Projects
Concept for Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis by Peter Musty
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
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
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
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
Cities of Lansing and East Lansing, Dept. of History, Arts & Libraries · Lansing MI · cultural economic development planning
1st ACT Silicon Valley · San Jose CA · strategic planning, research, region-wide assessment
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
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) and Looking Glass Creative engaged CCB to plan a pre-conference for their annual assembly in October 2020 to learn more about creative placemaking. Funded by ArtPlace America, the NASAA conference was re-oriented to an online platform and series of interactive webinars and networking activities co-designed by CCB.
Missouri Main Street Connection, the state-wide network of Main Street programs offered an all-day workshop March 13, 2020 on Vernacular Creativity and Local Creative Economies for over 60 participants from across the state in Branson, MO led by Tom Borrup.
National Creative Placemaking Summit, Phoenix, AZ. Harry Waters Jr. and Tom Borrup offered a workshop in November 2019 entitled, Artful Mapping: Building Community Cohesion and Civic Capacity for leaders in creative placemaking from across the U.S. to learn more ways to engage their communities in asset mapping.
Beijing University of International Business and Economics International Summer School – As a Visiting Professor, Tom taught Community Cultural Planning and Urban Cultural Policy. Building a robust creative and cultural sector in China is expressed through institutional and creative district development as well as cultural planning efforts across the country. In July 2019, Tom led 10 student teams at to conduct assessments and mini-cultural plans for different Beijing neighborhoods.
Forecast Public Art and American Planning Association - Two online courses authored by Tom Borrup are designed to strengthen city planners’ capacities to manage public art and to plan for public art that contributes to community health. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the courses were prepared for release in January 2019 as part of an initiative by Forecast to expand its education and consulting services.
New Hampshire Institute of Arts and the National Consortium for Creative Placemaking · Manchester, New Hampshire, September, 2018 · Taught the foundation course in the online Certificate in Creative Placemaking.
University of Minnesota, College of Continuing and Professional Studies · Faculty Director, Master of Professional Studies in Arts and Cultural Leadership
New Hampshire Institute of Art · Manchester, NH · Creative Placemaking Certificate
Foundation for Louisiana · New Orleans, LA · Neighborhood leadership training
University of Massachusetts, Arts Extension Service · Amherst MA · curriculum development
Knowlton School of Architecture · Ohio State University · Instructor, Certificate in Creative Placemaking
Rutgers University, Bloustein School of Planning · Instructor, Creative Placemaking Master Practitioner Certificate Program
Drexel University · Philadelphia · Adjunct Professor, Graduate Program in Arts and Cultural Management · Cultural Planning
Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota · Instructor, Graduate Program in Arts and Cultural Management · Minneapolis, MN · Cultural Studies, Arts & Community Development
University of Massachusetts, Continuing Education/Arts Extension Service · Amherst, MA · Adjunct Faculty, Creative Economy
Revisiting a 2009 CCB report that highlighted Silicon Valley's unique creative cultural sector, CCB was invited to conduct a parallel study for release in the Fall of 2020. Data collected prior to changes brought on by COVID-19 have additional meaning as partners in the 2019-2020 study (Silicon Valley Creates and the City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs) work to better understand the continuing trajectory of a diverse, dispersed, and nimble arts and culture sector. The CCB team included Amanda Rawson, Liz Taing, Heidi Wagner, and Tom Borrup.
With the research arm of Americans for the Arts, Tom Borrup launched a research project in 2017 to take stock of cultural planning in the U.S., the first such assessment of this 40 year-old practice since Craig Dreeszen's landmark 1994 study. Research found cultural planning helps local cultural leaders broaden their roles in their communities in areas such as tourism, local economic development, and use of public space. However, most communities fell short in efforts to advance cultural equity. Americans for the Arts released the study in November. Findings from this research will contribute to Tom's upcoming book: The Power of Culture: City Planning in the 21st Century, Routledge, 2020.
National Alliance of Media Arts and Culture · San Francisco CA · national field data analysis
City of San José CA Redevelopment Agency – with M. Alvarez · art center assessment and plan
1st ACT Silicon Valley · San Jose CA · strategic planning, research, region-wide assessment
Arts & Community Change · Brooklyn NY · policy recommendations for cultural districts
Americans for the Arts · Washington, DC – white paper on process of cultural district formation
Surdna Foundation · New York NY · funding policy development, cultural districts
Portland Community TV · Portland OR · 3-year evaluation, new technology initiative
Alliance for Independent Motion Media · Boston MA · planning & economic impact study
651 ARTS · Brooklyn NY – with Caron Atlas · policy analysis and recommendations
LEF Foundation · Boston MA · program evaluation and strategic positioning
City of San José CA, Office of Cultural Affairs · neighborhood arts program assessment
Cultural Development Corporation · Oklahoma City OK · regional artist support research & plan
Franconia Sculpture Park · Center City MN · strategic development and expansion plan
- Strategic Plan (330kb pdf)
Creative Alliance of New Orleans, LA · cultural economy & organizational strategic planning
- Strategic Plan (0.3 mb pdf)
Hope Community · Minneapolis MN · develop interactive database of nonprofit organizations
Tucson-Pima Arts Council AZ · capacity building, cultural development strategies
Arts Alliance Illinois · Chicago IL · strategic positioning in regional planning
Minneapolis Television Network · Minneapolis MN · strategic planning
Living Arts of Tulsa · Tulsa OK · strategic organizational planning and development
- Strategic Program and Management Plan (200kb pdf)
Juxtaposition Arts · Minneapolis MN · strategic planning & real estate development
- Strategic Program and Management Plan (200kb pdf)
The Ford Foundation/Partners for Livable Communities · New York NY - Initiative to expand the role of arts in social and economic revitalization. Evaluate and provide technical assistance to:
- Center for Creative Community Development · North Adams, MA · economic research
- Movimiento de Arte y Cultural Latino Americana · San Jose, CA · neighborhood strategies
- Nuestras Raices · Holyoke, MA · cross-sector strategies and organizational development
- Queens Museum of Art · New York, NY · neighborhood development strategies
- Project Row Houses · Houston, TX · strategic positioning
Advancing Chicago’s Civic Agenda Through the Arts · Chicago IL · cross-sector collaborations
A. H. Wilder Foundation Services for the Elderly · St. Paul MN · creative engagement
Ritz Theater Foundation · Minneapolis MN, with Sutton+Associates · strategic positioning
Out North Development · Anchorage AK · strategic positioning & asset development
New England Foundation for the Arts · Boston MA · program assessment, strategic planning