Advocate or lobby on your behalf with funders, policymakers, or elected officials. However, the coach can provide you with advice on how to persuade these decisionmakers.    
  
• Tell you what to do. The coach's role is to help you build your capacity to make better decisions.

Apply now for the program, or read on


Program logistics and questions and answers

·         Communities can be as small as a neighborhood or as large as a multi-county region. Any community within a 2 1/2-hour drive of Newark, New Jersey is eligible to participate.

·        Each community team can have as many as 10 members. At least one has to be a working artist, and one more a current elected official. Preference will go to teams that are larger, more diverse, and have more than one elected official.

·        The coach will meet with the community team in the community at least once, and in the community or by teleconference at least four more times. The meeting times will be those that are mutually convenient for the coach and the community team. Each coaching session will last up to two hours.

·        A majority of team members must be present at every coaching session. Not everyone has to be in every session, but at least one elected official and artist has to be in at least two of the coaching sessions. Team members in a coaching session are responsible for sharing information with the rest of the team.

·        Every team will get a private, online virtual office for their project, and training in the use of the virtual office.

·        PDI must receive at least one-third of the payment (government-sponsored purchase order acceptable) before the first coaching session, and the remainder within one month of the program start.

  If you have any questions, please contact: Deborah Schulze, PDI Program Manager schulze@eden.rutgers.edu 732-932-3822, x635

Questions and answers about the coaching initiative:

·         Do I need to have attended the conference in February to apply?

No. Any community within a 2 1/2 hour drive of Newark, NJ is welcome to apply.

·         Can I apply as an individual, or as a single organization?

Sorry, no. To move from idea to action more quickly, it is important to have representatives from throughout the community.

·         Who should lead our community team?

It doesn’t matter who from the team is the lead, as long as that person is willing to be a contact for the entire team.

·         How should we choose team members?

Try to make your team as diverse as possible. The team should reflect a wide variety of interests, including those of elected officials, neighborhood residents, businesses and other stakeholders in the community. That kind of team is more likely to get more information and reach out more quickly to the people who are needed to support creative placemaking.

ABC staff can help you determine whom to invite to the team, and how.

·         Who should be the elected official on our team? Why is it important to have an elected official on the team?

It doesn’t matter, as long as the person will remain an elected official throughout the time of the coaching session. It is important to have an elected official who can serve as a liaison between the team and the governing body of the community.

·         What kind of artist should be on the team? Why is it important to have an artist on the team?

The artist should be a professional artist – that is, someone whose livelihood depends on creating and selling art, performances, literature, etc. It is important to have a working artist on the team so team members can better understand business and industry issues involving the arts.

·         Why should we consider the coaching program if we can afford to hire a consultant?

This program can save you money by helping you get some of the knowledge that you would otherwise pay a consultant to get. It will also help you know the right questions to ask so you get the most value from your spending on consultants.

Apply now for the program

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First ABC Cultural Planning Leadership conference a great success

Nearly 120 people from more than 50 communities in and around New Jersey participated in the first Arts Build Communities Cultural Planning Leadership conference.   The event  drew artists, cultural professionals, community and economic development professionals, elected and appointed officials, urban planners and other placebuilders.

Keynote speaker Gary Steuer

In the morning, they learned about creative placemaking success stories in Philadelphia and New Jersey.  In the afternoon, they shared their own insights and experiences in peer learning sessions facilitated by members of the Arts Build Communities Council.  This may be the first time in New Jersey that so many people from so many different fields came together to discuss how to build, grow and sustain creative communities.  Creative communities are those where the arts,  artists and cultural groups are valued and supported by community leaders and stakeholders.

The all-day conference was held February 11 at at Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy in New Brunswick.  Arts Build Communities, a joint initiative of the Professional Development Institute and The Leading Institute at the Bloustein School, helps leaders of cultural organizations and communities make more cost-effective choices in connecting the arts and community and economic development.  To this end, ABC conducts practical research, offers advice and technical assistance to communities and arts organizations, and provides continuing education, such as the conference.  ABC is a co-sponsored project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and is also supported by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Later, participants heard from a wide variety of experts, including:

• Tom Gilmour, Director of Commerce, Asbury Park
• Ben Goldman, City Without Walls, Newark
• Pat Hutchinson, Chair, Belmar Arts Council, Belmar
• James Kennedy, Executive Director, Rahway Arts District, and former Mayor, City of Rahway
• Gail Levinson, Chair, Valley Arts and Executive Director, Arts Unbound, Orange

Bloustein Dean James Hughes, who welcomed the audience, described the economic impacts of the arts in New Jersey and its importance to the well-being of the state's communities.  The keynote speaker, Gary Steuer, Philadelphia's Chief Cultural Officer, talked about the value of the arts in revitalizing Philadelphia's economy -- not just in the city's core business and tourism areas but also in its diverse neighborhoods.  He also talked about creative ways that funds and resources were used to connect arts with community and economic development in the city.  These include using Community Development Block Grant funds, which are typically used for social services and housing, for workforce development and community development connected to the arts.  Also, he mentioned a recycling center that provided space for artists who work on the area of found art.

The conference engaged so many people that lunch had to be served late because participants were busy asking questions and sharing ideas in the morning sessions.

Participants in the Building Creative Communities session learning about the success of Belmar

After lunch, Arts Build Communities Director Leonardo Vazquez talked about the community coaching program.  This is a new initiative, running from May to September 2011, in which up to 10 communities will receive coaching in creative placemaking.

In the afternoon, participants went to various workshops to share ideas and talk about opportunities and challenges for building, growing and sustaining creative communities.

Conference participants also received a lengthy resource guide, with information on top grantmakers who support the arts in New Jersey as well as success stories from within the state and around the country.  The resource guide was developed by PDI Program Manager Deborah Schulze, who also organized the conference.  Jane Wolterding, a candidate in Bloustein's Master of City and Regional Planning program, assisted in developing the conference.

Participants in the Growing Creative Communities conference learned from one another

Many people volunteered several hours of their time to help make the conference a success.

• Frank Banisch, Frank Banisch and Associates
• Joseph Barris, Monmouth County Planning Board
• Tom Behrens, Rutgers University- Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
• Morris Bellamy, Independent cultural planning and community development professional
• Brittany Bendix, Rutgers University- Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
• Kristen Crandell , Rutgers University- Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
• Sharanya Durvasula, Rutgers University – Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
• Mary Eileen Fouratt, Monmouth County Planning Board
• Suzanne Ishee, Broadway Center Stage
• Stuart Koperweis,  Downtown New Jersey
• Stuart Meck, Rutgers University – Center for Planning Practice,  Rutgers University
• Larissa S. Louis,   Rutgers University- Mason Gross School of the Arts
• Ann Marie Miller, ArtPride New Jersey
• Karen Pinzolo, Arts Plan New Jersey
• Deborah Schulze, Rutgers University - Professional Development Institute
• Stan Slachetka, T&M Associates
• Terri Sterling, Independent arts professional
• Kimi Wei,  Independent artist
• Jessica Whang, Rutgers University- Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

The conference is the first of a two-part program.  In the second part, up to 10 communities will be selected to receive coaching from experts in creative placemaking as they work on strategies to enhance their community's sustainability, well-being and prosperity through the arts.  More information on that program will be available soon.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Photo credits: Tom Behrens and Karyn Olsen,  Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

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Guess who's coming to the ABC Cultural Planning Leadership conference?

More than 90 people from towns and organizations throughout New Jersey are scheduled to attend the ABC Cultural Planning Leadership Conference on Friday, February 11 at Rutgers University.

They include elected and appointed officials from several New Jersey towns, executives and directors of cultural organizations, funders, and artists.  They come from communities throughout New Jersey, including:

Asbury Park, Atlantic City, Atlantic Highlands

Barnegat, Basking Ridge,  Bedminster,
Blackwood, Branchburg, Burlington

Clarkstown, Chatham, Cranford, Cranbury

Englewood, Freehold

Hackensack, Harrison, Highland Park,
Hoboken, Holmdel, Hyattsville (MD),

Marlboro, Mays Landing, Millville, Montclair, Morristown

Neptune, Newark, New Brunswick, Newton

Oceanville, Orange 

Paterson, Perth Amboy, Philadelphia, Princeton, 

Rahway, Somerset, Somerville, South Orange

Toms River, Trenton, Union City, 

West Long Branch, West Orange, Woodbridge,

Seats are still available.  Learn about or register for the conference.

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Discover Jersey Arts communities at the ABC Cultural Planning conference

New Jersey cities, towns and other communities are invited to highlight their arts and cultural activities at the Arts Build Communities Cultural Planning Leadership conference.  The conference will be February 11, 9 to 4 pm, at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

Any community with at least one representative at the conference will have the chance to provide brochures and other handouts, or have tabletop displays to promote their community.  Communities will get a lot of visibility: The exhibits will be in the same area that participants get their meals and walk through to go from session to session.  Because of space limitations, each community will share a table with another community.

Space is limited and is provided on a first-come, first-served basis to those registered for the conference.

This opportunity is eligible only to workshop registrants and is for the purpose of promoting arts activities in communities.  For example, an arts organization based in Vineland is welcome to exhibit information about Vineland and the arts and cultural organizations in the community.  In other words, the purpose is to promote the community, not a single organization.

Registrants from the same community should work together on a display.  To reserve a space and find out if other members of your community are registered for the conference, please contact Conference Manager Deborah Schulze at schulze@eden.rutgers.edu or 732-932-3822, x635

As of January 26, cultural and policy professionals from the following communities are registered for the conference:

Atlantic Highlands, Barnegat, Basking Ridge, Blackwood, Branchburg, Chatham, Cranbury, Englewood, Freehold, Hoboken, Holmdel, Millville, Montclair, New Brunswick, Newark, Oceanville, Perth Amboy Princeton, Rahway, Toms River, West Long Branch, West Orange, and Woodbridge,

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More speakers announced for ABC Cultural Planning Leadership Program

A number of people involved in creative placemaking in New Jersey will be speaking and facilitating sessions at the upcoming Arts Build Communities Cultural Planning Leadership conference, February 11 at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

Here are the scheduled speakers and facilitators:

• Gary Steuer, Chief Cultural Officer and Director, Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, City of Philadelphia
• Joseph Barris, Supervising Planner, Monmouth County Planning Board
• Morris Bellamy, Former Manager, Arts and Culture and Former Manager, Community Development, City of Melbourne, Australia
• Mary Eileen Fouratt, Executive Director, Monmouth County Arts Council
• Tom Gilmour, Director of Commerce, Asbury Park
• Ben Goldman, Executive Director, City Without Walls, Newark
• Pat Hutchinson, Chair, Belmar Arts Council, Belmar
• James Kennedy, Executive Director, Rahway Arts District and former Mayor, Rahway
• Stuart Koperweis, President, Making Public-Private Partnerships Simple! and former President, Jersey City Economic Development Corporation, Jersey City
• Taneshia Nash Laird, Executive Director, Trenton Downtown Association
• Gail Levinson, Chair, Valley Arts, Orange
• Marianne Lods, Executive Director, Glasstown Arts District and Millville Redevelopment Corporation
• Leonardo Vazquez, Director, Arts Build Communities, Rutgers University

For more information, or to register for the conference, please visit: http://policy.rutgers.edu/PDI/abc/2011_ABC_Leadership_Program_Flyer[1].pdf

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Gary Steuer, Philadelphia's Chief Cultural Officer, to headline Arts Build Communities Cultural Planning Conference

Arts Build Communities is pleased to announce that Gary P. Steuer, Philadelphia's Chief Cultural Officer and Director of the city's Office of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming ABC Cultural Planning Leadership Conference.

The conference, at Rutgers University in New Brunswick on February 11, from 9 am to 4 pm, will focus on building, growing and sustaining creative communities.  Participants will learn from the success stories of community and cultural leaders, and explore ideas for their own communities in workshops.

Gary Steuer has headed Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy since 2008. The Office’s charge is increasing the public’s access to and awareness of the arts, arts education and cultural opportunities and activities, coordinating the efforts of City agencies and cultural institutions, and promoting public and private investment in the creative economy sector.

As Chief Cultural Officer, he serves as a member of the Mayor’s Cabinet, advising the Mayor and all City agencies on cultural and creative economy issues. Before joining the Nutter administration, Mr. Steuer was the Vice President for Private-Sector Affairs at Americans for the Arts, and had the additional title of Executive Director of the Art and Business Council of Americans for the Arts. He was responsible for leading efforts to stimulate more private sector support for the arts, including promoting partnerships between the arts and business sectors. Mr. Steuer served for ten years as the President and CEO of the Arts & Business Council Inc. before and during its merger with Americans for the Arts. Earlier in his career he was a theatre producer, both in the commercial and nonprofit theatre, served as a program director for the New York State Council on the Arts, and was an aide to a United States Congressman. He has written, lectured and taught extensively on arts management and policy issues and has served on many boards of directors and funding and advisory panels for local, statewide and national organizations. 

Learn more about or register for the conference


To read Gary Steuer's blog, go to http://artscultureandcreativeeconomy.blogspot.com

Arts Build Communities (ABC) helps community and cultural leaders make better decisions in connecting the arts and community and economic development.   ABC is produced by the Professional Development Institute of Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

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