Freedom Square
Freedom Square features an art stage and hosts block-party style events, with free music and food, multicamera shoots, resource tables, and art activities for children. Media Alliance, a nonprofit focused on arts and cultural development in Troy, led two major components of the project: the installation of an art stage, and the development of The…
Read MoreThe King’s Canvas
The studio sits in the West Side of Montgomery, Alabama, in Washington Park, a neighborhood with a rich history of Black entrepreneurship and excellence that has experienced decades of disinvestment and widespread vacancy. After a sixteen-year hiatus from using his creativity, Kevin King, founder and executive director of The King’s Canvas, was gifted painting supplies,…
Read MorePegasus Garden
After the city demolished a home, the resulting vacant lot attracted illegal drug activity to the area. Jennifer Grau, a Prospect PLACE neighborhood resident, said “Neighbors wanted to create a colorful space for gathering and gardening that would signal to those who live here and those passing by that we live in a connected, vibrant,…
Read MoreMill Hill
The project is led by the Macon Arts Alliance, an umbrella agency for arts and creative organizations in Macon whose mission is to foster and support the advancement of arts and culture in Central Georgia. The Alliance runs a variety of programs but the East Macon Arts Village is unique in that it was their…
Read MoreLynn Lights
Lynn is a formerly industrial city on the Atlantic coast just north of Boston, and in the early 2000s it was suffering from economic and built environment challenges. Local leaders were working to address those issues and were interested in community feedback. As part of this work, the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency (MassDevelopment) held a…
Read MoreKalamazoo Fare Games
Throughout 2016, six competitors, all local food entrepreneurs, provided food samples and business plans to community members in a “small bites” tasting event. A committee for the Fare Games guided this process, mentored the competitors on their business plans, and ultimately voted to select Pho on the Block to occupy the new restaurant space. The…
Read MoreGary Public Murals and Statues
At its peak, Gary had a population of more than 200,000 people but over the years its population has declined to 80,000 people. Steel mills and oil refineries along the lakefront were once large employers but as the industry declined, so have job opportunities. As has happened with other rust belt communities, when those employers…
Read MoreDesign Dash
West Oakland has long been a center of systemic exclusion. Once a thriving African American community, it is now a struggling area due to historic redlining, an intrusive highway system, pollution from the Port of Oakland, and dilapidated infrastructure. Just north of downtown, the area finds itself sandwiched between gentrification hotspots as a result of…
Read MoreDARTS
The pop-up hosted daily programming for all ages which connected with the day’s theme and included stand-up comedians, magic performances, and more. Attendees were encouraged to take the books with them and to then pass them onto their neighbors and friends once they had finished reading them. The catalyzing force behind this project was the…
Read MoreBeyond Walls Mural Festival
Located just north of Boston on the Atlantic Ocean, Lynn, was once a thriving manufacturing center. It was dubbed the “shoe-making capital of the world” in 1885, but as production began to decline and eventually moved elsewhere, Lynn, like many cities, was left with large industrial buildings and the need for new economic opportunities. The…
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