Research from The Boston Foundation and Barr Foundation has shown that Boston, MA, needs to further prioritize investment in an arts ecosystem in order to elevate new perspectives, encourage diversity, and make communities more inclusive and vibrant in an era of increasing demographic change.
What can the arts do for a community marginalized by blight in the course of five years?
Restore and refurbish historic buildings; spur the sale of redeveloped properties by public and private developers; revitalize the area with engaging works of public art and dynamic urban green spaces; reinvigorate the transportation system; attract locals and visitors to the area with nationally renowned artists and groundbreaking arts programming; encourage mutually beneficial cross sector collaborations; and finally encourage businesses to relocate to the area.
The proposed district will create a specific arts zone that will incentivize arts development and create "deed restrictions, or limitations on rent increases" so that the community can accomadate the loss of another building that was a prominent hub for creative makers.
Organically propsed, with community buy-in and city support, San Franscico is continuing their path diversify their city through cultural and heritage districts. Residents and business owners of the Third Street Corridor are looking to follow the Calle 24 Latino and SOMA Filipino Cultural Districts in the city.
Earlier this year, Texans for the Arts successfully executed the legislative strategy that secured a new appropriation of $5 million from the 84th Texas Legislative Session for the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA), with support from and in partnership with the Texas Cultural Trust. The new funding was dedicated to TCA’s Cultural and Fine Arts Districts program, Arts Respond Cultural District Project, for the 2016-2017 biennium.
On October 7, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 189 into law; the legislation will allow the California Arts Council (CAC) to designate areas cultural districts. The bill’s sponsor Assemblymember Richard Bloom said, “Designating areas with vibrant creative communities as Cultural Districts will not only celebrate California’s diverse cultural landscape, but will also help to draw economic development and tourism to local economies.”
On Friday, July 31, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced that the city will further develop its three designated arts and entertainment districts—Station North, Highlandtown, and Bromo Seltzer Tower. The city’s plans for supporting the arts areas was outlined in a 37-page report; it stated that the arts areas will “be improved through collaborative marketing and programming, more flexible code and zoning variances for artist workspaces, and other initiatives.”
On July 27, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper announced the launch of the Space to Create Colorado program. Inspired by Artspace’s recent construction of 30 affordable live and work units for artists and their families in Loveland, Co., Gov. Hickenlooper has decided to replicate the Loveland facility in eight mountain and rural regions throughout Colorado.
The DC Council approved its 2016 budget on Tuesday, June 30; in the budget, the Council included $200,000 in dedicated funding to research and draft a unified cultural plan for the District of Columbia.
In 2014, a coalition of arts professionals formed Arts Action DC and worked with council member David Grosso to sponsor legislation for the cultural plan initiative. The research will assess “how to stimulate a creative economy, increase cultural participation, and identify needs neighborhood by neighborhood.”
Livability.com has just identified the top 10 best downtowns in America. Here is the list:
1.Pittsburgh, PA
2.Minneapolis, MN
3.Indianapolis, IN
4.Greenville, SC
5.Salt Lake City, UT
6.Alexandria, VA
7.Fargo, ND
8.Lincoln, NE
9.Somerville, MA
10.Evanston, IL
In developing the list Livability.com used the following criteria:
Muskogee, Ok - population 38,863 - is working to create an expanded entertainment and cultural district. The District is spearheaded by the Action in Muskogee Initiative and will be managed by Downtown Muskogee, Inc., which also administers the Main Streets program for the City of Muskogee.
On March 16, a bill requiring the New Jersey State Council on the Arts to establish an Artist District designation for municipalities cleared an important hurdle as it was released by the Assembly of Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee.
The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) will receive the National Planning Achievement Award for Economic Planning & Development from the American Planning Association (APA) at the 2015 National Planning Awards Luncheon in Seattle Washington on Monday, April 20, 2015. The 12 Achievement Award recipients were selected by a prestigious awards panel and the awards range from transportation planning to environmental improvements to urban design, among others.
In February, USA Today asked the public to vote for their favorite art and cultural districts based on a set of hand-picked districts and neighborhoods within the U.S. and the results are in.
The winners in the 'Best Art District' contest category for USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice are as follows:
This January, Americans for the Arts and the United States Conference of Mayors presented The Honorable Annise Parker, Mayor of Houston, TX with the Mayors National Award for Local Arts Leadership for cities with a population of 100,000 or more, during the United States Conference of Mayors Arts Breakfast in Washington, DC.
Today, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced 12 finalist cities in the running to receive up to $1 million each as part of the Public Art Challenge, a new program aimed at supporting temporary public art projects that engage communities, enhance creativity, and enrich the vibrancy of cities. Americans for the Arts president and CEO Robert L. Lynch applauds Bloomberg Philanthropies and comments on the news.
