ABC accepting only two more applications for community coaching in Fall 2012

By Leonardo Vazquez

Due to increased demand for Arts Build Communities' services, we will be accepting only two more communities as clients for community coaching from September 2012 to March 2013.  New clients will be accepted on a first-come basis.  Any community not selected for community coaching in the Fall will be considered for the next session, beginning March 2013.

In Atlantic Highlands, community coaching helped build an alliance among the arts and business communities

Community coaching builds the capacity of community leaders to engage in sustainable, cost-effective creative placemaking.  Through a six-month period, an ABC coach challenges and supports a diverse community team as it develops a set of creative placemaking strategies.  Coaches help clients go beyond just doing projects.  Clients learn how they can better integrate arts-based activities with cultural, community and economic development.  This helps projects have broader and deeper impacts on the quality of life and opportunities for prosperity in their communities.

ABC has worked with community teams from Atlantic Highlands, coastal Monmouth County, New Brunswick and Perth Amboy.  Community coaching has helped build new alliances and generated new ideas in these communities.

In New Brunswick, community coaching is helping to build a community of arts and creative professionals

There is a flat fee of $2,500 per community for coaching that begins in September.  (The fee will go up in 2013.) Eligible communities can be neighborhoods, municipalities, counties or regional communities (two or more municipalities or counties.) Eligible communities must be within 2 hours (by car) from Newark, NJ. Learn more.

Need advice on how to get started?  Contact ABC Director Leonardo Vazquez by email or at 848-932-2747

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ABC gets $10,000 grant from New Jersey State Council on the Arts

By Leonardo Vazquez

Arts Build Communities has been funded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for a fourth year.  ABC, which is considered a co-sponsored project of the Council, received a $10,000 grant.

"The Council's commitment to this project is strong..." Executive Director Nicholas Paleologos wrote in his letter to ABC,  "and we greatly appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with [you] in carrying it out."

The Council notified ABC of the grant after its annual meeting in Trenton on July 31.

The grant represents an increase of nearly $2,700 over ABC's grant in 2011.  The Council was working with the same amount of money it had last year.  Being one of the few organizations to receive an increase in funding during difficult times is an honor.

The grant will be used to support ABC's programming and services to New Jersey communities and creative placemakers, including community coaching, the annual creative placemaking conference, and research on New Jersey's creative economy.

Learn more about Arts Build Communities

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With ABC's help, Long Beach Island gets NEA grant for creative placemaking

By Leonardo Vazquez

The Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences got a $25,000 Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to develop a creative placemaking plan for the island on coastal Ocean County.  Arts Build Communities helped the Foundation in its proposal by developing an outline for a planning strategy.  The Foundation, Long Beach Township, ABC and other partners expect to work together to put together the plan, which will be designed to impact the entire island.

Work on the plan is expected to begin in September and continue into 2013.  To develop the plan, the partners will reach out to residents and artists, explore existing conditions on the island, and identify and address opportunities and challenges for strategies that will improve the climate for creativity, enhance quality of life in the community, and promote greater prosperity on the island.

Long Beach Island is one of two communities in New Jersey to receive an Our Town grant.  The other is Rahway, in Union County.

Our Town is a federally-funded program to support creative placemaking, which works to build stronger communities and local economies through the arts.

Learn more about:

*Long Beach Island Foundation

*Long Beach Township

*National Endowment for the Arts

*Arts Build Communities

Map credits:  Wikipedia entry on Long Beach Island

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Arts New Brunswick kickoff event a success

By Jane Wolterding and Deborah Schulze

More than 150 people attended the official kickoff for Arts New Brunswick on July 11, 2012, at the Crossroads Theatre in downtown New Brunswick. The event attracted a wide variety of people from artists and creative professionals to municipal staff, elected officials, students, nonprofit professionals, educators and engaged residents. Open to the public, this community meeting served as a venue for discussing the role artists and the arts should play in economic, cultural and community development of New Brunswick.

After a half hour of networking and mingling among participants, the meeting began with a series of introductions from key figures involved in arts development in New Brunswick. 


Norma Kaplan, Executive Director of New Brunswick Cultural Center, and Jeffrey Vega, Executive Director of New Brunswick Tomorrow, made opening remarks and introductions, followed by an address from Mayor James Cahill of the City of New Brunswick.  The mayor emphasized the city’s support for the arts. 

Keynote speaker, Ben Cameron, Program Director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, gave an inspiring speech about the importance of the arts in social change and economic development. He set the tone for the rest of the event by emphasizing the power of arts to affect the social fabric of communities, as well as their economies, and the importance of partnerships and ‘elevated conversations’ to achieving long-standing impacts. His speech was greeted with a standing ovation from the audience. 

Then Leonardo Vazquez, Director of Arts Build Communities, took the stage to introduce the Arts New Brunswick planning initiative and lead a discussion on:

*How New Brunswick could become a better place for artists and the arts, and

*How the arts can help make New Brunswick a better place.

These questions elicited a  valuable feedback from audience members. Throughout the course of the meeting, several issues were raised including: the need for affordable housing and venues for artists; a centralized and well-maintained database of artists and events; free arts and cultural programming, performances, and events; and consistent and cohesive promotion and marketing to increase awareness among city residents, as well as to reach a wider audience of visitors. A common thread emerged tying all of these issues together: the desire of the community to establish the foundations and framework necessary for meaningful and inclusive collaboration between the creative sector and local residents, businesses, neighborhoods and government.

In response to how the arts can help New Brunswick, the answers were overwhelmingly positive. The arts were described as being a vital tool in building understanding across diverse groups of people; providing an ”experience” in today’s increasingly digitally-based world; providing a way for people of all ages to express themselves; and working directly in the community to come up with exciting solutions to social and economic problems.

Photos of guests by Zeledon Photography; photographs of speakers by Deborah Schulze

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Arts Build Communities team expanded to enhance creative placemaking

By Leonardo Vazquez

Arts Build Communities has added three new team members to provide more and better service to creative placemakers and the communities they serve.

Deborah Schulze has joined as Program Manager and Jane Wolterding as Program Associate.  Thanks to a partnership with Rutgers' Collaborative, A Center for Community-Based Learning, Service and Public Scholarship, its Principal Secretary, Stella Baldev, is providing some time to help with administrative matters.

Stella Baldevcame to Rutgers in 1988 after working more than ten years in the private sector. She was an Assistant Recorder at University College, before joining Rutgers College in 1992. In 2007, when the four undergraduate divisions merged, Stella joined Civic Engagement and Service Education Partnerships Program where she currently serves as Principal Secretary.  Both Arts Build Communities and The Collaborative are part of the office of Isabel Nazario, Associate Vice President for Academic and Public Partnerships in the Arts and Humanities.

Deborah Schulze has returned to Arts Build Communities, where she worked from 2009 to 2011.  She has worked in the fields of urban planning, public policy and adult education.  She has a master's degree in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and is pursuing a Master of Education degree at Montclair State University.

Jane Wolterding is a recent graduate Rutgers’ Edward J. Bloustein School, where she received a Master in City and Regional Planning. Originally from Albany, New York, she studied Geography and Art at Colgate University. Jane is passionate about the intersection of arts and planning, especially the role that the arts can play in the strengthening communities. Most recently, as Planning Intern at Looney Ricks Kiss, Inc., she aided in the creation of design guidelines and a redevelopment plan for a portion of Nassau Street in Princeton, New Jersey. She also managed the implementation of a pilot Vacant Lot Project initiative during her time at Grand Street Community Arts, which resulted in the reuse and transformation of two vacant lots into community arts and education spaces.  Jane is working with Arts Build Communities as a Program Associate for the summer.

Arts Build Communities provides expertise in connecting arts to economic and community development.  Learn more about Arts Build Communities

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Artists come to New Brunswick event to build community; community invited to help build Arts New Brunswick

By Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

New Brunswick has three regional theaters, a renowned museum, and a nationally-ranked art school.  But until May 30, as far as we know, it never had an event that brought together more than 100 artists, creative professionals and their supporters.  On July 11, there will be another arts-related event in New Brunswick, and this time, it is open to the public.

First, about the May 30 event.   Artists and professionals who work in the arts were all at Crossroads Theater as part of a prequel to the launching of Arts New Brunswick.  The initiative, which officially kicks off in July, is designed to build a community-led set of strategies for creative placemaking throughout the city.  Arts New Brunswick is produced through a partnership between the New Brunswick Cultural Center and Rutgers University’s Arts Build Communities.  Arts Build Communities is a Rutgers University-wide initiative under the auspices of the Office of the Associate Vice President for Academic and Public Partnerships in the Arts and Humanities.  Arts New Brunswick is done as an extended and expanded version of ABC’s community coaching program.  The arts reception is the first of what organizers hope will be an annual event.

Before engaging the general public, NBCC and ABC wanted to begin building a community of artists and creative sector professionals in the city.  Artists who live or work in New Brunswick, and those who work for arts organizations in the city, were invited to an informal reception. 

The New Brunswick Jazz Project brought in The Lee Hogan Quartet to provide music, and Elijah’s Promise provided catering.  New Brunswick Cultural Center Board Chair William Hagaman welcomed the audience,  then Cultural Center Executive Director Norma Kaplan and ABC Director Leonardo Vazquez explained the initiative.

Then it was back to eating, drinking, networking, and listening to jazz for the guests.   Organizers hope it is the start of a long and fruitful relationship among New Brunswick arts organizations and creative sector professionals.

Now, about July 11.  This is the official kickoff to Arts New Brunswick.  The special guest speaker will be Ben Cameron, Program Director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.  Other speakers will talk about the initiative, and there will be time at the end of the event for you to share your thoughts.

The kickoff event is at 6:30 pm, July 11 at the Crossroads Theater, 7 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick. (get directions) Please RSVP by July 6 at newbrunswickarts@gmail.com

Photo credit: Allison Brown, AV Brown Photography

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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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Create A Place: Arts Build Communities conference is a success

By Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP
Arts Build Communities Director


About 150 people at the intersection of arts and public affairs came to the Create A Place: Arts Build Communities conference on April 4 for good conversation and ideas.  They were mayors and foundation program officers, artists and urban planners, economic development professionals and nonprofit executives.  Most came from New Jersey, but some from Connecticut and New York, and three from Louisiana -- including the state's Assistant Secretary of State for culture and tourism.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker addressing full room at Create A Place conference. Photo by Rewa Marathe

Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Photo by Rewa Marathe

In the morning, they listened to an inspiring speech by Newark Mayor Cory Booker and an informative keynote presentation by ArtPlace Director Carol Coletta.

"Art is not an afterthought, it's not dessert or icing on a cake..." Mayor Booker said. "We have to elevate art for it is how we express our individuality, authenticity, [our] divinity."*

In her remarks, Coletta said, "we are out to prove to the nonbelievers – the people who don’t fund art, maybe don’t even care about art -- that creative placemaking makes a difference to the success of communities."

Carol Coletta speaking at conference.

Then they went to get insights from successful creative placemakers in and around New Jersey about starting, planning and sustaining creative placemaking initiatives.  In the afternoon, participants provided their own insights and advice through peer coaching sessions.

The conference was so good that dozens of people stayed at the afternoon reception after the conference had ended.   Besides new ideas and perhaps some new friendships, participants also took home a creative placemaking resource guide with information about trends in New Jersey's creative sector.  The guide included, among other things, an analysis of trends in each county in New Jersey over the past decade, and Creative Placemaking: Integrating community, cultural and economic development. 




This was the second annual creative placemaking conference by Arts Build Communities, and the first time it was offered at the Paul Robeson Campus Center at Rutgers University's Newark campus.  The 2012 conference was bigger and better -- more people and more sessions -- than last year's.  It was covered by the Star-Ledger, New Jersey's largest newspaper; and GraphicDesign.com.  Americans for the Arts, the nation's premiere arts advocacy organization, noted the conference to their constituents.

Create A Place was developed by a great team of ABC Board members, staff from the Office of the Associate Vice President for Academic and Public Partnerships in the Arts and Humanities. Leading the effort were ABC Board members Stuart Koperweis, Karen Pinzolo and Suzanne Ishee, with support from Max Azzarello and Leonardo Vazquez from the ABC staff; as well as Isabel Nazario, Rutgers University's Associate Vice President for Academic and Public Partnerships in the Arts and Humanities and from her office, Richard Rodriguez, Vilma Perez and Glenda Daniel.  A number of students from Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and from the New Jersey Institute of Technology also provided several hours of assistance before and during the conference.  They are: Jarrod Grim, Emily Manz, David Koch, Tiffany Pryce, Nicola Mammes, Jane Wolterding, Jeffy Vorasitthanukul, Peter Besada, Carolyn Worstell, Osman Beretey, and Rewa Marathe.

The work of Arts Build Communities is made possible in part by the generous support of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/ Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Learn more about the work of Arts Build Communities.

*Thanks to Susan Schear of Artisin, LLC for taking and providing notes from Mayor Booker's presentation.  


Photos by Leonardo Vazquez, unless otherwise noted.

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Please register for Create A Place by March 30 to get discounted parking, resource guide CD

To be eligible for discounted parking ($8 instead of $14) at the Create A Place conference, please register by noon on Friday, March 30.  Those who register by that time will also receive the 2012 creative placemaking resource guide at the conference  (others will have to wait to receive their copy by email.)

The discounted parking will work at Rutgers Newark Parking Deck II (also called Washington Deck II.  It is at 166 Washington Street (across from the Golden Dome Gymnasium.)  If you have pre-paid for parking, you will receive a parking voucher at the conference.

We are doing this because we have until March 30 to submit requests to Rutgers' parking authority for discounted parking, and we have to make final catering arrangements around the same time.  Thank you for your consideration.

If you have any questions about registration, please contact Richard Rodriguez by email.

Click here for a flyer you can download and share.

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New Jersey communities can exhibit their creative placemaking work at Create A Place -- free

Let's show 'em how we do creative placemaking in New Jersey.

Arts Build Communities is making up to six exhibit tables available for municipalities, counties or regions that want to exhibit their work on arts and community or economic development.  There is no cost to the exhibitor, but:

--The tables are available on a first requested, first served basis
--Each community can get only one table free
--The request must come from a community representative -- elected or appointed public official or representative of local or county arts agency, who is already registered for the conference.
-- Exhibitors are responsible for setting up their tables by 7:45 am April 4 and cleaning out their tables by no later than 4:30 pm

For more information, or to request a table, please contact Richard Rodriguez by email.

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Arts Build Communities' work in New Brunswick spotlighted in new video

This video describes the work being done by Arts Build Communities and the New Brunswick Cultural Center through a community-university partnership grant provided by Rutgers University.

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Look who's talking at the Arts Build Communities conference

Arts Build Communities just published the complete list of speakers, panelists and moderators for the upcoming conference Create A Place: Arts Build Communities.  The list includes a wide variety of elected and appointed public officials, artists and cultural organization leaders, economic and community development professionals, and urban planners and real estate professionals.

Headlining the list are Newark (NJ) Mayor Cory A. Booker and ArtPlace Director Carol Coletta.

See the list of speakers, panelists and moderators.

The conference is April 4, 8 to 4 pm eastern, at Rutgers University Newark.  Learn more about or register for the conference

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How the Create A Place conference can benefit you

You're probably busy and have a lot of demands on your time. Will going to Create A Place: Arts Build Communities, the annual creative placemaking conference April 4 at Rutgers University in Newark, be worth your time? We think so, and here's why:

You'll get good, useful knowledge about how to connect arts with community and economic development. Some of what you hear may inspire you; some may challenge your thinking. We're going to ask good questions of speakers, and invite you to ask about what you want to know throughout the conference.

You can get knowledge that others won't have. The complimentary resource guide will have updated numbers about the economic health of the creative sector in New Jersey. And Create A Place encourages the kind of meaningful conversations that can help you get the answers you're seeking. There will be experts on starting, planning and implementing creative placemaking initiatives. Whether you want to learn how to get the ball rolling, or to finally get that arts center built, Create A Place is the place to go.      

You can share your own experiences, which can help you think about your work in  new ways.   Our afternoon peer coaching sessions are designed to help participants learn from one another - and by doing so, help themselves.        

You can make good contacts. There are going to be mayors, funders, nonprofit executives and other decision makers at the conference. It will be a good-sized conference for networking: big enough to help you make a wide variety of connections, and small enough to be manageable.         

If you come with a group from your community, you might leave with a head start for successful creative placemaking. Meet and greet your colleagues on the ride to the conference, go to separate sessions, share what you learned throughout the day, and come up with strategies on the ride back. 

You can eat well. With registration, you'll get breakfast, lunch and an afternoon reception.   

If you're an urban planner, you may be able to get up to 4.5 AICP CM credits. That's how many we requested of the American Institute of Certified Planners.         

You can enjoy yourself.  Nobody hates a dull event more than us at Arts Build Communities. Last year's conference was both fun and informative.  This year, we're working to make it even better.       

You can be part of a professional community of creative placemakers. Creative placemaking is a new field that integrates community, cultural and economic development. Create A Place is the only event in and around New Jersey that brings such a wide variety of professionals together to explore creative placemaking.

Want to learn more or register? Click here.   

Click here for a flyer that you can download and share.

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