The Trust for Public Land and City Parks Alliance announce that they have received a $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts Knowledge Building program to facilitate workshops with cities to explore partnerships around parks and creative placemaking.
This project builds upon and further develops the work being done by The Trust for Public Land and City Parks Alliance through a 2015 NEA Our Town $100,000 award to create a Creative Placemaking in Parks Field Guide, a document and resource that defines the intersection of creative placemaking and parks, establishes best practices, and builds a larger audience for creative placemaking in parks departments and advocacy groups.
The Trust for Public Land and City Parks Alliance, in partnership with a team of experts, will use this Field Guide during select city workshops to help municipalities and organizations imagine, design, and execute creative placemaking projects in parks. These workshops are part of City Parks Alliance’s existing technical support work around public-private partnerships for parks.
“Our city workshops have helped communities leverage the power of parks by strengthening collaboration across sectors to support community health, resiliency, youth engagement, and neighborhood vibrancy,” said Catherine Nagel, executive director for City Parks Alliance. “Integrating creative placemaking in the workshop curriculum will be a key addition for communities. Beyond the tailored program for workshop attendees, we will share outcomes and case studies with thousands of civic and community leaders, city officials, funders, and park and recreation authorities through our membership.”
“This generous grant from the NEA will give park leaders around the country the tools necessary to incorporate arts-based strategies into their community-focused work,“ said Matthew Clarke, The Trust for Public Land’s Director of Creative Placemaking. “The Trust for Public Land is proud to be a leader in the creative placemaking field and we are looking forward to continuing to collaborate with the NEA on this important work.”
The Trust for Public Land has become a leader within the creative placemaking community, working on other NEA-funded parks projects across the country, including Story Mill Community Park in Bozeman, Montana, Nome Park in Aurora, Colorado, and Johnson Oak Park in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Aligned with NEA’s support of the arts around the country, this “Creative Placemaking in Parks: Piloting New Knowledge Transfer Methods” project will help to bring this information, expertise, and support to communities around the United States.
