tenant, as advanced by the NEA and ArtPlace, a wide swath lessons learned. Below, we expand on each of these broader insights.
Initiators: Move Beyond Make or Break characterizes individuals that get things done against all odds. There is no cookie cutter template for an effective creative placemaking initiator, but individual passion and dedication does appear crucial for driving projects forward. Blue brought certain attributes to the table – determination, resourcefulness, intellectual curiosity, and an ability to connect people and cultivate opportunities. She sought out Spillette for his project organizing skills, political savvy, and pragmatism. The absence of other skill sets in core leadership – such as clear and consistent writers – hamstringed the project. Because the strengths and weaknesses of individual leaders so heavily influence a project’s character and odds of success, funders may wish to give additional weight and consideration to these factors when deciding in which probe the initiator’s strengths and weaknesses vis-à-vis the project. Similarly, prospective creative placemakers should try to candidly self-assess their strengths and weaknesses. Do they have a compelling vision that a wide array of stakeholders could rally behind? How connected are they to political gatekeepers? Do they have community entrée? What is their leadership style – charismatic and highly visible, or someone who savvily advances the chess game behind the scenes? Is this project their main passion/focus, or are their attentions heavily divided? Do they have a track record of seeing projects through to completion? Have they successfully raised funds in the past? Leaders come in many styles,
talents to an initiative.
Attracting Political Will: Balance the Holistic Creative placemaking efforts explore how a place’s physical and social character can strategically be shaped around arts and cultural assets. It can animate public and private spaces, rejuvenate structures and streetscapes, improve local business viability and public safety, and bring diverse people together to celebrate, inspire, and be inspired. With its broad-ranging possible outcomes, the initiative’s project organizers and participants devoted considerable time and energy into understanding what creative placemaking meant
community empowerment, good design, and artistic and cultural enhancements: The goal of the Southeast Houston Arts Initiative is to transform Southeast Houston through community-based
creative placemaking – empowering residents to bring values and community history to effect change through well-designed improvements to the physical environment enhanced by artistic and cultural expression projects. The diligent soul-searching around creative placemaking and connects and enhances physical assets. However, some participants grew weary of broad explorations: I think it was kept broad for too long. They lost us because of that...They wanted all of us to learn placemaking together. But a little hierarchy wouldn’t hurt. – Anonymous interviewee We’ve talked about the meandering nature of it... My enthusiasm for what came out of it is, in part, thankfulness that we came up with something that seemed concrete at the end. I would encourage a more concrete premise with outcomes at the beginning. – Patrick Peters, University of Houston Prospective initiators of creative placemaking projects face a challenge. Ideas must be organic and broad enough to surface and embrace community directed priorities. They should exploit connections and synergies to attract a big political tent of stakeholders that can champion the cause. effectively attract and concentrate support. While there are no hard and fast rules on how to achieve an effective creative placemakers should regularly seek feedback from and openness, as well as consistency and commitment to the core vision that inspired and motivated the initial foray.
Tell Your Story Clearly, Often, Through Multiple Modes Our evaluation role offered us a unique glimpse into the Southeast Houston Arts Initiative. We diligently tried to follow the project's developments to understand what it was and evaluate it effectively. The project’s evolutions and the sheer number of events, activities, and spin-off projects continues to astound us. Through our interviews, we learned that even core working group members were not fully aware of the scope of activity happening under the Southeast Houston Arts Initiative's umbrella. Creative placemaking practitioners, please tell your story! Even the best accomplishments will have limited impact, if people are not made aware of them. Loudly celebrate small, tangible milestones such as securing new funding, or the launch of a spin-off event. Clear communication, consistency of message, and regular updates allow initiatives to keep supporters in the fold and attract new ones. Press releases, face-to-face/phone updates all can expand the visibility and reach of your efforts. Limited resources might tempt you to but bear in mind that for the Southeast Houston Arts Initiative, such measures took a toll on community engagement. Free blogs and/or Facebook pages, if consistently updated, may
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