Create A Place: Arts Build Communities

The second annual Arts Build Communities creative placemaking conference

April 4, 2012, 8 am to 4 pm, Paul Robeson Center, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ

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Create A Place: Arts Build Communities is the second annual statewide conference aimed at building, advancing and sustaining creative communities and art centered economies.  It is the only major event in New Jersey that brings together urban planners and public affairs professionals along with artists, cultural leaders, elected and appointed officials, as well as community and economic development experts to share ideas  and best practices in the emerging field of creative placemaking. 

Create A Place focuses on six key issues in creative placemaking:

*Developing leadership for action
*Measuring your community’s capacity for creative placemaking
*Building strategies for action
*Providing direct and indirect support for the arts
*Building creative communities
*Building creative economies

This ground-breaking conference features panel discussions in which experts share their experiences and peer coaching sessions that allow participants to learn from one another.

The Honorable Cory A. Booker, Mayor of the City of Newark (NJ) will be the special guest speaker. Carol Coletta, Director of  ArtPlace, who is known for developing cities and creative communities, will be the keynote speaker at the conference. ArtPlace, is a new national funding initiative to accelerate creative placemaking across the U.S.   Prior to joining ArtPlace, Carol was president and CEO of CEOs for Cities, a national network of urban leaders building and sustaining the next generation of great American cities. There are more than a dozen other speakers and moderators. They include public officials, artists and cultural organization leaders, urban planners and community and economic development professionals.

The $75 registration fee includes breakfast, lunch and an after-conference reception. There is also an option for discounted parking at the Rutgers University parking garage closest to the Robeson Center. Register now

Create A Place has been submitted for 4.5 AICP Certification Maintenance credits.

Create A Place is produced by Arts Build Communities, a Rutgers University center that provides expertise on how arts connect economic and community development. Arts Build Communities is at the forefront of a new field focused on improving quality of life and standards of living in communities while building healthier environments for creativity to flourish.

 ABC is at the forefront of the new field of creative placemaking.  The National Endowment for the Arts describes this as an approach in which “partners from public, private, nonprofit and community sectors strategically shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood, town, city or region around arts and cultural activities. Creative placemaking animates public and private spaces, rejuvenates structures and streetscapes, improves local business viability and public safety, and brings diverse people together to celebrate, inspire and be inspired.” (Creative Placemaking, pg. 3) 

ABC is directed by national award-winning urban planner Leonardo Vazquez and led by a board that reflects the fields of the arts, urban planning, community development and economic development.  The conference is part of a wide-ranging portfolio of services providedby ABC staff, including community coaching, a creative placemaking certificate program, thought leadership and practical research.

The conference and other ABC programs are made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Rutgers Office of the Associate Vice President for Academic and Public Partnerships in the Arts and Humanities.

If you would like to get updates on the conference, please join our mailing list. 

Questions? Comments?  Please contact ABC Director Leonardo Vazquez at 848-932-2747 or vazquezl@rutgers.edu

This conference is produced in partnership with the American Planning Association New Jersey Chapter