Placemaking – 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 97: Public Art Accelerator

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Kate Gilbert, Executive Director of Now + There, says the most successful public art is trying to disrupt how we walk through and see the world. She discusses how her organization supports temporary work in Boston as a strategy for changing how public art gets made and is appreciated.

Kate Gilbert. Photo by Bianca Mauro Kate Gilbert is on a mission to transform Boston into a public art city. As artist, curator, and cultural producer, Gilbert sees contemporary art as a catalyst for transformation. In 2015, she launched Now + There, a non-profit arts organization dedicated to delivering impactful, accessible, and temporary public artworks that challenge Boston’s cultural identity by taking artistic risks and consistently producing compelling projects that engage the public.

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Episode 75: South Shore Cultural Community on the Map, Here and Abroad

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Patrice Maye, Executive Director of the South Shore Art Center and Scituate Harbor Cultural District, discusses creative placemaking across the South Shore, including Scituate’s Sister City Projects with West Cork, Ireland and Sucy-en-Brie, France.

A non-profit executive with 20 years of experience in building resources and audiences for diverse mission-driven organizations, Patrice Maye joined South Shore Art Center as Executive Director in April 2017. This position was a natural outgrowth of both her professional work to raise funding and awareness for youth arts and social justice programming and her many years of volunteer work to embed art experiences in the local schools and communities. Continue reading “Episode 75: South Shore Cultural Community on the Map, Here and Abroad”

Episode 66: Lynn, Lynn, City of Murals

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Al Wilson, Founder and Executive Director of Beyond Walls, discusses their work to create public art installations in Lynn, MA. He shares how perceptions were torn down as part of this process, bringing people into downtown and changing the image and ethos around this diverse and vibrant city.

Al Wilson is the Founder and Executive Director of Beyond Walls, a creative placemaking agency based in Lynn, Massachusetts whose mission is to activate public space to strengthen communities. In 2016, Al and a robust volunteer committee launched a grass-roots effort to implement four inaugural large scale public art installations in downtown Lynn, a post-industrial city located just 10 miles north of Boston. Inspired by projects in Brooklyn, New York; Philadelphia, PA; Kings Cross, London; and Wynwood, Miami, Al recognized Lynn’s rich history, distinctive architecture, and burgeoning arts and cultural district as the perfect landscape in which to test the creative economy.
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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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