Projects

City of South Salt Lake, UT – creative industries zone - three creative hubs re-define city. The City named a Creative Industries Zone with three distinct hubs connected by bicycle-friendly West Temple. New branding, zoning, development priorities, and ongoing community building activities were planned through ongoing grassroots work. A dynamic plan brings the elements and stakeholders together.

• Report and Framework (7.3 MB pdf)

Dublin Arts Council, Dublin, OH – connecting history and new development. Community leadership came together to devise ways to support and unify Historic Downtown Dublin on one side of the river with major new development directly across the river.

• Cultural District Plan (240 KB pdf)

Creativity in Urban Placemaking: Horizontal Networks and Social Equity in Three Cultural Districts The phenomenon of cultural district formation in cities around the globe presents challenges and opportunities for leaders, planners, and managers. This Ph.D. research focused on cultural districts in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Miami. It found that strong social and organizational networks characterized by dense and active grassroots leadership were present at the same time as relative community stability and higher levels of social and economic equity. Where networks were weak, social and economic tensions were higher.

• PhD Dissertation (1mb pdf)

Hennepin Theatre Trust, Minneapolis MN · creative placemaking – downtown cultural district

• Video (10:29)
• Event Records (12mb pdf)
• Executive Summary (2mb pdf)
• Comprehensive Report (24mb pdf)
• Appendices (68mb pdf)

St. Croix Valley Foundation, Hudson WI · National Heritage Area plan development

• Summary and event records (3.5mb pdf)

Lowertown Master Plan Task Force, St. Paul MN · arts district/neighborhood master plan

• Chapter 4: Arts, Culture and Creative Economy (200kb pdf)
• Master Plan Summary (18mb pdf)
• Full Master Plan (42mb pdf)

Brady Arts District, George Kaiser Family Foundation, Tulsa OK · cultural district planning & coordination

• Executive Summary Poster (750kb pdf)
• Master Plan (7mb pdf)
• Master Plan - high resolution (61mb pdf)

St. Anthony Park Community Council, St. Paul MN · creative enterprise zone planning

• CEZ Action Plan (100kb pdf)
• Summary Poster (1mb pdf)

Americans for the Arts, Washington, DC – white paper on process of cultural district formation

• “Cultural Districts: Bottom-Up and Top-Down Drivers” (600kb pdf)

Surdna Foundation with Arts & Community Change, New York NY · funding policy development, cultural districts

• Report:  “Up From the Roots: Economic and Cultural Equity in Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts (10.5 MB pdf)

Dublin Arts Council, Dublin, OH – downtown cultural district formation

• Scoping Workshop Summary (16.7 MB pdf)

Macon, GA – Macon Arts Alliance and Ft. Hawkins Neighborhood – Mill Hill Arts Village History, creativity, and resilience are in abundance in East Macon’s Ft. Hawkins Neighborhood. Macon Arts Alliance and CCB worked to identify and celebrate some of the many community assets while working to address its deep social, economic, and physical challenges. Cut off by highway construction, disinvestment, and institutional racism, the community now looks forward to reinvestment in housing, a new park, community arts center, and street conditions planned with robust community engagement.

• Report and Framework (9 MB pdf)

Pierce County Transit, Tacoma, WA – pre-planning for new design development. City, transit agency, and major performing arts center leadership came together to devise a detailed RFQ and working relationship to plan and carry out major new design and placemaking work in this historic downtown.

Bloomington Theatre and Art Center · Bloomington, MN · Artistry (and City of Bloomington) Bloomington, MN (2-year creative placemaking project leading discovery charrette, demonstration projects and long range plan)

• Video Summary (1:07)
• Discovery Charrette Day-by-Day Guide (1.6mb pdf)
• Charrette Day-by Day Blogs and Videos
• Demonstration Projects Preview Flyer (700kb pdf)
• Creative Placemaking Plan
• Full Appendices

City of Providence RI, with Dreeszen Associates · cultural identity development, 5 transit corridors

• Cultural Planning Report (2mb pdf)
• Creative Community Development and Placemaking Strategies (1.2mb pdf)

City of Middleton, WI · public art master plan

• Master Plan for Public Art and Design (4.3mb pdf)

City of St. Croix Falls, WI · linking historic theater restoration, local economic development

Citizens for Loring Park Community · Minneapolis MN · with PETER MUSTY LLC · urban neighborhood small area plan

Iowa West Foundation · Council Bluffs IA · opportunity assessment, strategic planning

Walt Disney Corporation · Lake Buena Vista FL · thematic development of proposed community

5th Ward Re-development Corporation · Houston TX – with Sutton+Associates · strategic positioning

The City and Redevelopment Agency of San Jose, CA · public space programming

• Assessment of Optimal Uses and Sustainability of the Mexican Heritage Plaza (557kb pdf)

Regional Cultural Asset Mapping – with Essex County Community Foundation and Merrimack Valley Planning Commission – A carefully planned series of creative and interactive public events in May and June, 2020 were designed to engage people in northeastern Massachusetts in mapping places and events of meaning working with artists from Elevated Thought in Lawrence. Participants would share stories, produce crowd-sourced works of public art, and elevate dialogue among the 15 cities and towns that make up this Merrimack Valley region. In response to COVID-19, partners re-constituted this participatory public project in March and April as a virtual project. A web-based platform was built to collect contributions of stories, images, and annotated pinpoints on a map; artists and youth at Elevated Thought pulled together the material during summer 2020 to assemble a Place and Meaning: A Merrimack Valley Book 2020. The Planning Commission generated an interactive digital planning base map for use by planners in the region.

Worcester, Massachusetts - A new cultural plan for the City of Worcester, Massachusetts to be incorporated into the City’s comprehensive plan, its first since 1987. Partnering with CCB, the City, the Greater Worcester Community Foundation and the Worcester Cultural Coalition completed the plan at the beginning of 2019. It focuses on five areas: 1) Design and Activation of Public Spaces, 2) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, 3) Creativity and Innovation, 4) Youth and Family Engagement, and 5) Internal and External Community Image.

Bravo Greater Des Moines – Regional Cultural Assessment and Framework. Establishing four major initiatives Bravo’s regional cultural assessment identifies ways arts and culture can contribute to broad regional goals set forth in Capital Crossroads 2.0.

City of Durango, CO – Cultural plan incorporated into updated City Comprehensive Plan. Developed in parallel with a Comp Plan revision by planning consultant Michael Lauer, the city’s first Arts, Culture and Creative Economy plan addressed a range of cultural and creative sector developments.

Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau – Repositioning and reviving cultural event. Community leaders and philanthropists worked to re-imagine and re-launch Tall Stacks, a major celebration of Riverboats and the historic relationship to the Ohio River.

City of Grand Forks, ND, with Forecast Public Art – 10-year cultural and public art plan. This first cultural plan was funded by public and private funders in an effort to highlight the city’s creative and resilient spirit.

City of Lawrence, KS, with Christine Harris Connections · Comprehensive 10-year city cultural plan

• Building on Lawrence's Creative Capital (10mb pdf)

City of Duluth, MN Public Art Commission with Forecast Public Art · 10-year comprehensive cultural plan and public art plan

• Creative Watershed - Duluth Arts + Culture Plan 2016 (10mb pdf)

City of Marquette, MI, with Christine Harris · comprehensive 10-year cultural plan

• Arts & Culture Master Plan (5 mb pdf)

Cultural Development Corporation · Oklahoma City OK · regional artist support research & plan

• Artist Support Study - ENERGIZE:  Central Oklahoma Artists Do It Together (1.3 MB pdf)

Cities of Lansing and East Lansing, Dept. of History, Arts & Libraries · Lansing MI · cultural economic development planning

• Art Works: Creative Invention/Reinvention - A Collaborative Cultural Economic Development Plan for Greater Lansing’s Urban Center (4.8 MB pdf)

1st ACT Silicon Valley · San Jose CA · strategic planning, research, region-wide assessment

• Report on the Cultural Infrastructure of Silicon Valley (4.1mb pdf)

Morgan Family Foundation · Yellow Springs OH · arts-based community revitalization initiative

Michigan Main Streets · Boyne City MI · cultural economic development planning

• Plan (1.3 MB pdf)

Michigan Main Streets · Calumet MI · cultural economic development planning

• Plan (2.4 MB pdf)

City of Concord NH, with Craig Dreezsen · city-wide creative economy planning

• Creative Economy Plan (3.3mb pdf)

Legacy Project · Rochester MI · with Sutton+Associates · art center planning joining 3 communities