Ms. Barbara Schaffer Bacon

Incorporating the Arts in Community Planning (from Arts Watch)

Posted by Ms. Barbara Schaffer Bacon, Oct 21, 2009 1 comment


Ms. Barbara Schaffer Bacon

We spend a great deal of time working to make the case for the power and value of the arts to communities.  That is why it was great to learn that the American Planning Association (APA) is looking at the role of arts in planning. As part of a collaborative project with the RMC Corporation and with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, APA's Planning and Community Health Research Center is developing a series of briefing papers to illustrate how planners use arts and culture strategies to achieve economic, social, environmental, and community goals. The briefing papers will provide a comprehensive definition and overview of the arts, culture, and creativity field and explore four topic areas: community engagement and participation; community pride; economic development; and cultural values, heritage, and history.

This framework will help support the work of policymakers, planners, and economic development and community development professionals, as well as professionals in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, arts, culture, and creativity in the creation and development of healthy communities.

Currently, The APA is conducting a survey to determine where and how planners use artistic, cultural or creative strategies (such as festivals, painting, storytelling, photography, electronic media, formal and informal arts exhibits, performances, etc.) in the planning process and to achieve social, economic, environmental, and community goals. They are looking for cases and examples to illustrate these strategies.

Encourage your community planners to visit http://tinyurl.com/artsculture-planning and take the survey. Survey results will help inform practicing planners, policy makers, economic development and community development professionals, and urban designers about the role of arts, culture, and creativity in planning practice.  The contact at APA is Kimberley Hodgson, who can be reached at [email protected].

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1 responses for Incorporating the Arts in Community Planning (from Arts Watch)

Comments

October 21, 2009 at 8:41 pm

This is terrific, but the response deadline given on the survey was last July.

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