bpr community programs
TRANSCRIPT
Town of Town of Oakville Economic Development Department
http://www.oakville.ca/economicdevelopment
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................. 2
COMMUNITY PROGRAM REVIEWS .......................................................................... 3
ArtPlace America ................................................................................................... 3
REVOLVE Detroit ................................................................................................... 6
Alaska Arts Confluence ........................................................................................ 10
Create Here Now: Connecticut ........................................................................... 12
Irrigate: Saint Paul, Minneapolis ......................................................................... 13
ImaginArt in the Alleys: Marion, Iowa ................................................................. 16
Local First Arizona & Local First Arizona Foundation .......................................... 19
ArtScape .............................................................................................................. 24
Take-‐Away .............................................................................................................. 27
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Community Programs can be created for a variety of reasons; this Best Practice Review will be analyzing 8 Community Programs throughout North America put in place to help businesses.
This report will be looking at the different ways in which community programs tie in with creative placemaking to transform and build a quality of place while using arts, culture, and creativity. Ultimately these programs look to benefit the businesses by increasing community involvement. Many programs are set in place to offer guidance for those suffering from lack of business and to enhance their strategy in generating growth.
The overall findings of these Community Programs are that they are in place to help those businesses in need. Whether it is in times of economic downfall or when major construction diverts customers from going to the area. The integration of community involvement is seen throughout all of the programs as a way to incorporate locals in helping out businesses. Throughout these programs the communities build stronger relationships which tend to stay even after the program is in place. The scale of these programs also varies as some are State-‐Wide initiatives and others are City-‐Wide initiatives. This can also be seen in the various sources of funding each program has; some programs require applications to grants to receive funding and generate awareness while promoting the area.
High level observations noticed throughout this best practices review are that although there was a large artistic focus in the Community Programs it is not the only thing needed for these areas to succeed. A large part of the success is from community collaboration and integrating local opinions into the program and creating attractive public spaces. Partnerships with governments and foundations has allowed these Community Programs to expand and generate the funding they need, these relationships have encouraged the locals to collaborate into the programs. This also leads to having ambassadors for the programs and creating an overall project brand. These project brands have created an exposure to the Community Programs where other places integrate ideas into their own communities. The types of tools that the programs offer allow for the businesses to grow, while looking at Artscape DIY Creative Placemaking Toolkit, it provides a whole list of different tools that are applicable to generate a good business. In Oakville, locality is a great way to brand using local resources to expand. A large portion of these programs is the creativity and uniqueness of their ideas in showing that nothing should restrict an area from growth. Creating BIAs is a focus is some of the programs to improve the community where as in Oakville, there are already three BIAs.
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COMMUNITY PROGRAM REVIEWS
ArtPlace America Webpage: http://www.artplaceamerica.org/
Description
ArtPlace America is a 10-‐year collaboration project with help from many foundations, federal agencies, and financial institutions to assist community planning and development through the use of arts and culture. Their goal is to strengthen social, physical, cultural, and economic aspects of communities.
ArtPlace America focuses on creative placemaking using arts, culture, and creativity with the strategies of Jane Jacobs who believed that community development must be locally informed, human-‐centric, and holistic.
ArtPlace America has four core areas of activity:
-‐ National Grants; supporting specific projects presenting creative placemaking in a community and range from $50,000 -‐ $500,000 for an 18-‐month period.
-‐ Community Development Investments; one-‐time program specific to place based non-‐governmental organizations with a value up to $3 million over 3 years.
-‐ Research; gathering the metrics, best practices, and outcomes of all the creative placemaking projects, giving potential grantees the option to discover what they can do in their own community.
-‐ Field Building; creating relationships, broadening the field, and changing expectations, fit for the needs of the community and organization.
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Foundations
Team
Funding ArtPlace America receives funding from 13 foundations, 8 federal agencies, and 6 financial institutions.
Jamie Bennett Executive Director
Sarah Calderon Managing Director
Justin Chotikul Interim Operations Manager
Lyz Crane Deputy Director
Marirosa Garcia Social Media Manager
Jamie Hand Director of Research Strategies
Prentice Onayemi Director of Partnerships & Communications
Leila Tamari Program Assistant
F. Javier Torres Director of National Grantmaking
Federal Agencies
Financial Institutions
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Example Cases
Grant Example: Broadway Business District (Minneapolis, MN) ArtPlace America gave a $250,000 Grant to fund West Broadway District Arts Initiative in North Minneapolis. Their goal was to further integrate arts and culture into the field of community planning and development in West Broadway Business Improvement District (BID).
Their strategy is to employ community artists to create public infrastructure improvements (benches, planters, bridge mending, bike racks, and seasonal displays). This will activate these public spaces creating a more inviting environment for the community to use and take ownership of. This will have a large impact on the community West Broadway BID to create a vibrant, unique, clean, green, safe and welcoming location for North Minneapolis.
In their success: Using the arts as a great source of pride and investment in local artists the West Broadway BID has been able to increase a sense of ownership and revitalization of public spaces for residents and businesses.
Community Development Investment Example: Little Tokyo Service Center CDC (Los Angeles, CA) ArtPlace America created the CDI program in 2015, selecting 6 communities in the US to receive a $3 million investment over a 3 year period to revitalize their communities. This makes it difficult to see the successes of this program as it is so recent and most of the communities have just started to create a plan.
Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corporation (LTSC) is one of the 6 organizations that is participating in the ArtPlace Community Development Investments program. They have received a $3 million investment from ArtPlace to incorporate arts and culture in their development and preservation of their community.
The LTSC wants to create a vibrant community through this program to preserve its Japanese-‐American heritage and culture. Due to new development in the area of a Metro light rail network this has created a threat of displacement of the neighbourhoods small businesses and the historical and cultural character.
LTSC’s goal is to create positive changes for people and places by improving the lives of those who live in the area through cultural social services, strengthening of the neighbourhood housing and community development, and also by keeping their ethnic heritage alive.
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Revolve Detroit has a goal for retail evolution through a variety of networks:
-‐ REVOLVE for Neighbourhoods: Transforming neighbourhoods into vibrant retail districts. -‐ REVOLVE for Building Owners: Revolutionizing the retail recruitment process. -‐ REVOLVE for Entrepreneurs: Creating venues for new business ventures. -‐ REVOLVE for Artists: Re-‐imagining neighborhoods through creative expression
REVOLVE Detroit Webpage: http://revolvedetroit.com/ Description Revolve Detroit is a program in collaboration with the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation that partners with community leaders, building owners, entrepreneurs, and artists to revitalize business by creating vibrant storefronts with art.
Revolve Detroit does this through a number of different operations:
-‐ Pop-‐ups: This is a temporary use of an under-‐utilized space which allows people to test their business in a location of interest. This gives businesses the opportunity to make money, improvements, and generate finances for their business to succeed.
o Revolve also offers other tools to help these businesses such as access to financial assistance for projects and technical assistance for site selection.
-‐ Partnerships: This is a very influential operation. Pop-‐ups team up with local organizations to gain information about the neighbourhood. This can lead to involving residents in building the pop-‐up which can create a sense of ownership in the community.
o “If WE build it, WE will come.” -‐ Resources to simplify the process: Revolve Detroit has
created a REVOLVE Guidebook which helps the business find permits, sample agreements, checklists, financial resources, and more.
o The guidebook itself demonstrates a number of different approaches to Pop-‐ups, Strategies, and Tools to succeed.
-‐ Tell the story: Through these operations it creates a story about revolutionary entrepreneurs and artists who strive to change Detroit.
o A great marketing tool in this is the pop-‐up itself, with a little help of social media.
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Team
The REVOLVE Detroit project was a collaboration of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) and Community Leaders.
Funding
ArtPlace America funded a $200,000 Grant to the Detroit Economic Growth Association (non-‐profit organization administered by DEGC) REVOLVE Program to help Livernois Avenue in creating an “Avenue of Fashion”.
REVOLVE also receives funding from:
Michael Forsyth REVOLVE Program Manager & Retail Business Development Manager (DEGC)
The Community Leaders to help with the program are separate per area:
Grandmont Rosedale
Tom Goddeeris Executive Director of Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation
Livernois
Kim Tandy Rufus Bartell
Program Manager at University Commons Organization Owner & Founder of Simply Casual Clothing Store
The Villages
Brian Hurttienne Executive Director of Villages Community Development Corporation
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Example Cases
West Village Neighbourhood
West Village is 3 miles east of Downtown Detroit and part of a unique collection of waterfront communities that is known as “the Villages”.
Long recognized for its diverse historic neighbourhoods, high-‐rise condos, edgy lofts and apartments, affordable rental properties, and new construction homes accommodating a diversity of people and lifestyles.
Locals wanted to create a business district (from scratch) and started up with creativity and beer: they transformed a vacant lot into a temporary “beer garden” called Tashmoo Biergarten. This Pop-‐up event was a large success which showed the community was thriving for more opportunities. REVOLVE Detroit partnered with the Villages Community Development Corporation (Villages CDC), building owners, entrepreneurs, and artists to transform an entire block of vacant storefronts.
Over the course of a year they had 3 pop-‐up businesses, several events, and recruited 4 permanent businesses, which filled up the entire block:
- Craft Work (full-‐scale bar and restaurant) - Detroit Vegan Soul (vegan café) - The Red Hook (coffee and pastry) - Tarot and Tea (Retail Boutique)
Brian Hurtienne (Executive Director of Villages CDC) contacted Michael Forsyth at DEGC to create a collaborative effort to explore opportunities by using the REVOLVE Detroit program. The Villages and REVOLVE worked together to activate the area with pop-‐up businesses while future leases and renovations for the permanent shops were planned. These pop-‐ups created a momentum for the permanent businesses by engaging people in the community to the location.
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Coffee and (___) – Pop-‐up Food in the Villages:
Angela Foster a Pastry Chef opened up a pop-‐up which had pastries, locally roasted coffee, and the concept of “Coffee and (Whatever Angela wanted to bake that day)”. This pop-‐up helped Angela launch her next pop-‐up in Jefferson-‐Chalmers neighbourhood of Detroit, which resulted in a permanent business location for Coffee and (___). REVOLVE and the Villages helped Angela to secure some furniture, licenses, and event generated press for the opening of the pop-‐up space.
PRAMU – Pop-‐up Retail in the Villages:
PRAMU: Pataphysical Research and Metachanic Union was a pop-‐up clothing store ran by tech entrepreneurs, Dylan Box and Edmund Zagorin. The shop took on a retro futuristic explorer club theme, (pop-‐up next to Coffee and ___) which evolved into an arts venue that combined retail with events. Flaco Shalom a local artist helped the space with art and coordinating various pop-‐up art events in the shop. REVOLVE Detroit helped to spread the word and bring in some additional furniture needed for the retail pop-‐up (mannequins, clothing racks, display cabinets). This gave the owners an opportunity to prototype their business model.
Flaco Shalom (Untitled Bottega) – Pop-‐up Art in the Villages: Flaco runs the Untitled Bottega, a community arts space and open gallery which is a place for local artists to learn and build their craft. Prior to opening Untitled Bottega (which is in another location in Detroit) Flaco was introduced to the Villages project by Dylan Box from PRAMU. Flaco evolved the storefront windows with art installations and expanded to bringing arts events into the retail experience. Flaco also created murals to introduce a warm community and attract people to the area for the pop-‐ups in the area bringing life to the empty storefronts, marketing the area. This gave artists the opportunity to temporarily showcase their work.
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Alaska Arts Confluence Webpage: http://www.alaskaartsconfluence.org/
Description
Alaska Arts Confluence is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting community participation by providing various arts activities such as art education and cultural enrichment opportunities for artists, residents, and visitors of the Chilkat Valley.
The projects they provide range from art displays in storefront windows on Main Street to web marketing classes. Providing these opportunities to the general public is in their interest to create an appreciation for all arts in their community. They offer: workshops, seminars, events, and a wide range of activities to create community enrichment and encompass visitor involvement.
Team
Funding
ArtPlace America gave a grant of $217,456 to Alaska Arts Confluence to create interconnectivity of Fort Seward and Main Street and also revitalize downtown Haines by creating active storefronts filled with art displays.
Since the ArtPlace grant, Alaska Arts Confluence has received more funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Our Town for the Klukwan Indian Village, Jilkat Kwaan Cultural Heritage Center and Alaska State Museum. Grants have also been received from the Rasmuson Foundation and the Murdock Foundation to the Friends of the Chilkat Center for the Arts, directly supporting creative placemaking.
Carol Tuynman Creative Director
Christina Baskaya Community Enhancement Coordinator Judy Erekson Treasurer
Deborah Marshall Board Member
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Example Cases
Art on Main Street and Historic Fort William H. Seward Sculpture Garden:
Alaska Arts Confluence displays the work of their local artists in their stores in downtown Haines. Howsers’ IGA, Caroline’s Closet, the LAB Building, and Art on Main Street all include local arts in their storefronts. They work to display unique art that is appropriate for the spaces available on Main Street. They have used the grant to create a stakeholder workshop and a building relationships and communications workshop.
Art on Main Street has progressed and created a favorable attraction to the population and downtown landscape. Along with the creation of an art gallery on Main Street many stores post local art to create an inviting feel.
Image 1 is a storefront window with all the art that locals have created.
Fort Seward Interpretive Project created a visual presentation to explain their arts based vision and focus for Fort Seward. A workshop with the local artists was held to visit the site and the idea of a sculpture garden arose.
Image 2 are differ groups who had part in Fort Seward including, the Ramuson Foundaction Board, Alaska Arts Confluence and Project Artists.
Image 1: Art on Main Street in Haines, Alaska
Image 2: The Ramuson Foundation Board, Alaska Arts Confluence and Fort Seward Project Artists.
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Image 3: Historic Arcade in Downtown Bridgeport, CT
Create Here Now: Connecticut Webpage: http://createherenow.org/ *Link currently not available
Description Create Here Now is based in Connecticut, it is a statewide initiative to construct creative placemaking in cities and towns across the state and was a collaboration between the State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, the City of Bridgeport Downtown Special Services District, and the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County. Their goal is to activate the creative and innovative peoples within their communities by innovating storefronts and historical buildings for members to create a network of economic growth.
Team
Funding Funding for Create Here Now was given by ArtPlace America with a grant amounting to $500,000. Additional funding was also given by the State of Connecticut Economic Development Department.
Example Cases Bridgeport Pilot:
A historic Arcade on Main Street was repurposed for 7 new artist and innovator businesses, image 3. A new community partnership with the Bridgeport Downtown Special Service District; who have integrated this business start-‐up program into their services, also created a partnership with a local community radio station WPKN, helped to create UArts an access-‐programming pilot that will eventually be implemented state wide for the creation of an artist’s mentoring program, and reactivated Historic McLevy Hall in the heart of downtown Bridgeport.
Margaret Bodell Chief Visionary Officer
Rod Frantz Director
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Irrigate: Saint Paul, Minneapolis Webpage: http://springboardforthearts.org/community-‐development/irrigate/ Description Irrigate was created by Springboard for the Arts, Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and the City of Saint Paul. The irrigate project is an artist-‐led creative placemaking initiative to combat the community challenge of the central Green Line project which would cause a lot of construction for a long period of time.
The Green Line project was going right through the heart of the city and businesses worried about loss of business. Irrigate created a cultural corridor, a greater sense of agency and community, in the middle of this large investment which can create a cultural thrive in the community.
In 2014, Irrigate expanded to include the remainder of the newly constructed Green Line route in Minneapolis, in partnership with the City of Minneapolis’ Arts, Culture and Creative Economy program and supported by the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative.
Irrigate has also inspired other communities to do the same community development. In Cleveland, when they experienced a situation where construction was going to disrupt their business they took a new view to community development after hearing about the Irrigate project.
Although the Irrigate project has wrapped up, connections between local artists and businesses still prevail. Springboard for the Arts has also been working on a new project called Ready Go which will connect artists to organizations and businesses that can use creative and artistic ways to engage people.
Team Joe Spencer The City of St. Paul’s Director of Arts and Culture
Laura Zabel Executive Director of Springboard for the Arts
Erik Takeshita Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Irrigate had two main goals;
- To mobilize and train artists who live, work, and have a personal investment in the area to make a positive physical, economic, and social impact along the corridor.
- To develop and invest in permanent local resources and infrastructure to retain and attract artists – of all disciplines and experience – to have a long term stake and role in communities along the corridor
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Funding The Irrigate project received an ArtPlace America Grant of $750,000.
Example Cases
MAI Village: The construction put MAI Village Restaurant in a bad situation and they almost lost their business because of the decrease in sales after the construction started. A local Irrigate artist came in and introduced her music to the restaurant and began to play there to generate business for the restaurant. This initiative starting developing connections with the business and the community and more local artists came in to help not only MAI Village but other places as well.
Arnellia’s:
Arnellia’s, another local restaurant, also had a hard time with business once the construction started. A local Irrigate artist decided to come in an host Zumba classes to the public for free to help generate a sense of community in this tough time and to also support businesses like Arnellia’s.
Bedlam Theater:
Bedlam Theater came into the area with the Irrigate project. Dealing with the leftovers of the business that did not make it through the construction and trying to revitalize it into their own use. They took the streets of the Lowertown area and performed different features outdoors at different locations, having the opportunity for people to walk through and experience it all.
Additional Funding
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Tara Fahey:
An Irrigate public art project implemented by Tara Fahey (local artist) with help from Springboard for the Arts and Cycles for Change created an artistic view for the sidewalks of downtown St. Paul, while also protecting the trees.
Susan Solarz:
A member of the Irrigate project, Susan Solarz decided to create a bench because of the lack of outdoor public seating. Susan decided to create a musical bench made out of PVC pipes; it is something that you can pound on to create music or sit on for rest. Click here to see a video of how it actually sounds; Playing a Musical Bench.
SeedsTREEt:
The SeedsTREEt project was created by local artist Gita Ghei during the Irrigate project. This was an interactive installation of 13 different native trees. Each of the 13 pots represents one of the new light rail stops being built along the avenue. Gita’s intention here was to demonstrate the diversity of the trees also represents the diversity of the avenue along the light rail. This project allows locals to add their own objects and notes to the metal pots. Once the fall would come each tree would go to a resident for them to keep.
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ImaginArt in the Alleys: Marion, Iowa Webpage: http://www.cityofmarion.org/departments/city-‐manager/imaginart-‐in-‐the-‐alleys
Description
Marion is home to Iowa’s Historic Commercial District. ImaginArt in the Alleys was set to bring in vibrancy and transform the unused alley ways in the heart of the Historic Uptown Main Street District. As the main street goes under construction as part of the City’s redevelopment plan, businesses will be disrupted, and the alley ways will become a friendly back entrance to help the businesses throughout the construction. ImaginArt in the Alleys will combine public art and cultural programming to create a new and revitalized connection by bringing customers to business’s back doors.
Team ImaginArt in the Alleys project is coming together through collaboration efforts of the City of Marion, Marion Chamber, Main Street and Blue Zones Project Leaders, along with Shive-‐Hattery Architecture and Engineering Firm.
Funding
ArtPlace America has awarded the City of Marion a $350,000 Grant.
The City of Marion is contribution $315,000 toward infrastructure improvements, and $130,000 from local, county and state sources.
Karen Hoyt Art Director, ImaginArt in the Alleys
Amanda Kaufman Assistant to the City Manager, City of Marion
Jill Ackerman President, Marion Chamber of Commerce
Ashley Zierath Program Director, Uptown Marion Main Street Iowa District
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Visions
This project has not yet started, artist contracts will be issued in January 2016, but there are some visionary templates already created.
The images to the left show before and after shots of a vision for one of the alley ways. A main incentive here is to make the alleys look attractive and also have public spaces for people to sit while using art to draw their attention.
The images below are of the back entrances and spaces that they will be using throughout the construction. Some of the challenges that they will face are extreme weather, utilities, parking, accessibility, and the timeline. Also creating these back entrances as a second entrance for the business will involve creating a more decorative and appealing space.
Before After
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Visionary Templates:
The visionary templates show the different perspectives of the alley ways in what ImaginArt envisions. Day Perspective 1 demonstrates one of the alley way entrances, with the use of local art sculptures and made benches to create an inviting space rather than the current basic dark alley way. Day Perspective 2 is a bird’s eye view of the back alley with ImaginArts vision of having an outdoor attractive space and using businesses back doors to engage customers. A main focus for ImaginArt is that these spaces will be family friendly and be visually inviting for all ages.
These visionary templates also included nighttime perspectives to envision the area as a space where people can go for a drink or some food at night and still be engaged with local art and culture. Night Perspective 1 shows ImaginArts’ vision of the alley entrance at night, with lights to make it an inviting entrance and not dark and closed off. Night Perspective 2 shows their vision of the back alley at night with many lights and features to bring people into the area so that they can enjoy the space at any time of the day.
To get an update on this project visit the ImaginArt in the Alley Blog & Mind Mixer run by Karen Hoyt.
Day Perspective 1 Day Perspective 2
Night Perspective 1 Night Perspective 2
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Local First Arizona & Local First Arizona Foundation Webpage: http://localfirstaz.com/ ; http://localfirstazfoundation.org/ Description Local First Arizona is a statewide non-‐profit organization working to strengthen communities and local economies through growing, supporting, and celebrating locally owned businesses throughout the state of Arizona.
Local First Arizona´s goal is simple: Make Arizona a better place by supporting locally owned businesses and building vibrant communities that residents are proud to call home. Local First Arizona seeks to promote, support, and celebrate a vibrant and sustainable Arizona economy by educating citizens about local business ownership, social equity, cultural diversity, environmental kinship, and collaboration.
Local First Arizona empowers individuals to build the life they want in their local community, “together we can create a stronger economy, a more vibrant community, and better job opportunities for Arizonans.”
Local First Arizona Foundation is a nonprofit sister organization to Local First Arizona and together they are a movement that has proved results across youth retention, job creation, and economic gains. This foundation is focused on community and economic development to create prosperous communities.
The Local First Arizona Foundation has 3 key areas of focus:
1. Healthy Food Initiatives: building healthy food systems by working directly with producers and growers and informing consumers about the benefits of these local healthy foods.
2. Rural Community and Economic Development: providing rural Arizona communities with resources to create vibrant and sustainable economies.
3. Fuerza Local Business Accelerator: a business education program for underserved Latinos that teaches entrepreneurship.
Local First Arizona was founded in 2003 when three local business owners; Kimber Lanning (Stinkweeds), Cindy Dach (Changing Hands Bookstore), and Michael Monti (Monti’s La Casa Vieja), came together to create a strategy for locally owned business to find better ways to link the locals together. Kimber Lanning became the Executive Director of Local First Arizona in 2005. A board of directors was formed of local business owners including Cindy Dach, Tod Mettler (Duck and Decanter), Howard Fleishmann (Community Tire and Auto), Stacy Bertinelli (NPR Radio), Jeff Williamson (Phoenix Zoo), and Clint Hickman (Hickman’s Family Farms). The group met monthly at the Duck and Decanter and soon after began building a following. In 2007, Kimber Lanning sold one of her businesses to be committed to the organization 110%.
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Team
Funding Local First Arizona has received key grants and support from:
Kimber Lanning Founder & Executive Director
Thomas Barr Director of Member Engagement and Operations
Erika Mitnik-‐White Southern Arizona Director
Cara Corbin Northern Arizona Director
Helene Tack Program Development Director
Chrisal Valencia Brand Development Specialist
Erica Pederson Communications Director
Rebecca Pringle Development Director
Tim Castro Fuerza Local Liaison
Edgar Olivo Local Business Accelerator Program Director
Elaman Rodruiguez Fuerza Local Events Coordinator
Kendall Crever Community Outreach Coordinator
Jenny Strickland Localist Program Coordinator
Rachel Morningstar Local Foods Development Coordinator
Natalie Morris Local Foods Coordinator
Kelsey Melvin Northern Arizona Community Outreach Coordinator
CJ Agbannawag Tucson Membership coordinator
Connor Descheemaker Outreach Coordinator
Marianne Belardi Devour Phoenix Liaison
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Example Cases
Healthy Local Foods Initiative:
The Healthy Local Foods Initiative organizes a number of events and works to improve systems that are supporting healthy and sustainable foods in Arizona.
The Arizona Farmer + Chef Connection event brings together local food producers and wholesale food buyers at restaurants from across the state aiming to build the wholesale food networks at the local level.
Major features this event includes:
• Suppliers’ Marketplace; an all-‐day vendor fair featuring the best local food products allowing producers, distributors, and value added processors to line up with displays and samples of their products, and wholesale information.
• Breakout Sessions; this occurs throughout the Suppliers’ Marketplace and is a number of sessions and panels that cover various topics that are important to building up local food supply chains and creating successful farm to table relationships.
• Local Food Reception; this event closes off with a reception for all the attendees and it features locally sourced appetizers along with Arizona wine and beer.
Arizona Rural Development Council:
The Arizona Rural Development Council is composed of agencies and organizations that play a part in developing the rural areas in the state. The Arizona Rural Development Council does this through various programs.
The Rural Policy Forum connects rural economic development professionals, nonprofits, community leaders, business owners, and other rural stakeholders who are interested in sustaining rural communities. This event gives local communities the opportunity for skill-‐building, networking, building relationships and educating each other about the needs and services in rural Arizona.
Main Goals and Outcomes of this forum:
• Increase the community capacity of rural towns • Improve regional collaboration between nonprofits and public entities • Build relationships and facilitate networking between rural stakeholders • Grow rural advocates • Develop new strategies for building resilient communities
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Fuerza Local Accelerator:
Local First Arizona launched Fuerza Local in 2011, which is a Spanish language accelerator program that graduates 25 Latino micro-‐entrepreneurs each year. Fuerza Local Accelerator program helps small, underserved business owners to become competitive and create a business place while also helping them to establish credit so that they can borrow capital at fair rates.
Iran and Esther Garcia brought out their Latino culture to create their business Popcorn & More. Being a family owned business they did not know how to go about their business plan. Fuerza Local Accelerator program helped them understand and properly establish and manage their business; some valuable topics brought with the program are business administration and customer service.
I Am a Localist:
The Localist program launched in 2013, this was a way for individuals to have a stake in the Buy Local movement and to have fun while supporting local businesses.
Being a localist means residents getting together to support their communities by getting a membership to “be a localist”. The Basic Annual Membership is $20 per year or a 3 year membership for $50. The members gain discounts to local stores and even invites to exclusive behind the scene event where they are part of this movement to support local businesses.
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Devour Phoenix:
Devour Phoenix is a city wide coalition of select, independent restaurants operating under the local first Arizona umbrella. It works to maintain a platform to share ideas, purchasing power, and marketing dollars to create advanced dining in the Phoenix area.
They want to create an image for Phoenix to be seen as a respected destination for dining and culinary exploration not only to build awareness in Phoenix but also to share resources for growth and strength of the restaurants. A main goal they work towards is encouraging the use of local agriculture and local artisans as a means for increasing sustainability in the region.
Weekend Zona:
Weekend Zona is a Local First Arizona Project to help people discover the perfect weekend getaway in Arizona. It is vacationing done the local way to keep jobs in Arizona. Weekend Zona is not a typical travel blog. Husband and Wife – Dean and Nina take their followers on trips throughout the state that can be done in one to four days.
Dean and Nina look for the unique, quirky and most importantly the places that show real local flavour. In search for this they create getaway guides and follow up videos for followers to see what they would be expecting. The guides include; things to do, places to stay, where to eat, shopping and nightlife available in local areas.
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ArtScape Webpage: http://www.torontoartscape.org/
Description Artscape is a not-‐for-‐profit urban development organization that makes space for creativity and transforms communities. Their work involves clustering people together in real estate projects that serve the needs of the arts and cultural community and advance multiple public policy objectives, private development interests, community and neighbourhood aspirations, and philanthropic missions. Artscape does this through various programs for Artists, Creative Entrepreneurs, Youth, and Creative Placemakers. Their sister company BC Artplace is situated in British Columbia to develop creative placemaking projects and provide mentorship and coaching to support initiatives. Artscape has been recognized as an international leader in creative placemaking to grow and transform communities. Every year Artscape delivers a number of benefits including millions in economic savings to the community. Over the past year these benefits included:
• $3.6 Million in savings passed on to Artscape artists and organizations on annual commercial and residential occupancy costs.
• Rental rates for artists and not-‐for-‐profit organizations 58% lower than gross average rates for commercial spaces in downtown and midtown.
• Over $1 million in annual in subsidies to community groups and not-‐for-‐profit organizations to access Artscape event venue spaces.
Artscape DIY is Artscape’s place for information and inspiration to support creative placement in communities. Artscape DIY provides case studies,
tools and resources, including downloadable templates, films, guides, and articles designed to help people startup a business through affordable space for culture and creativity contributing to the revitalization of communities. Artscape DIY is a central component of the Creative Placemaking Lab programs and services offered and they hope to engage communities across Canada in cultural, environmental, social, and economic contributions of creative placemaking. To do this they want to build community capacity to integrate creative and cultural facilities and activities into their communities. The Artscape DIY Creative Placemaking Toolbox is designed to provide users with all the tools and resources that they need in order to get started on their own cultural facility development or to explore creative placemaking practices. There are main tips that Artscape DIY provides including; Main stages of Project Development, Important factors in a successful project, What to consider when selecting a site, How to use planning tools, How to manage a project, and many other tips based on the type of facility the user is interested in. Within each section there are additional resources and information to help users focus their project and create an interactive community – a large factor being collaboration and how to manage a project from start to finish.
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Artscape currently has a number of projects including;
BC Artscape Lofts at PACE and 210 Simcoe
Distillery Studios Gibraltar Point Launchpad Sandbox
Triangle Lofts
West Queen West Weston Hub
Wynchwood Barns Youngplace
Daniels Spectrum Parkdale Arts & Cultural Centre
Team
Funding Artscape receives funding from over 116 Organizations:
Tim Jones CEO
Celia Smith President
Pru Robey Vice President
Support From:
Major Funding From:
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Artscape Distillery Studios, Nuit Blanche 2011
Daniels Spectrum; Regent Park, Toronto
Example Cases
Artscape Distillery Studios (Distillery District, Toronto, ON):
When Cityscape acquired the old Gooderham and Worts Distillery in December 2001, Artscape was a major partner in creating their planning strategy. Using arts and entertainment as a main driver to revitalize the site after retail approaches had failed to generate business in the 1990’s. Artscape was able to re-‐purpose the area into below-‐market designer retail spaces, theatre and rehearsal venues, and artist studios. The Artscape Distillery Studios helped to revitalize this historical industrial area and create authenticity around the Distillery District creating a foundation for arts and cultural activities.
Daniels Spectrum (Regent Park, Toronto, ON):
Operated by Artscape, Daniels Spectrum is a community cultural hub in Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood which opened in 2012. It is the home to many arts based and community focused organizations. Daniels Spectrum hosts thousands of visitors and hundreds of arts and cultural events with programs for youth and adults, special events for the community, hallway gallery art exhibits, and shared workspaces.
Daniels Spectrum has been awarded;
• Great Place Award, EDRA (USA), 2015 • Civic Trust Award, Community Impact and
Engagement (UK), 2015 • Good Design is Good Business, Architectural Record,
2014 • Best New Venue for Meetings and Events in Canada,
BizBash Magazine, 2013
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Take-‐Away
Main Take-‐Aways from this report
• Promoting Local Artists • Applying for Grants and generating Funds • Developing Business Improvement Area’s
(BIAs) • Preserving Heritage • Artistic Storefronts
• Pop-‐up Events • Community Resources
» Relationships on a Local/Regional/Provincial level
» Relationship with Artscape in Toronto
The Town of Oakville is fortunate to have a Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning campus. The Trafalgar campus in Oakville is tied with programs in animation, arts and design, advanced film and television, music theatre, business, community studies, liberal arts and more. With students and local artists help we can revitalize old areas or even attract new areas for not only the people of Oakville but those also passing through or in surrounding areas so that the arts and culture is kept alive. They are an asset to the Oakville community, and when construction is undergoing the streets of Oakville we could create a program for artists to help in the community to keep the businesses -‐ affected by the construction -‐ alive.
To help generate creative projects in Oakville we could start by looking into what type of grants are available to support projects; this is what ArtPlace America is all about, supporting projects with funding from federal agencies, foundations, and institutions.
Developing Business Improvement Districts is a large part of these projects and is seen in all of the cases. These strategies can be implemented in Oakville’s Business Improvement Areas to help revitalize and establish community development by creating spaces for residents and businesses and ultimately a vibrant community.
A large part of Oakville is its heritage and preserving its historical features, to make this attract people today implementing local arts initiatives and community involvement could revitalize Oakville while keeping its heritage and culture. This was a large part of the Create Here Now project; they created a new use for a historical arcade while preserving the heritage of the building.
Creating artistic storefronts to attract the community was used in several of the cases above, including REVOLVE Detroit, Alaska Arts Confluence, Irrigate St. Paul, and ImaginArt in the Alleys. They all used arts to draw attention to the stores in attempt to generate business and community involvement. This especially worked when areas were undergoing construction causing losses to businesses, the use of arts and culture would drive people to continue to go to these places even though there was construction going on.
Oakville could also benefit from pop-‐up events; businesses can not only try out the areas, but it is also a great marketing tool and allows for networking. This could also bring in more businesses and people.
Local First Arizona is largely based on generating everything local as in state wide – this is something that could be implemented either at a local, regional, or provincial level.
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An asset that Oakville could use is located right here in the GTA – Artscape. Many of Artscapes projects have been implemented in the Downtown Toronto core but they strive for outer communities to get involved. Artscape DIY has resources for communities to design creative placemaking initiatives -‐ making sure that there is engagement in the community and response to local needs.