Arts Build Communities offers three major services for the creative community: Information and knowledge resources, continuing education, and technical assistance

Information and knowledge resources (Click here to view the Knowledge Center)

Arts Build Communities is in developing an online knowledge center and annual Cultural Vitality Index.

• The Cultural Vitality Index (CVI) will measure indicators of cultural development and planning in the state's 566 municipalities and 21 counties. We will also produce an annual report assessing cultural development trends and conditions, as well as identifying model practices in New Jersey. Policymakers and planners will be able to use the Index and report to assess the cultural health of their communities and to explore improvements in their policy making and planning. Cultural vitality indexes - also known as creative vitality indexes - are used in other parts of the United States to provide benchmarks for the health of the arts and creative economies. They also demonstrate the value of the cultural sector to community economies. While there are several inventories of cultural organizations, this index will provide data to connect arts, community development and economic development.
• The ABC Knowledge Center will be designed to be a one-stop source of knowledge about creative community and economic development.  We anticipate producing or linking to research on arts-based development, connecting to existing sources of data and providing links to other important resources.  The topics we will cover will be decided after several focus groups with public officials and their advisors, representatives of arts organizations, and others who would benefit from this work.

Continuing education

Arts Build Communities offers a growing variety of continuing education opportunities.  These include webinars, online courses, and workshops.  To find out about upcoming courses, please visit our catalog page.

Technical assistance

Arts Build Communities provides to organizations and communities consulting and research services in the areas of community development, economic development, strategic communications, public engagement, and organizational development.  To learn about how Arts Build Communities can help your organization or community, please contact Leonardo Vazquez at 732-932-3822, x711 or vazquezl@rutgers.edu

More Information

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