Community Development – Creative Minds Out Loud

Episode 104: AHA! 20 Years of Placemaking

AHA! (Arts, History, Architecture) in New Bedford, MA is the longest continuously-funded placemaking and creative economy project in the country. For 20 years, this monthly, free, downtown cultural night and collaborative organization has provided a platform for community development and understanding. Lee Heald, Director of AHA!, discusses how their cross-sector work supports the local economy and deepens community pride.

Since 2007, Candace Lee Heald has served as the Director of AHA! New Bedford’s 2nd Thursday FREE Art and Culture Night. AHA! is the longest continuously funded grant for place-making and the creative economy from the Mass Cultural Council and continues to have one of the best returns on financial investment in the Commonwealth.

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Episode 60: Gateway Cities & Creative Placemaking

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Benjamin Forman, Director of the Gateway Cities Innovation Institute at MassINC, says residential property values are higher in communities that have more arts and culture. He says municipal leaders should take stock of that when considering modest public investments in strategies such as Cultural Districts and the economic returns that they yield.

Ben Forman Benjamin Forman has served as MassINC’s research director since 2010. Prior to joining MassINC, he oversaw strategic planning for the District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation. He also has experience as a researcher at the Brookings Institution and as a research assistant at Nathan Associates, a global economic development consulting firm.
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Episode 50: Mission-Driven Commercial Development Afoot in Roxbury

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Edmund Barry Gaither, Director of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, says this moment in Roxbury is “a moment of becoming.” He discusses work underway by Elma Lewis Partners and the recently-designated Roxbury Cultural District to use economic development to gift a community with a first-rate cultural and educational institution by 2020.

Edmond Barry Gaither Edmund Barry Gaither is Director of the National Center of Afro-American Artists and its Museum Division, and Special Consultant to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. At the National Center of Afro-American Artists, he developed its museum from a concept to its present operation with collections representing the visual arts of the black world, and an exhibition record of 45 years. At the Museum of Fine Arts, he has served as Adjunct Curator for 11 exhibitions since 1970, as well as administering the long-standing collaborative relationship between the National Center and the MFA.
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Episode 48: Cultural District as Framework for Unifying Community Vision

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Wrapped inside the cozy neighborhoods of a leafy mill town in Boston’s Metro West, Maynard’s downtown is a dynamic micro-city. Tim Hess, an architect and former chair of the Maynard Cultural Council, shares the journey undertaken to create what is now Maynard’s Assabet Village Cultural District.

Timothy Hess, AIA, CNU-A, SEED
Tim Hess is a member of the Maynard Cultural Council, and chaired that group through state designation of the Assabet Village Cultural District. His place-making approach helped to shape the framework and goals for the District, identifying four place-assets of particular civic value to its identity and cohesion, and outlining a series of special events meant to initiate cycles of exploration, imagination, planning, and investment in those places. Continue reading “Episode 48: Cultural District as Framework for Unifying Community Vision”

Episode 37: Springfield Cultural District Fuels Downtown Growth

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A thriving creative sector is one of our Commonwealth’s most powerful economic development assets. Morgan Drewniany, Executive Director of the Springfield Central Cultural District, shares their work in harnessing arts and culture for the future of Springfield.

Morgan Drewniany is Executive Director of the Springfield Central Cultural District. She attended Hampshire College with a focus on the intersection of environmental chemistry, public health, and social justice. Her passion for serving all of the population, not just those with a high level of education and privilege, brought her to the field of economic development after graduation.

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