What can cities and state governments do to foster creative development? [video]

Creative communities: what are the ingredients of building a creative community? What can cities and state governments do to encourage creative development? How do we break down the silos and encourage collaborations? Come listen and discuss with a panel of creative placemakers working inside government to connect and navigate the landscape of planning, economic development, education, transportation and the arts.

In this panel discussion moderator Jack Becker, the publisher of Public Art Review, asks creative placemaking civic leaders to talk about how city, state, and even federal government agencies can work with artists and community organizers to foster creative initiatives that will help develop creative and resilient communities. Panelists for this discussion include: Gülgün Kayim, Director of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, City of Minneapolis; Kip Bergstrom, Deputy Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development; Marty Pottenger, director, Art at Work, Portland, ME; Lynne McCormack, Director, Department of Art Culture + Tourism, City of Providence, RI and Erin Williams, Cultural Development Officer for the City of Worcester, MA and Executive Director of the Worcester Cultural Coalition.

Jack Becker
Executive Director + Principal
Forecast Public Art

“Beauracracy is like found object sculpture. It is an artform as well.”

Jack is founder and executive director of Forecast Public Art, established in 1978. As a public artist and program administrator, Jack specializes in projects that connect the ideas and energies of artists with the needs and opportunities of communities. He has organized more than 70 exhibitions, 50 publications, and numerous special events.

Gülgün Kayim
Director of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy
City of Minneapolis

“My aim is to both build capacity within the community as well as within the city…because there had been no capacity in the past to help elected officials understand the power of this work and the impact of this work.”

Gülgün joined the City of Minneapolis August 2011 in the newly created role of Director of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy. Previously she was the Assistant Director of the Bush Foundation’s Artist Fellowship Program. Before joining Bush she served as the University of Minnesota’s Public Art on Campus Coordinator at the Weisman Art Museum and has also consulted extensively on site-specific performance, public art and artist professional development with various arts organizations in the Twin Cities.

Kip Bergstrom
Deputy Commissioner
Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development

“The riskiest thing you can do is to not invest in art when everyone else is, because your place is going to be passed by. You are engaging in ultra risky behavior by not making your place art-infused when other places are…It’s a very risky economic development strategy not to embrace the arts.”

Kip has 30 years of experience as a strategist, business executive, economic development professional and place-maker. He is a nationally prominent advocate of place-centric economic development. He has participated in the successful repositioning the City of Stamford, the State of Rhode Island and Connecticut’s largest bank.

Marty Pottenger
Director
Art at Work

“My plan has been to figure out ways that city workers and community leaders and members can actually make art themselves as a way of moving things forward.”

Since 1975, writer, performer, director and activist Marty Pottenger has created multidisciplinary placemaking performances, plays, arts-based civic dialogues, and community arts projects throughout the United States.

Lynne McCormack
Director, Art, Culture + Tourism
City of Providence

“This is what placemaking is all about. It’s about artists solving problems in communities.”

Lynne serves as the director of Art, Culture + Tourism for the City of Providence, Rhode Island. In her 14-year tenure as a city arts administrator she has moved through the ranks, from production coordinator to a trusted member of the mayor’s cabinet.

Erin Williams
Cultural Development Officer
City of Worcester, MA

“For those who don’t understand a language, part of the job of a cultural person in my position is to translate that language. So it might be my taking a city councilor or a business leader to an event that they might be intimidated by. Or it might be about inciting an artist to address a problem like ‘How do we solve crime in a very underserved area in our community?’ and to bring people around the table to solve that.”

Erin is the Cultural Development Officer for the City of Worcester, MA and the Executive Director of the Worcester Cultural Coalition, the unified voice of the Greater Worcester, MA creative community. The Coalition is a unique public private partnership which shines a spotlight on the creative activity produced in the region and supports creative placemaking through such initiatives as the WOOcard, Worcester Wayfinding signage program and Public Art.