In our ongoing monthly series, ArtPlace asked Northeast Shores Executive Director, Brian A. Friedman, what will our work around placemaking look like after the grant period expires in the middle of 2013. Here are excerpts from that conversation.
Will this work live beyond
the grant period?
We definitely see this work
continuing on after the initial grant period as a ten-year effort to showcase
how vacant space is not in and of itself a liability for an urban neighborhood.
Rather, these spaces are an opportunity to work with neighborhood stakeholders
in reimagining the community we would like it to be. Already, we are seeing
this work changing the way people perceive our neighborhood, and we anticipate that
it will remain one of our top priorities after our ArtPlace grant period ends.
How will the work you've
begun be sustained after your ArtPlace grant?
Our ArtPlace work has been based
on a community plan that lays out strategies for how to transform vacant parcels,
houses and storefronts into new arts-based community assets. ArtPlace funding
is providing us with the opportunity to demonstrate how we can implement this
plan. By having several completed projects, we will have a portfolio of work
that we can share with foundations, civic leaders and individual donors. This
significantly strengthens our ability to sustain funding for the initiative
over the coming decade. ArtPlace funding
also is giving us validation and a specific reason to circle back with elected
officials and to share with them our revitalization model. As city, county and
state development dollars become available, we will have government officials
who are better informed not just of our ArtPlace portfolio but of our larger
success in neighborhood transformation.
How has this work affected
the work you will do beyond the grant period?
ArtPlace funding came at a pivotal
time in the neighborhood’s revitalization. The funding has helped catalyze a
lot of activity all at once, creating a momentum that will likely result in
more private investment. That means that our organization will be able to target
its dollars toward particular properties (that would be most difficult for the
private market to take on) and particular programming that will have the
greatest benefit for our neighborhood rather than having to sustain all
ArtPlace activities.
ArtPlace funding has allowed Northeast
Shores to take a more holistic approach to serving artists and helping to rebuild
our community. Through listening to the desires of artists, community residents
and partners who have a stake in the neighborhood, we were able to broaden our
approach to making neighborhood improvements. These improvements have included home
and storefront rehabilitation, community gardens, street art projects, and community
events. More residents have taken a more active lead in helping design a
thriving and inviting community. Such local engagement and leadership are
critical to supporting long-term community development.
