Cultural Policy

July 2014, 46 pages. Ingenuity, 11 E. Hubbard, Suite 200, Chicago, Illinois, 60611. (312) 583-7459. http://www.ingenuity-inc.org.

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For several years my brother, Alex Laing, principal clarinetist for the Phoenix Symphony, and I, senior program officer at the Heinz Endowments, have been having often intense conversations, where my brother probed the thinking behind Heinz Endowments’ grantmaking that placed an emphasis on African and African diasporic culture, distressed neighborhoods, and teaching artists. Heinz Endowments, having taken the advice of Anasa Troutman of the consulting firm Lion and Butterfly, has begun to call this work transformative arts education.

When the Network of Ensemble Theaters (NET) set out to produce MicroFest USA: Revitalize, Reconnect, Renew, we wanted to look at the positive impact that art and artists were having on communities around the country. Our intent was twofold: to acknowledge and advance the pioneering and current work of ensemble theaters committed to community-based practice and positive community change (placemaking), and to foster mutual learning with a wider spectrum of artists, cultural workers, and community partners also contributing to community well-being and social change (placemakers).

Success Looks Different Now: Design and Cultural Vitality in Lower Manhattan is a fluently argued report published in June 2013 by the Architectural League of New York about cultural infrastructure needs in Lower Manhattan.

February 2014, pages. Tucson Pima Arts Council, The Pioneer Building, 100 N. Stone Avenue, Suite 303, Tucson, AZ 85701, (520) 624-0595, www.tucsonpimaartscouncil.org

December 2013, 28 pages. The Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy, Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, Lewis Hall 210, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0626, (213) 740-9492, http://cppp.usc.edu

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Peter H. Pennekamp with Anne Focke. 2013, 34 pages, Kettering Foundation, Dayton, Ohio, Washington, D.C., and New York, kettering.org.

About four years ago I attended an extraordinary meeting in Philadelphia. Susan Nelson, principal of Technical Development Corporation (TDC), was presenting the draft of Getting Beyond Breakeven to the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and many other stakeholders associated with the work.

Creative placemaking is electrifying communities large and small around the country. Mayors, public agencies, and arts organizations are finding each other and committing to new initiatives. That’s a wonderful thing, whether or not their proposals are funded by national initiatives such as the National Endowment for the Arts’ Our Town program or ArtPlace.