ABC Director to provide advice on arts-based economic development in suburbs and small towns

By Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Please join Arts Build Communities at "Creative Place-Making: Realizing the Potential of Arts and Culture in Community and Economic Development," a public event organized and hosted by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission  Friday, June 29, from 9 am to 2 pm in its offices in Philadelphia.

You can learn from a number of experts in creative placemaking in the morning and share ideas with your colleagues in the afternoon. Invited speakers include: Jane Golden, Executive Director of the Mural Arts Program in Philadelphia; Brian O'Leary, Section Chief of County Planning, Montgomery County (PA) Planning Commission; Nancy DeLucia, Director of Policy & Community Engagement, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance; and me (Leonardo Vazquez), the Director of Arts Build Communities of Rutgers University.

My presentation is "Arts-Based Economic Development Strategies in Non-Traditional Areas: What We Can Do Now."  I'm going to focus on what small towns and suburbs can do to get the benefits of the creative economy.  In the afternoon, I will help facilitate in the peer exchange.

To get updates, information on how to register, and directions, please visit the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission site.  The commission is located at 190 N. Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA  19106.

Please also plan to stay in Philly after the event.  It's a great city to visit, especially if you enjoy the arts.

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Happy 100th birthday, Santa Fe, New Mexico

By Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Yeah, we know that officially Santa Fe, NM is more than 400 years old.  But the Santa Fe that most people know -- the home of what's known in design as the Santa Fe Style -- dates from the first part of the 20th century.

As we reported in "How planning turned a dusty village into an international icon," the Santa Fe that celebrates adobe houses, Native American art, and Spanish/Mexican/Pueblo inspired food started in the early 1900s.   In 1912, these ideas became a foundation for the city's policies to this day.

The New Mexico Museum of Art exemplifies Santa Fe Style

By doing this, Santa Fe's leaders started the modern creative placemaking movement.  Of course, it wasn't the first time that city leaders used art to enhance their community.  That had been going on since the birth of the municipal art movement in the mid-19th century, which morphed into the  City Beautiful at the turn of the century .

But Santa Fe was different.  "Although originating within the nationwide City Beautiful movement, Santa Fe's plan was innovative in that it merged the movement's emphasis on order and refinement with the revival of a local style,"  say Janet Chapman and Karen Barrie in Kenneth Milton Chapman: A Life Dedicated to Indian Arts and Artists. 

In other words, rather than just promote the high arts and build romanticized replicas of ancient Greek and Roman communities, leaders in Santa Fe saw the existing landscapes, cultures and diversity in the place as assets.

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Atlantic Highlands has AHAA momentum

By Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

There is a new initiative to connect the arts and business communities in the Jersey Shore town of Atlantic Highlands, NJ.  It’s called the Atlantic Highlands Arts Alliance (AHAA) and it’s one of the first products coming out of a Community Coaching initiative guided by Arts Build Communities.

AHAA is hosting “Live on First” Fridays from June 1 to October 5, 2012.  The first scheduled “Live on First” Fridays will begin at 3:00pm in Veterans Park at the Farmers’ Market, ending at 6 pm as the Market closes.  The “Live on First” Fridays will then continue after 6 pm in the Courtyard at the Blue Bay Inn, 51 First Ave, until 9 pm.  

Atlantic Highlands creative placemaking team strategizing

Atlantic Highlands, a quaint Victorian town, with a strong and growing Arts Council, attracts local residents and visitors to its numerous events and programs throughout the year, highlighting many of the talented local artists.  “Live on First” Fridays is another great opportunity to feel the “arts” in Atlantic Highlands, with events that can be enjoyed by families. 

Chuck Lero, President of the Atlantic Highlands Chamber of Commerce, advises individuals to go to the Chamber website at www.atlantichighlands.org for a schedule of musical groups and activities for the Friday events.  Chuck also says that many local businesses will stay open later than usual to accommodate visitors and residents in our town.

AHAA is a collaboration among businesses, artists, social organizations and local government to enhance the thriving Atlantic Highlands Arts scene. The AH Arts Alliance was formed in 2011 by a community creative placemaking team being coached by Arts Build Communities.

The team includes a diverse group of Atlantic Highlands residents, businesspeople and other stakeholders, including  Mr. Lero, Robert O’Connor of the Atlantic Highlands Arts Council, Mayor Fred Rast, and Dido Krikorian of the Blue Bay Inn.  They started working together to see how the arts could help enhance their downtown and build better relationships among residents and different groups within Atlantic Highlands.  Arts Build Communities coaches helped the team build its capacity to develop, prioritize and implement strategies to meet its goals.

For more information about Live on First, please contact the Chamber office at 732 872-8711, or visit www.atlantichighlands.org.   Emails can be sent to info@AtlanticHighlands.org

Community coaching is an innovative program that provides municipalities, counties and regions with an Arts Build Communities coach who helps teams move toward their creative placemaking goals more effectively.  As of May 2012, ABC has worked or is working with Atlantic Highlands, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, and coastal Monmouth County in New Jersey.   Any community within 2 1/2 hours of Newark, NJ is eligible to receive community coaching

Learn more about community coaching.  Please feel free to contact ABC Director Leonardo Vazquez by email or at  848-932-2747

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Arts Build Communities receives ongoing support from Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

Arts Build Communities is honored to receive a $25,000 grant from the prestigious Geraldine R.d Dodge Foundation.  The ongoing support of the grant is being used to enhance our programs that serve communities and creative placemakers.  Those programs include community coaching, the Master Practitioner Certificate in Creative Placemaking, thought leadership, New Jersey Creative Vitality Index, and leading the Sustainable Jersey Arts and Culture Task Force.  ABC is also involved in several creative placemaking and community service initiatives through partnerships with Creative New Jersey and Rutgers University's The Collaborative: A Center for Community-Based Learning, Service, and Public Scholarship

Christopher J. Daggett, President and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation said this about Arts Build Communities:  "We are impressed by how you have built a statewide and national reputation in the few years since [its] inception.  The mix of academic training, on the ground consulting, and engagement of municipal leaders in a new conversation around the arts and creativity has made ABC a strong partner in revitalizing communities across New Jersey."

This is the third year that the Dodge Foundation has supported Arts Build Communities.  This grant is the largest that ABC has received from the foundation.

Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Director, Arts Build Communities

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New Brunswick Cultural Center to host reception for New Brunswick artists and creative sector workers

The New Brunswick Cultural Center, which is working with Arts Build Communities to develop a new set of creative place making strategies in the city of New Brunswick (NJ), is hosting Arts Reception 2012 for artists and creative sector workers who live or work in the city.  The event will be May 30, 2012, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Crossroads Theater, 7 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick.

Crossroads Theater in New Brunswick. 

Painters, sculptors, musicians, actors, filmmakers, designers and other artists who live or work in the city are welcome to attend.  Also invited are people who work in creative sector organizations, such as galleries, theaters, art schools or arts councils in New Brunswick, or New Brunswick residents who work in creative sector organizations outside the city.

This is the first of what is expected to be an annual.  gathering of creative people in New Brunswick.  Participants will  also learn about the upcoming launch of Arts New Brunswick, a community-guided process to create a new vision and plan for arts development in New Brunswick.  The Arts New Brunswick initiative is being led by a partnership of the New Brunswick Cultural Center and Arts Build Communities of Rutgers University.

New Brunswick Cultural Center will also host a community meeting on July 11, which will be open to all people who live or work in New Brunswick. Ben Cameron,  Program Director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Foundaiton,  will give a keynote address that  highlights the importance of the arts in the lives of individuals and communities.

To RSVP for the May 30^th reception, please send an email by Thursday, May 24 to newbrunswickarts@gmail.com

Photo credit: http://nb.rutgers.edu/student-experience/beyond-campus

 Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Director, Arts Build Communities 

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What to do to do community coaching

When you're ready to do creative placemaking, community coaching from Arts Build Communities can help.  Through this program, an ABC coach will help your team build its ability to pursue a creative placemaking initiative.  Successful teams come away from the program more knowledgeable and better positioned to address challenges and pursue opportunities for creative placemaking in their communities.

Any community within 2 1/2 hours of Newark, NJ is welcome to apply for the next available community coaching session, from September 2012 to March 2013. (Application deadline is September 1) See the application here.

It all starts with having the right group of people who share the same goals and a willingness to work together.  Here are some tips on building that team.

1. Be prepared to let everyone you want on the team to know what's involved.  The team meets once every three to four weeks for six months. Meetings last between one and three hours (usually about two). No one has to attend every meeting, but everyone is expected to participate in most meetings. This is a workgroup, not an "advisory group."  Members are expected to contribute time and energy to building the strategy they want to see for their community.  No one should do everything; everyone should do something.

2. If there's an arts council (or similar group) in the community, get at least one high-level person from that group on the team. While it might be tempting to make all the 10 members of your team from the arts council, you should try to make the team as diverse as possible.  So try to have no more than three from the arts council.  If there's no arts council, start by finding a local working artist who has an interest in making your community a better place to live, work, do business, play or pray in, or even just a better place to visit.

3. Find and get influential people from the community on the team.  Think about the organizations or associations that are well-known or do a lot in the community.  In many communities, the local chamber of commerce, historic society, large sports groups, and PTA are the top movers and shakers in the community.  But if you're not sure, ask your friends or neighbors.  When someone or some group is influential, other people in the community know.

4. Get a friendly elected official to get on board the team. It's critical that the team have the ear of at least one elected official in the community.  ABC may consider working with a team that doesn't have an elected official if there is someone on the team who has direct access to elected officials -- but this would be for a rare circumstance.

5. Meet with the team (or as many members as you have) to decide what goal you want to pursue. You don't need to get into details -- that's what community coaching is for.   If you can't get everybody in the same place at the same time, try a conference call or even an email discussion.

Once you have the team and a goal, you'll be ready for community coaching.

Need more advice or help?  No problem.  Please contact Leonardo Vazquez, ABC Director by email or at 848-932-2747

Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Director, Arts Build Communities

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Thanks and good luck, Max Azzarello

Maxwell Azzarello, who joined Arts Build Communities as a student worker in September 2011 and took on more and more challenging tasks, has joined Nestio, a New York City-based real estate listing.

Max provided important research and administrative support as four units at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy were consolidated into Arts Build Communities, and it moved to becoming a university-wide initiative of Rutgers University.  He conducted research on economic trends in the creative sector, and played a pivotal set of roles in the 2012 Create A Place conference.

Upon completing his Master in City and Regional Planning in May, Max will set off to work as an administrator for Nestio, a Manhattan-based real estate listing start-up, where he will be serving clients and applying social media and other Web 2.0 technologies to the field. Though he will miss ABC, Max looks forward to reading literature on the beach and playing with his new kitten, Kyle.


Thanks for your service, Max and good luck with the new job.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Director, Arts Build Communities

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ABC strives to make creative placemaking part of New Jersey state policy

New Jersey is working on a new State Plan to guide development and redevelopment throughout the state.  In early 2012, a draft was circulated for public comment.  While it had many good elements, the Arts Build Communities Board was concerned that there was no mention of the arts or creative placemaking in the plan. 

The State Plan is designed to guide state policies and government actions.  If the arts can be recognized as an important asset for New Jersey in the State Plan, it will help artists, arts organizations, and communities that value the arts.

In March, ABC board members drafted a set of recommendations to the Office for Planning Advocacy, which is developing the plan.  We recommended that the state:

  *Commit to enhancing cultural assets in New Jersey as part of its long-term vision for the state
  *Recognize the wide range of value that arts brings to New Jersey -- in particular the widespread economic benefit of the arts
   *Identify opportunities for cultivating arts and culture as part of its efforts to increase tourism.

Read the full text of ABC's letter to the Office for Planning Advocacy

Arts Build Communities provides expertise in how the arts connect economic and community development.  We provide thought leadership on creative placemaking and promote creative placemaking as a cost-effective approach for community, cultural and economic development.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Director, Arts Build Communities 

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