Urban Placemaking and the Impact of Arts and Cultural Programming on Neighborhood and Cultural Communities

Tuesday, October 14, 3:00pm – 5:30pm

Organized by Jonathon Glus, CEO, Houston Arts Alliance.

Moderated by Jonathon Glus, CEO, Houston Arts Alliance. Presented by Pat Jasper, Director of Folklife + Traditional Arts, Houston Arts Alliance; Carroll Parrott Blue, Research Professor, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, University of Houston; and Raj Mankad, Editor, Cite.

With generous amounts of funding being directed towards creative placemaking initiatives even as the concept itself is evolving, what are the surprises and unanticipated results?

This offsite session will consider two urban placemaking initiatives in Houston with a moderated panel discussion as well as a tour of the East End’s Transported & Renewed sites. Southeast Houston Transformation Alliance is located in one of the city’s historic African American neighborhoods. With an Our Town grant, University of Houston academic and community activist Carroll Parrott Blue undertook the initiative to focus attention on health initiatives, urban connectivity, and empowerment through new alliances among artists, planners, government, and community.

In Houston’s East End, a largely working class Latino neighborhood, artists, arts-savvy civic partners, developers, and community activists are working to find a new normal respectful of the area’s past but inclusive of its current residents. With a second Our Town grant, Houston Arts Alliance folklorist Pat Jasper is undertaking the Transported & Renewed initiative in this neighborhood. It is a public engagement endeavor aimed at animating this area of the city with community-based and contemporary artworks, as well as parades, processions, and marches intended to attract and welcome all participants. This session will begin at Box13 Artspace and will be followed by the East End sites tour.