Creative Placemaking Case Study: North Collinwood

Home , Collinwood, Euclid Beach Park, Northeast Ohio

The Kresge Foundation Creative Placemaking Case Study: North Collinwood

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In 1950, Cleveland was the 7th largest city in the In the North Collinwood case, four key stakeholders U.S. Today it ranks 48th. Like other Rust Belt cities, worked together to restore locals’ optimism about the Cleveland’s heavy manufacturing industry began a long, neighborhood’s future by rebuilding the community with and steep decline after mid-century, leading to massive from local creative assets. Those stakeholders include: job losses coupled with white flight to the suburbs. Now, most of Cleveland’s neighborhoods face the 1— Northeast Shores 3— Local Artists, mostly daunting task of attracting new residents to recover lost Development Corporation, North Collinwood residents, population and fight the blight of vacancy and neglect. a CDC operating in North but also other artists from Collinwood since 1995, grew greater Cleveland, who In North Collinwood, a Cleveland neighborhood sitting beyond its real estate focus make art in and for the on Lake Erie’s south shore, a community development to mobilize the arts as a community. They provide a corporation (Northeast Shores) together with a strategic transformative engagement natural source of talent to arts intermediary (Community Partnership for Arts and tool. Northeast Shores aid community development, Culture, or CPAC) deliberately integrated arts and culture involved local artists in and local owners of into comprehensive community development. Working development because it saw creative businesses with a strategic framework created by CPAC, Northeast them as powerful resources are key components Shores achieved success by (1) recognizing, honoring, for community building. of the neighborhood’s incorporating, and nurturing indigenous cultural economic rejuvenation. assets, (2) tying artists to community through property 2— Community Partnership ownership, and (3) initiating small, artist-led projects for Arts and Culture (CPAC) 4— North Collinwood that spread roots in the community. a nonprofit, strategic Residents are a fertile source intermediary, supports of creative ideas, passion, In this post-industrial neighborhood, Creative arts organizations in and energy for addressing Placemaking1—the intentional integration of arts and Cleveland through capacity community issues. Change culture into comprehensive community development— building, research, and effected by community helped reverse local population decline, rebuild a central policy development. CPAC’s develop has the most direct commercial corridor around arts businesses, and restore interest in community impact on them. a positive identity to the neighborhood. Northeast development is just one Shores and CPAC brought together residents, local in a series of “creative artists, arts-oriented businesses, and city government intersections” where it has agencies to execute a stream of community development studied how arts and culture projects that have turned around vacancy rates and contribute creative solutions attracted new businesses to the neighborhood. to civic issues.

01 THE CREATIVE PLACEMAKING FIELD

The partnership between Northeast Creative Placemaking is an local arts and cultural assets to Shores and CPAC illustrates a emerging field still in its advance equitable outcomes in their critical configuration that fueled 4 dynamic infancy. communities since the early 1980s . creative placemaking success: Mark Stern and Susan Seifert created an on-the-ground community In 2009-2010, a burst of activity the Social Impacts of the Arts anchor working in concert with formed the critical turning point: Project in 1994 to explore how local a catalyst with specialist skills Rocco Landesman’s appointment as arts and culture affect community and connections reaching outside Chairman of the National Endowment life and to inform strategies for the city. Northeast Shores takes for the Arts, the formation of the neighborhood revitalization, an experimental and iterative ArtPlace America partnership, and social inclusion, and community 5 approach to embedding artists into the Markusen-Gadwa whitepaper2. wellbeing . Maria Rosario Jackson community actions. They try many This coalescence, while definitively at the Urban Institute launched small projects and willingly admit establishing the field’s conceptual the Arts and Culture Indicators they have not figured everything name, built upon work that had Project in 1996 to establish a out yet. Coming from a real estate already been going on for decades. more expansive definition of arts orientation, their mindset has been The practice of community and culture, inclusive of heritage focused on giving artists a stake development has a history stretching based cultural practices and non- in the fate of the neighborhood back to the 19th Century, and was professional activity and create a through home ownership and enfranchised in federal policy and cultural data framework as well as other displays of commitment. funding in 1974. With The Death a set of measures, based on widely CPAC provides advice on research and Life of Great American Cities available data, of the cultural vitality methodology and financial in 1961, Jane Jacobs helped spark of communities. This work made literacy to arts organizations a revolution in urban planning an objective and empirical case in northeast Ohio. They also theory toward a more sociological for the significance of activities 6 connect their partners to regional and cultural perspective anchored relevant to “creative placemaking” . funding networks and share their in understanding the needs of Studies by anthropologists Alaka techniques and findings with other neighborhood residents, real people. Wali (of “informal arts”) and practitioners integrating the arts Richard Florida’s influential and Maribel Alvarez (of emerging and into non-arts domains. controversial theory of the creative alternative arts organizations) class and its importance as a driving brought deeper understanding of This case study offers two force in U.S. post-industrial cities the natural grassroots operation of contributions to the field of 7 appeared in 20023. culture and its artistic expressions . Creative Placemaking: (1) a model These pioneering efforts observed of the main constituent sectors Intentional intellectual contributions and documented a more expansive of cross-sector collaboration in to the field of Creative Placemaking definition of arts and culture, Creative Placemaking, and (2) can be separated into two phases— interrogated the roles of arts recognition that inherent in the “laying the foundation” and and culture in communities, and structure of Creative Placemaking “consolidating the field”. Though assayed new methods for measuring programs is a challenge: how to work in the latter phase may be the presence of arts and culture truly link the abstract ideas of better known, because it was then activity in communities, and the planners to the tangible concerns the field took on a name, earlier contributions that activity was and lives of community residents. forbearers did groundbreaking making to its communities. Creative Placemaking in North work in several different areas. Collinwood had an answer in the In the 1970s, the Comprehensive The landmark whitepaper by Ann form of a collaboration between Employment Training Act spurred, Markusen and Ann Gadwa is an CPAC and Northeast Shores. among other things, development early and primary exemplar of field of neighborhood programs that consolidation writing. They and 8 employed artists to improve a number of other authors have community environments. Numerous defined and clarified the scope of community based arts organizations the term “creative placemaking,” across the country had been using illustrated the range and profusion of its on-the-ground work through

02 Creative Placemaking in North Collinwood short example cases, offered guidelines for practitioners, suggested elements that should make up the field’s philosophy and theory (of social change, of art, of political context), and discussed the tactics, strategy, and problems of Creative Placemaking as a social change movement. However, much work remains to be done defining the parameters of the field and capturing the nuances of field practitioner work in communities.

Creative Placemaking still labors to overcome a handful of stubborn shibboleths about the position of “arts and culture” in contemporary American society. Creative Placemaking seeks to extend earlier efforts and replace a conventional concept of art as a currency of elites, or a luxury good only produced by specialists, with a broader and more democratic notion that art-making is an North Collinwood is bounded on the north by the Lake Erie shore, and by the freeway and railroad essential process naturally embedded in tracks to the south. Its eastern boundary is East 185th Street. East 133th Street is its western all communities. To gain recognition of boundary (not visible on the map). Most of Northeast Shores focus for commercial real estate their significance, Creative Placemaking revitalization has been on Waterloo Road, paralleling the community’s southern boundary, between East 152nd and East 161st streets. programs have to continually push against the widespread assumption that economic factors are singular in determining standard of living and well- SETTING OF THE CASE being. And because built environment changes are easier to see and appreciate Along with three other major With plants closing, corporate than softer, more abstract, complex U.S. cities, Cleveland lost more headquarters relocating, and social and cultural changes, Creative than half its population in the six manufacturing jobs disappearing, Placemaking efforts often struggle to decades following 1950. Having leaving Cleveland was the best definitively show the effects of their flourished during the founding option for anyone able to move. program actions if they are not tied era of U.S. standardized mass The poor, elderly, and structurally to real estate development or other production, the city was in the unemployed were left behind. construction projects. vanguard of the post-industrial There was an undercurrent of Rust Belt decline. Until World War white flight to this demographic This case study aspires to contribute to I, immigrants from Southern and change, and racial tensions the field by drawing inferences about Eastern Europe filled the growing mounted as economic conditions the social structure of collaboration number of manufacturing jobs, in the inner city worsened. at the center of Creative Placemaking clustering into ethnic residential Poorly conceived attempts at from a qualitative, ethnographic9 enclaves. As the stream of cheap urban renewal exacerbated account of one on-the-ground effort. European immigrant labor dried overcrowding problems in certain Understanding the “social organization up after World War I, Cleveland’s black neighborhoods on the east of action” from the details of an example industries turned to blacks from side of the city. Over six nights in Creative Placemaking project should help the American South as a new the summer of 1966, violent civil practitioners and planners improve the source of workers. Between 1910 disorder erupted in the African effectiveness of future efforts. and 1920, the black population of American Hough neighborhood, the city increased by more than 300 shocking the entire Cleveland percent, while racial discrimination community into realizing they restricted where they could settle. could no longer ignore the festering The Central neighborhood became problems of disadvantage driven Cleveland’s first black community. by racial prejudice.

03 Community members responded by electing Carl Stokes as the first black mayor of a major U.S. city, in 1967. The Hough uprising also inspired neighborhood social movements that evolved into grassroots “lease- purchase” housing programs. In 1968, Hough Area Development Corporation emerged, becoming one of the first CDCs in the country10.

Cleveland has 27 CDCs that act as The White Stripes in 2000 and the Black Keys in 2002 played the Beachland Ballroom before they became “little city halls,” according to city nationally known. council member Mike Polensek. Their principal role is to revitalize local development intermediaries There was considerable tension real estate markets by providing started to take note. The Enterprise around the organizational changes neighborhood services, procuring Foundation and the Local Initiatives dictated to CDCs at the time, funding from a range of sources, and Support Corporation opened branch but eventually the community supporting community organizing. offices in Cleveland. The Community development ecosystem settled Cleveland’s system of CDCs grew Development Block Grant program into a consensus that CDCs should organically from what Norman brought a new, steadier source pursue market-oriented, mixed- Krumholz called the “neighborhood of funding. By the mid 1980’s, a income residential and commercial crisis of the 1970s.” The CDCs rambling, heterogeneous, citywide real estate revitalization in order inherited the same bedrock problems community development sector was to reduce systemic poverty and of declining economics, race and in place. disadvantage by attracting new residents with higher income and poverty in the inner city from But the move to organize and previous decades, compounded by education levels to help rejuvenate consolidate CDC funding begun the city economy and boost local a burst of neighborhood activism with the Cleveland Housing Network that culminated in the short, real estate values. The sub-prime was symptomatic of a deeper set of mortgage and financial crises of troubled mayoral administration of issues that eventually arose between Dennis Kucinich. 2007-09 dealt Cleveland a severe the local CDCs and their funders. setback their progress denting In 1981, the Famicos Foundation In 1985, local foundations created high vacancy rates and increasing and five other neighborhood a new intermediary, the Cleveland property ownership by residents organizations formed the Cleveland Neighborhood Partnership Program, with low and moderate incomes. Housing Network. The grassroots to help drive a unified vision of the Real estate values that had been umbrella organization’s purpose was projects they should support and to nurtured patiently over decades to coordinate the complex financing rationalize the funding from various in poor neighborhoods collapsed 11 arrangements that were the life philanthropic, corporate, and city almost overnight . blood of community development government sources. Intermediaries entities trying to stabilize struggling exerted pressure on the CDCs to North Collinwood is blessed with a neighborhoods by preserving professionalize their organizations lakeside location at the northeastern local housing stock and creating and staff, to merge and consolidate, corner of the city of Cleveland’s home ownership opportunities. and to be more market oriented. municipal area. Some of the At this point there were at least By 1993, the city council approved lakeshore is accessible through three 10 CDCs pursuing this mission in a new, competitive process for public parks. North Collinwood’s Cleveland, and national community allocating block grants. nearest neighbor along the lakeshore to the west, Bratenahl, features

04 Creative Placemaking in North Collinwood mansions, estates and private integration erupted sporadically at When the newspaper she edited lakeshore properties, attesting to the Collinwood High School, and other was sold to a large corporation, she desirability of Collinwood’s location. racial incidents continued in the decided to quit that job to focus community into the 1980s13. on stopping the wave of blight that For much of its history – during threatened her community, and the the mid 19th to mid 20th centuries Cindy Barber “discovered” Collinwood still-vibrant commercial corridor – Collinwood was at the heart of in in the mid-80s, after several of of 185th Street. When the Croatian Cleveland’s rail commerce. In fact, at her musician and artist friends Liberty Hall on Waterloo Road came the height of its operation in 1929, the moved there. She fell in love with the up for sale, she bought the old Collinwood Railroad Yards handled isolated, forgotten little neighborhood community dance hall and turned into 2,000 rail cars a day across its 120 and moved there herself in 1986. a music venue, which she and her miles of track as one of the main Sometimes referred to as “the mayor business partner opened in March repair and transfer points for the New of Collinwood”, she is an early, of 2000 as the Beachland Ballroom. York Central Railroad. In 1933, nearly pivotal figure in the history of Creative “Beachland” was the slang name 2,000 workers were employed there. Placemaking in this community. for the whole North Collinwood The rail corridor still divides North and neighborhood, inspired by its Cindy went to polka dances and pig South Collinwood today, though the destination location, the Euclid Beach roasts in the small ethnic saloons facility closed in 1981, having been amusement park. converted earlier to diesel locomotive around the neighborhood, and repair shops12. wrote about the indie rock scene as Stabilization did come, starting four editor of the Cleveland Free Times. years later, in 2004, when Music Collinwood has known its share of She watched as her older Croatian, Saves set up shop next door to the racial turmoil. One year after the Lithuanian, and Slovenian neighbors Beachland Ballroom on Waterloo end of World War II, an interracial died off, their children having moved Road. The deal was helped along by crowd of veterans in uniform and civil out to the suburbs. African Americans Brian Friedman, who had taken over rights activists picketed the Euclid started moving in from Glenville, as executive director of Northeast Beach amusement park protesting and unscrupulous real estate agents Shores CDC a year before. In fact, its 45-year history of excluding fomented fear, encouraging whites Friedman’s entry into the local African Americans. Several weeks to sell and move out while they could development scene marked a later, members of the Congress of still get something for their property. noticeable uptick in development Racial Equality were beaten when Some homeowners simply abandoned activity in the neighborhood. they attempted to enter the park’s their homes; drug dealing and dance hall. Days later, CORE members prostitution took over local streets. 1 were again treated roughly by park Creative police as they tried to enter the businesses BRICK, Praxis & Ink House dance hall a second time. Two off- locate on Waterloo Rd. duty, black Cleveland police officers CPAC holds first From Rust Belt to Ballot Box tried to intervene and scuffled with Project vote Independent Artist Belt Collinwood taken the park police. The next year, the record store Music conference Recreation Center Saves opens on opens city council passed an ordinance Waterloo Rd. banning racial discrimination at 2000 2005 2010 2015 Blue Arrow Records Six Shooter Cleveland’s amusement parks. opens store on Coffee Shop Following four summers of interracial Opening night, Waterloo Rd. Waterloo Road opens on Beachland Ballroom Streetscape Waterloo Rd. swimming, Euclid Beach closed its construction begins bathing facilities in 1951. The whole Brian Friedman hired Artists In as Northeast Shores Residence project amusement park shut down for executive director launched in North Glencove building Collinwood begins taking artist good in 1969, after years of financial tenants for 6 live-work decline. Between 1965 and 1975, units white-instigated violence over racial

05 NORTHEAST SHORES

Formed in 1994, Northeast Shores Development Corporation focuses on real estate: specifically, maintaining residential and commercial density in North Collinwood through buyer financing. Currently, Northeast Shores helps administer city programs; develops, manages, and sells residential and commercial properties; operates a charter school; and produces community engagement programs. They coordinate closely with city agencies and with Mike Polensek, the council member for their area (Ward 8), especially when their development projects involve changes to the built environment. Northeast Shores 1-Phone Booth Gallery, 2-Praxis Fiber Workshop, 3-Ink House, 4-Azure Stained Glass Studio, 5-Dru also partners frequently with local Christine Fabrics and Design, 6-Beachland Ballroom, 7-Music Saves, 8-Blue Arrow Records, 9-Six Shooter Coffee Café, 10-Brick Ceramic + Design Studio, 11-Northeast Shores office, 12-Glencove Building, schools and healthcare organizations 13-Collinwood Recreation Center, 14-LaSalle Theater. as well as community groups, such as The Salvation Army and Waterloo Arts. the neighborhood. (Beachland attracting artists to live and work Ballroom’s Cindy Barber was on in their community, coupled with a Like Cleveland’s other CDCs, the CDC’s board at that time.) two-year collaboration with CPAC Northeast Shores is assigned Friedman wanted to build on these in creative Placemaking called a specific geographic area— assets, but he didn’t put two and “Artists in Residence,”15 prompted encompassing about 3 square miles two together until 2009, when them to inject artists into all of their and some 16,000 residents. As a he attended the launch of CPAC’s community development work, from community-supported, 501(c) 3 “Putting Artists on the Map”14 study rehabbed housing to community organization Northeast Shores aims of how artists decide where to live programming. Now one of Northeast to rehabilitate vacant buildings and and work. The CPAC report made Shores mantras is “artists make lots, returning them to productive clear that the artists who actually everything better.” use, occupancy, and the tax rolls— lived in Northeast Ohio were already not to accumulate property. Their choosing to live in exactly the kind of commercial revitalization efforts Focusing Artists on housing stock that Collinwood had were focused first on Waterloo Road, had in abundance: two story, wooden Community Issues and now are turning to East 185th frame houses with a detached garage Street, where the historic LaSalle Over the past 5-6 years, Northeast and a yard. Theater is slated for restoration and Shores has funded numerous artist projects to engage the community. conversion to a multi-use culture and This realization deflated the With relatively modest grants of media production center. stereotype of artists as Bohemians around $5,000, these programs seeking dense, fully urbanized, When Brian Friedman joined direct artists’ creative energies quasi-industrial spaces to work Northeast Shores as executive toward pressing community issues and live in. From this insight, it was director in 2003, he quickly such as building vacancy, teen a short, logical step to creating a recognized the indigenous assets engagement, and public health. program designed to attract artists present in Beachland Ballroom To make these collaborations with to fill neighborhood vacancies and and the musicians and visual artists work, Northeast Shores had build a local creative economy. artists who made their homes in to adjust their understanding of art Northeast Shores’ success in and artists.

06 Creative Placemaking in North Collinwood Coming from backgrounds in real estate and community organizing, staff had to drop their initial preconceptions of art as “something that hangs on a wall” and came to see it as action and experience. For instance, they previously would have not considered a house remodel as installation art, but upon experiencing it, they were surprised by its effectiveness. Five years in, Northeast Shores staff have come to value artists as creative thinkers who will come up with unconventional but effective approaches, and they have come to recognize the arts as a way Jessica Pinsky teaches local high schoolers how to felt at Praxis Fiber Workshop. Photo: Bridget Caswell. to enhance the experience residents have when engaging with community development programs. into an attractive, 12-page booklet. and shared communications. Both They nixed a dry information session of these programs aim to project an Giving Artists a Stake in the in favor of a fun arts project session arts identity for the neighborhood, Neighborhood for all ages. Families brought their presenting Collinwood as a place children, participants said they where artists want to live and With financing that reduces the risks enjoyed themselves, and the event where they can feasibly grow a and initial investment, Northeast drew more residents than usual. creative business. Shores helps artists buy a home or Today, Northeast Shores measures a building for their business in the community engagement based on Inspired by CPAC, Northeast community. Property ownership whether an event truly captures the Shores is continually trying new helps ensure artists, residents, and attention and active involvement approaches to arts-based community new businesses have a stake in the of residents. By integrating art improvement. The local CDC has fully success of the neighborhood. When and artists into civic interactions, embraced Creative Placemaking. Six artists own their homes and business Northeast Shores transforms characteristics of this CDC’s operating properties, they bolster the visibility community engagement from culture contribute strongly to their and critical mass of the creative plodding, dull bureaucracy into success in intentionally embedding community, and they identify more interactive performances. arts and culture into their community strongly with Collinwood, leading development mission: them to take on community issues as a personal passion. Communicating the 1. Their actions are experimental Neighborhood’s Arts and iterative Art Is an Engagement Tool Identity 2. They try many ideas and remain Traditionally, when CDCs share Northeast Shores actively markets ready to shift them as necessary to information or monitor compliance Collinwood, communicating the be successful neighborhood’s artistic identity to of housing code and other rules, 3. Their overriding criteria for potential homeowners and customers they host community meetings or success are: ‘Did it improve in Ohio and beyond. Their “Welcome distribute published information. community vitality?’ and ‘Did we to Cleveland” event, executed as Northeast Shores, on the other hand, improve community engagement?’ draws on artists to design better part of the Artists in Residence materials and more entertaining program, took artists from outside 4. They build with and on the interactions, believing that Ohio on tours of Collinwood and community’s existing social and incorporating arts elements into other Cleveland artist communities cultural assets formal community meetings shifts to entice them to buy a home and them into approachable, enjoyable move to the city. The “Made in 5. Their process is democratic conversations. For instance, the CDC Collinwood” campaign is establishing and transparent hired artists to distill a phonebook- a unified brand for makers and like “Choose your School” resource artists in Collinwood through 6. They delegate project leadership marketing consulting, logo design, to artists

07 THREE STORIES OF CROSS-SECTOR COLLABORATION

North Collinwood serves as an example of how Creative Placemaking works in real time.

The relationship between CPAC and CPAC and Northeast Shores: Since its founding in 2000, CPAC’s Northeast Shores forms the backbone focus has been research. In fact, it for all the Creative Placemaking A Collaboration Framed by was born out of a research project. In efforts undertaken in North Research 1997, the Cleveland Foundation and Collinwood since August 2012, when The joint effort between CPAC and the George Gund Foundation began the two organizations launched the Northeast Shores brought together a reaching out to public sector partners Artists in Residence program. That data-driven organization and a boots- because they realized they could not collaboration contained numerous on-the-ground community developer. carry the entire funding burden alone component projects. This case study Empirical research undertaken by for Cleveland’s many arts and culture covers the history of those sub- CPAC informed and inspired much of nonprofits. They hired Tom Schorgl projects and the follow-on work they the Artist in Residence work the two to design a coordinated cultural plan spawned by exploring three cross- organizations completed together to strengthen greater Cleveland’s sector collaborations: CPAC with between 2011 and 2014. “Picturing arts and culture sector, informed by Northeast Shores, Northeast Shores Collinwood”16 mapped cultural assets a study of the local arts landscape. with local artists, and Northeast by way of a community survey, while CPAC was the result of that project, Shores with local residents. small grants for artists functioned as and Schorgl took over as President mini experiments, uncovering new and CEO of the newly-formed strategic topics that resonated with community arts intermediary. members and bringing forward local artists previously unknown to community developers.

08 Creative Placemaking in North Collinwood CPAC’s approach is to investigate fully a “creative Collinwood three days a intersection” where arts and culture can contribute to week with the Northeast community building in collaboration with a non-arts sector, Shores team. This then pass along those insights and resources to partners arrangement allowed him to who can move the work forward independently. Then CPAC become deeply integrated turns its attention to the next creative intersection. Their into the Northeast Shores creative placemaking collaboration with Northeast Shores CPAC’s approach organization and the came about when they were focused on the intersection of is to investigate ongoing field work while arts and culture with community development. Since then, consolidating learnings and they have focused on healthcare as a creative intersection, different “creative solving problems with his and later on public safety as yet another intersection. intersections” CPAC colleagues during the other two days. CPAC spread their research mindset to Northeast Shore in where arts three ways: The Creative Placemaking and culture elements and research 1. They published a detailed technical research report can contribute components in the Artists containing specific insights that any CDC working in in Residence plan reflect Northeast Ohio would find indispensable in shaping to community both Schorgl’s CPAC the way it integrated artists into its community building in philosophies and Beattie’s development work (“Putting Artists on the Map”) graduate thesis work at 2. They jointly prototyped an approach to community collaboration with Cleveland State’s Levin surveying inside the Artists in Residence Creative a non-arts sector College of Urban Affairs. Placemaking program (“Picturing Collinwood”) He studied the potential 3. They created a template methodology enabling of self-documentary Northeast Shores to conduct its own research to photography for advancing uncover arts and cultural assets existing in the equity principles in community (“Guide to Mapping Neighborhood Arts and the public sector. He 17 Culture Assets” ) was also influenced by Ryerson University In 2009, CPAC released the results of “Putting Artists on research on longitudinal the Map,” a systematic statistical analysis of how artists community surveying that decide where to live and work. They aimed to give all the measured the economic CDCs in Cuyahoga County a set of tools for identifying and social impact of what specific amenities or attributes were driving artists cultural investments18. to locate in their communities. Those tools included maps and regression analyses to use in answering questions The Artists in Residence such as, “Where are Cuyahoga County’s artists located?” sub-project Picturing and “What variables suggest a neighborhood may be Collinwood grew directly desirable to artists?” from Beattie’s background. Twenty neighborhood When Northeast Shore’s Brian Friedman heard CPAC residents were given present the report, he realized Collinwood had an disposable cameras and abundance of exactly the type of housing Northeast Ohio asked to take pictures artists wanted to live in. And when CPAC realized they Refurbished home in North Collinwood. Fully committed to an of what they did and needed a fertile testing ground to demonstrate whether artist ownership model, Northeast did not like about North their tools worked, they settled on Collinwood, chosing Shores has several programs Collinwood. The resulting Northeast Shores as their local partner. that make owning a home in this neighborhood extremely attractive. images were displayed in a “Own Your Own (Build Your Dream)” CPAC staff member Seth Beattie served as the combines an $8,500 purchase price public exhibition and used with a sweat equity obligation. Fully as stimuli for soliciting indispensable bridge between CPAC and Northeast renovated homes (average selling Shores while the program was running. Once CPAC chose price of $75,000 - $100,000) and a input from even more Northeast Shores as their CDC partner, Beattie worked in lease-to-purchase option are also residents. They learned that offered. Photo: Seth Beattie. residents’ main concerns

09 Northeast Shores learned that residents’ main concerns were public safety, vacancy, youth engagement, and having more celebration of Collinwood’s uniqueness. These issues became the focus of the first wave of Small Grants to Community Artists at the end of 2011.

were public safety, vacancy, Using research – such as self- Realistically, it is probably youth engagement, and having documentary photography and impractical to expect to graft the more celebration of Collinwood’s community surveying – to uncover full cycle of research (design, data uniqueness. These issues became the cultural assets of the community collection, analysis, interpretation, the focus of the first wave of Small carries the assumption that and reporting), no matter how Grants to Community Artists at the identification of these assets is modest and informal its shape, onto end of 2011. Picturing Collinwood has social rather than objective, and that a CDC’s workflow. In the pressing, been continued as an annual survey the local community should decide flexible, quick-acting, controlled of residents that monitors community what those assets are, rather than chaos of normal community attitudes about the neighborhood, outsiders or experts. Northeast development, methodical research the quality of life there, the positive Shores followed a similar approach, will nearly always take a back seat or negative direction of change, of soliciting input from residents to to immediate issues. In order to and whether they want the CDC to set direction for two other projects: inject research expertise into a local continue recruiting artists to move to Collinwood Rising and Ballot Box Creative Placemaking ecosystem, the Collinwood. Attitude data are divided (described later sections below). field needs organizations like CPAC into subsets such as younger vs. with specialized research skills and older, west side vs. east side of the Nevertheless, there were limits to distance from community obligations neighborhood, and involved vs. not the amount of this research mindset and activity. involved. Five years of survey results Northeast Shores could adopt. The indicate that Northeast Shores’ CDC applied only a portion of the CPAC’s Putting Artists on the Map explorations and experiments CPAC asset mapping methodology report demonstrated to Northeast are working: during Artists in Residence. Shores and other CDCs how systematic specialist research could •• Residents view the role of artists CPAC wanted CDCs in Cuyahoga uncover surprising and actionable in community development County to conduct informal and deep insights about the very favorably, and they want qualitative research themselves challenges they face. With the guide Northeast Shores to continue about their indigenous arts and for conducting neighborhood arts recruiting artists to move culture resources. To this end, they and culture asset mapping, CPAC to Collinwood published a guide with template attempted, and partially succeeded, •• Residents who feel more involved interview questions and suggestions in spurring Northeast Shores in the community have more for collecting, mapping, and using to conduct its own research on positive perceptions and feel qualitative data. CPAC hoped this indigenous arts and culture assets. more attached to Collinwood. tool would spur CDC asset mapping The most significance influence Furthermore, there are marked research and broaden what would CPAC had on Northeast Shores was differences in feelings between qualify as “arts and culture” in to help them institute an annual involved and uninvolved residents their locales. Using knowledge of survey of neighborhood resident •• Residents feel confident that local cultural assets, CDCs would attitudes about the success of their Collinwood has a good quality of be able to truly understand the community development programs life, and unique character of their local and their view of the overall direction •• Collinwood is changing for the community and tap those assets of neighborhood improvement. This better, and for arts-based engagement and ongoing survey enables Northeast •• Collinwood is a place they feel community development. Shores to measure the success of proud of. its activity in a deep and valid way: a distinct achievement in Creative Placemaking practice.

10 Creative Placemaking in North Collinwood Northeast Shores and Artists: Iterating on Small Projects The second instructive example of North Collinwood Creative Placemaking work is the cross-sector collaboration between Northeast Shores and local artists via small project grants. These grants funded incremental “experiments” in arts-embedded community development over a wide range of topics: resident engagement, entertainment, improvement of public facilities, public art, training, art education for children, ecological sustainability, neighborhood celebration, and more.

Even before Artists in Residence, Northeast Shores was experimental: eager to try out new ideas, ready to revise approaches pragmatically, and determined to The Phone Booth Gallery transformed an abandoned pay phone into Cleveland’s smallest proceed through trial and error. Never commanding large budget amounts for art gallery. Created by artist Ivana Medukic and their operations, the CDC learned to keep their experiments small so that small designer Ali Lukacsy. Located on Waterloo Road. CPAC makes competitive awards to artists to failures would be counterbalanced by other small successes. This strategy not display their work for 1 month stints. Open 24/7. only spreads the risk more broadly, it increases the number of artists involved Illuminated at night. Photo http://clevelandartsculpture.weebly.com/ in community engagement, and creates a critical mass that more uniformly uploads/1/0/6/3/10635695/1258234.jpg?328 reaches a variety of spaces and audiences in the neighborhood.

Northeast Shores brought its experimentation mentality to the small project interested in economic development. grants component of Artists in Residence, which included three successive After participating in several such waves of calls for proposals from artists. Later, the CDC applied this same projects, Lukacsy recently purchased small-increment approach to all four Creative Placemaking programs outside of a home in Collinwood. Artists in Residence: Collinwood Rising, Collinwood Rising Vibrancy, Collinwood 2015, and Ballot Box. Ballot Box is the subject of the third story of cross-sector Collinwood 2015, which brought collaboration below. The other three programs include: together neighborhood stakeholders to figure out how the arts might Collinwood Rising, a 5-year strategic period of commercial disruption address seemingly intractable initiative launched in July 2012 to from streetscape improvements on problems of community health. address urban vacancy and increase Waterloo Road that began in Spring During the 2015 calendar year, the the vibrancy of the Waterloo Arts & 2013, dozens of small projects program distributed small project Entertainment District by engaging received grant support to enliven grants to more than 20 teams of artists. Artists lead sub-projects the Waterloo Arts and Entertainment artists and health practitioners who that convert vacant spaces into District with community art projects. proposed the most creative solutions playgrounds, arts incubators, and Eligible project teams had to include for improving health outcomes in the artist live-work spaces. The lead an artist and a business affected by neighborhood. The Kresge Foundation funder is ArtPlace America. the construction. Funders were the was the funder. Kresge Foundation and Cuyahoga Arts “Project Galleries Sip-and-Stroll” A critical element of Northeast and Culture. organized 11 different artist teams Shores’ experimental mindset is their to program storefront windows During Collinwood Rising Vibrancy, ability to admit and learn from their along Waterloo—many vacant or artist Ali Lukacsy teamed with local mistakes. Their grantee selection underutilized. Visitors were able business Mac’s Lock Shop to keep process for small project support has to drink free hot cocoa, browse the traffic and interest during street become increasingly transparent and displays and vote for their favorite. renovations. Their project, “Locks of participatory. At the start of Artists Love,” invited residents to engrave in Residence in 2011, Northeast Collinwood Rising Vibrancy, locks with romantic sentiments and Shores staff selected the projects which was modeled on “Irrigate”, attach them to a public sculpture. that would receive funding. In 2013, Springboard for the Arts’ classic The more inclusive framework of during Collinwood Rising Vibrancy, Creative Placemaking project in St. “arts projects” motivated artists a panel of community stakeholder Paul, Minnesota19. During the 1-year like Ali who otherwise would not be judges decided who received grants.

11 But when the Ballot Box project was launched in 2016, adult residents of Ward 8 selected the winning project proposals by secret ballot vote.

Lacking a roadmap for this model of community engagement, Northeast Shores creatively adjusts its programs to increase participation Get out the vote parade for Ballot Box passes the Six Shooter Coffee Café on Waterloo Road. Photo: Bridget Caswell. and community cohesion in response to residents’ critique and their the CDC and the community at voters chose nine projects,20 which own learnings. large. A close look at the Ballot Box received a total of $120,000. Projects project yields particular insight will be completed by November 2016. In its small project support, into this instance of successful Northeast Shores gives artists Creative Placemaking. By incorporating participatory the freedom to design their own budgeting into the Artists in approaches to embedding arts in Though it was not part of Artists in Residence project, Ballot Box community development activity. By Residence, Ballot Box did inherit represents the most evolved doing so, Northeast Shores respects important elements of the earlier expression of Northeast Shores’ the artists’ creative integrity while program: an emphasis on small, technique of using small, artist- activating them toward community artist-led projects, and an intent to led projects to pursue community topics with funding, generating use the grant proposal and selection development and resident a mutual engagement between process as a kind of research engagement. The CDC will artists and residents. Because methodology. Like Collinwood Rising, continue to improve their project artists are given room to exercise Ballot Box was funded by ArtPlace selection process, but they have their independent creativity, they America. In October 2015, Northeast already achieved real, democratic become personally invested in the Shores convened a community transparency. In the Ballot Box community. Property ownership meeting, where stakeholders effort, Northeast Shores innovatively amplifies this process. So cross- identified vacancy, healthy eating, added several elements on top of sector collaboration between Collinwood history, and youth arts integrated into community Northeast Shores and local artists engagement as top community development: voter registration, is based upon a bond between the priorities. Northeast Shores issued community control, and youth CDC and the artist: Northeast Shores a call for proposals based on outreach. Artist engagement provides the drive and confidence to those recommendations. activates this comprehensive continually experiment and improve community development. Artists submitted proposals impact, and the artists become and gave poster presentations personally invested in community CDC-community collaboration in to residents in a “science fair” work because their creativity is North Collinwood uses research and atmosphere at two different voting respected and validated. community arts projects to awaken venues. Voting materials and voting community power. North Collinwood booths were the standard issue has soft, not sharp, social divisions, Northeast Shores and Local supplied by the County Board of which impede full social activation. Residents: Ballot Box Elections. Anybody 14 years of age But if and when the community and older was eligible to vote, with collectively recognizes they can Serving the community, increasing the process happening over two exercise control over the direction of residents’ engagement, and days. Official voter registration local development and they become instigating optimism about the resources were also provided. To energetically engaged, Northeast future of Collinwood are at the heart get out the vote, Northeast Shores Shores will have succeeded in an of Northeast Shores’ mission. So it staff, local musicians, and engaged important part of its mission—even should come as no surprise that the residents marshaled a rambunctious though that means its activities will third key example of cross-sector parade through the neighborhood be increasingly complicated by more collaboration in North Collinwood the day before the event. Community community voices. Creative Placemaking is between

12 Creative Placemaking in North Collinwood Harvesting Leading Practices: Brookland-Edgewood CreativePlacemaking 1

THE STRUCTURE OF CREATIVE PLACEMAKING

These three stories—of CPAC guiding Planning and focusing the energy of Northeast Shores with a research mindset, of Northeast Shores pulling artists into community development through respect for creativity, ownership incentives, and small projects, and of the shifting perceptions of Arts Creative Development community control brought about by Placemaking participatory budgeting—reveal an underlying structure of cross-sector collaboration in North Collinwood Creative Placemaking.

By examining specific, salient cross- sector collaborations, it is possible Community to peer underneath the rich details of projects, personalities, and local history to see four main constituent Planning Sector sectors: planning, development, When CPAC reported on their Artists in community, and the arts. While Somewhat surprisingly, the planning Residence work in their paper “When this leaves to the side sectors like sector in this case is embodied, by Artists Break Ground,” they grouped government, philanthropy, and CPAC. In its charter, CPAC actually the first four lessons learned under local business, in this particular combines functions of the arts the label “planning.” And certainly case these sectors either play in and planning sectors. When the CPAC’s research and capacity building the background or are linked to one Cleveland Foundation and the expertise, which they brought to of the identified main constituent George Gund Foundation hired the collaboration with Northeast sectors. Also, there is a difference Tom Schorgl to create a strategic Shores, come from a planning between sectors and stakeholders. cultural plan for strengthening arts perspective. CPAC’s approach is long Stakeholders can be hybrids, pulling and culture in greater Cleveland, term, regional, cross-disciplinary, together attributes, goals, values and they were building planning into and abstract. They develop detailed skills from multiple sectors. CPAC is their mission and approach. CPAC’s proposals and component designs a prime example of this, combining strategy of investigating a series for Creative Placemaking projects in the arts and planning sectors. In this of “creative intersections” and advance of on-the-ground execution, view, sectors are functions—they can teeing up resources to hand off to which is carried out by partners. be understood by inquiring about implementation partners exercises a CPAC does an unusually good job the “jobs” the sector does inside planning discipline. CPAC’s Rust Belt of documenting their approach Creative Placemaking. Stakeholders to Artist Belt conferences fulfilled a and lessons learned, using those are unique social expressions of these planning function by creating and learnings as a mechanism for fulfilling functions, or function combinations. drawing upon a regional network their mission to strengthen other arts In order to know how these functions of specialists to help them design and culture organizations. are being applied in North Collinwood resources that could be applied in Creative Placemaking, the activities many locations across the northeast. of stakeholders must be observed They deliberately built program and interrogated. In any successful components so others could do Creative Placemaking effort, all four Creative Placemaking. sectors must be genuinely present and involved.

13 Waterloo Arts Executive Director Amy Callahan helps kids have fun at a recent Waterloo Arts Fest in North Collinwood. Photo: Bridget Caswell.

Development Sector

As a CDC, Northeast Shores clearly represents the development sector in North Collinwood Creative Placemaking. Its position as a non-profit gives it room to be comprised of at least four different as business owners to fill in vacant creative in designing a range of groups with distinct worldviews: storefronts on Waterloo Road. real estate offerings, and to invest older white residents who treasure Northeast Shores has persuaded a time and funding in projects that the pre-1960s local history; middle critical mass of creative businesses build neighborhood vibrancy and class African Americans who were to move into North Collinwood, raise the engagement of residents, instrumental in remaking the many within the last two years: without necessarily including new neighborhood by moving in during Azure Stained Glass Studio (2008), construction. Though not all of the 1980s; older, socially-committed Blue Arrow Records (2009), BRICK its projects focus on buildings, bohemians and artists who came Ceramic + Design Studio (2015), the demands for financing and in the 1980s; and younger, well- Dru Christine Fabrics and Design the delivery schedules of their educated, newly-arrived residents, (2014), INK House Printmaking construction and property some of whom are artists as well. Studio (2015), Music Saves (2004), management do make the CDC and Praxis Fiber Workshop (2015). pragmatic and action oriented. Through Creative Placemaking, Creative Placemaking has validated Northeast Shores has demonstrated local artists and brought forward Northeast Shores is also a the effectiveness of the arts in many artists previously unknown hybrid, acting simultaneously as bridging these social differences. to community developers before a community stakeholder and a Nevertheless, the organization still Artists in Residence. The Creative development stakeholder. Other struggles to achieve its desired Placemaking approach to community than the small firms engaged by level of engagement with African development taps into a rich new Northeast Shores to complete Americans. One African American reservoir of ideas and creativity for single building projects, North resident observed that the racial revitalization work, puts artists into Collinwood’s economic environment makeup of the crowds attracted leadership positions in their own has not yet attracted for-profit by the Waterloo Arts Festival was neighborhoods,and converts artists developers, so the development heavily white, in contrast with into contributors who are personally sector in this case is currently surrounding neighborhoods, which invested in putting the community on driven by the non-profit CDC. By are predominately black. Creative a positive trajectory. practicing Creative Placemaking Placemaking work by Northeast in Collinwood, Northeast Shores Shores, CPAC, and local artists has has given theoretical coherence shifted the community’s self-image Structural Challenges to its community-building activity, from a negative, backward-looking The relationship between CPAC and revolutionized how it engages with view to one where most people Northeast Shores was the central residents, and transformed the see North Collinwood changing pillar of cross-sector relationships community’s concept of what a for the better. Residents now in Collinwood Creative Placemaking. development project can be. overwhelmingly see artists as good Though the two organizations neighbors who make the Collinwood came at the work from different Community Sector a better place to live. perspectives, both were fully committed to the concept. CPAC took The most complex and multi- a more abstract, generalized, long- dimensional sector, community, is Arts Sector term, analytic view, while Northeast represented here by the residents Local artists and CPAC represent Shores, steeped in substantive themselves, and by Northeast the arts sector in Collinwood practice rooted in the community, Shores. The community sector also Creative Placemaking. In addition to had to be tangible and eclectic in includes artists who are residents. administering small project grants, responding to immediate pressures North Collinwood residents are Northeast Shores recruits artists and opportunities.

14 Creative Placemaking in North Collinwood CONCLUDING PERSPECTIVE Arts and culture were integrated into comprehensive community development in North Collinwood with inspiration from a conceptual resource base For Friedman, Creative developed deliberately by CPAC, but mostly through the actions, insights, and Placemaking encompassed decisions of Northeast Shores: numerous elements vital to Northeast Shores’ work, •• Northeast Shores recognized the manifold significance of indigenous including local arts and culture cultural assets. When community development efforts use and honor assets, vacancy solutions, artist artistic and cultural expressions native to the local community, residents property ownership, resident feel understood, respected and included. The very survival of local art and engagement, and community culture shows residents find that content appealing. Northeast Shores went vitality. Once CPAC introduced further, recognizing that the local arts and culture assets should be defined him to the approach, he was by residents: that residents - not the CDC, and not outside experts - should on board to partner with them be the authorities on local cultural assets. in exploring their first creative •• Northeast Shores rooted arts and culture in Collinwood by tying artists to intersection of arts and the community through property ownership. When artists become property community development. owners they become emotionally and economically committed to the neighborhood. The community then benefits from their creative thinking and “Experiment” means output and from more exposure to the arts. something very different •• Northeast Shores transformed one of their principal functions, community to each organization. CPAC engagement, by converting it into artist-led small projects. The result has saw North Collinwood as an been better, more meaningful, more appealing engagement. Based on ideal pilot test site for their those successes, the CDC has updated its methods to make even more use Rustbelt to Artist Belt ideas; of artists. they saw the neighborhood at a tipping point, allowing These three stories of cross-sector collaboration in North Collinwood illustrate for clear evaluation of their the structure underlying Creative Placemaking by identifying four key sectors Creative Placemaking ideas and as the minimum and necessary constituencies of any Creative Placemaking program component designs. action: planning, development, community, and the arts. Sectors are defined To Friedman and Northeast by function and distinguished from stakeholders, which are characterized Shores, “experimenting” gave as social expressions of the sector functions. Stakeholders can be hybrid the CDC license to attempt expressions of sector functions; in fact, both of the key stakeholders in the projects without assurance Collinwood work are hybrids. CPAC combines the planning and arts sectors, that they would succeed, to and, like any good CDC, Northeast Shores combines the development and respond flexibly to new issues community sectors. Other cases of Creative Placemaking may involve different with on-the-fly modifications to configurations of stakeholders playing the roles of the same underlying programs, and to layer together four sectors. multiple goals and approaches in search of positive traction. Regardless of the stakeholder and sector configuration, any Creative Besides conceptual alignment, a Placemaking effort must solve the challenge of authentically linking the key factor in the success of this abstract vision of the planning sector with the real-life concerns of people in collaboration was Seth Beattie, the community. In the North Collinwood case, this problem was addressed by who had the temperament of a a key partnership between CPAC, a strategic arts intermediary, and Northeast community organizer and the Shores, a community development corporation. skills of a reflective thinker and Despite a measured increase in engagement with the community as a whole, writer, and who kept a foot in Northeast Shores still struggles to make significant progress in involving and each organization. Without a actively welcoming African American residents who are not yet engaged. And bridge like Beattie, this vertical there is a need for a research expert (like CPAC) to continue some engagement collaboration between a with CDCs (like Northeast Shores) around identifying and studying strategic strategic arts intermediary and a research questions to address ongoing community development challenges. frenetic, passionate CDC would CDCs cannot be expected to perform this function without support. The have look dramatically different collaborative vertical relationship between CPAC and Northeast Shores, the and might not have succeeded. documentation of the lessons learned by CPAC, the research mindset that honored local cultural assets, the ongoing community survey to gauge impact, and Northeast Shores evolving its processes to be more transparent and democratic, all make Collinwood a showcase for Creative Placemaking.

15 1 The best known general conceptualiza- 2 See Parker, L. O. N. (2013). “NEA head, ENDNOTES tion of “creative placemaking” was offered by Rocco Landesman, found money in new Markusen and Gadwa in 2010: “In creative places”. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, placemaking, partners from public, private, January 2, 2013, Retrieved from http:// non-profit, and community sectors strategical- www.post-gazette.com/ae/art-archi- ly shape the physical and social character of a tecture/2013/01/02/NEA-head-Rocco- neighborhood, town, city, or region around arts Landesman-found-money-in-new-places/ and cultural activities. Creative placemaking stories/201301020204; Markusen, A., and animates public and private spaces, rejuve- Anne Gadwa (2010), Creative Placemaking, nates structures and streetscapes, improves National Endowment for the Arts; Rapson, R. local business viability and public safety, and (2014), “Creative placemaking: The next phase brings diverse people together to celebrate, for ArtPlace; Address to the ArtPlace Summit in inspire, and be inspired.” Kresge’s approach fits Los Angeles,” Retrieved from http:// comfortably inside this definition, but focuses kresge.org/library/creative-placemaking-next- on a specific outcome. phase-artplace . ArtPlace, in stating the concept of creative placemaking that informs their attempt to position arts and culture as a core sector of 3 The Housing and Community De- comprehensive community planning and velopment Act of 1974, See https:// development, covers this same ground, while www.hudexchange.info/resource/2184/ emphasizing certain aspects of the work: housing-and-community-develop- “creative placemaking … describes projects ment-hcd-act-of-1974/. Jacobs, J. (1961). The in which art plays an intentional and integrat- Death and Life of Great American Cities. New ed role in place-based community planning York: Random House. Florida, R. (2014). The and development. This brings artists, arts Rise of the Creative Class. New York, Basic organizations, and artistic activity into the Books. suite of placemaking strategies pioneered by Jane Jacobs and her colleagues, who believed that community development must be locally 4 Borrup, Tom (2006), The Creative Com- informed, human-centric, and holistic. In munity Builder’s Handbook: How to Transform practice, this means having arts and culture Communities Using Local Assets, Arts, and represented alongside sectors like housing and Culture, St. Paul, Fieldstone Alliance; Chew, transportation – with each sector recognized Ron (2009) “Community-Based Arts Organi- as part of any healthy community; as requiring zations; a New Center of Gravity,” Americans planning and investment from its community; for the Arts. and as having a responsibility to contribute to its community’s overall future…. In creative placemaking, “creative” is an adverb describ- 5 See http://impact.sp2.upenn.edu/siap/ ing the making, not an adjective describing the place. Successful creative placemaking 6 Jackson, M. R., Florence Kabwasa-Green, projects are not measured by how many new and Joaquin Herranz (2006) Cultural Vitality arts centers, galleries, or cultural districts are in Communities: Interpretation and Indica- built. Rather, their success is measured in the tors. Washington, D.C., The Urban Institute; ways artists, formal and informal arts spaces, Jackson, M. R. (2009) “Toward Diversity That and creative interventions have contributed Works; Building Communities through Arts toward community outcomes.” Again, Kresge’s and Culture,”Twenty-First Century Color Lines. approach is closely allied, in stressing the criti- A. Grant-Thomas, and Gary Orfield. Philadel- cal requirement for cross-sector collaboration, phia, Temple University Press: 220-234; Jack- while focusing more strategically on outcomes son, M. R. (2009) “Shifting Expectations: An that improve opportunity for low-income Urban Planner’s Reflections on Evaluation of residents in cities. Community-Based Arts,” Arts & Civic Engage- One further clarification is necessary—to ment Impact Initiative, Americans for the Arts; distinguish “placemaking” from “creative Jackson, M. R. (2011) Artists’ Hybrid Work placemaking.” “Placemaking” is the planning Challenges Old Ways of Evaluating Quality, Ur- and designing of public spaces. In Kresge’s ban Wire; Jackson, M. R. (2013) “A Framework view, “creative placemaking” is designed to for Understanding PLACE and Its Impact,” connect across disciplinary and sector silos People, Land, Arts, Culture, and Engagement: and influence a range of systems and practices Taking Stock of the PLACE Initiative., K. Eisele, that will have direct and tangible outcomes for Tucson Pima Arts Council: 8-9. people with low income. Creative Placemaking then is an integrated, cross sectoral approach to equitable community development.

16 Creative Placemaking in North Collinwood 7 Wali, Alaka (2002) “Informal Arts: Finding 9 Ethnography is an inclusive, holistic 11 Krumholz and Hexter: 1 and Yin:81-116. Cohesion, Capacity and Other Cultural Bene- account of social events, behaviors, institu- fits in Unexpected Places,” Chicago Center for tions, and processes that happen within a Arts Policy. In this work begun in 1999, Wali specific community under study at a point in 12 “Collinwood Railroad Yards,” Encyclope- was the first to show that ethnography is a time. As shorthand, the product of this style of dia of Cleveland History, http://ech.case.edu/ particularly effective method for uncovering research is called “thick description” (Geertz cgi/article.pl?id=CRY. rich areas of arts and culture in community life 1973: 3-30). The “thickness” refers to a depth not necessarily visible from mainstream per- of context. In our fieldwork and in the written spectives. Alvarez, Maribel (2009) “Two-Way account of a given case, we are eclectic and 13 Search for “Euclid Beach Park Riot” and Mirror: Ethnography as a Way to Assess Civic open about the kinds of context facts that can for “Collinwood High School Riots” at Impact of Arts-Based Engagement,” Tucson add to an understanding of creative placemak- https://clevelandhistorical.org/ . Pima Arts Council. ing. Our account is therefore broad, sociological, and historical. It is also anthropological and cultural—the worldviews of the individual 14 http://cultureforward.org/Refer- 8 See also Bedoya, R. (2013) “Placemaking people doing creative placemaking, as well as ence-Desk/Research-Library/neighborhoods/ and the Politics of Belonging and Dis-Belong- residents of the impacted communities, are Putting-Artists-on-the-Map ing,” GIA Reader 24(1); Callanan, L. (2014) central to our account. “Creative Placemaking,” Federal Reserve Bank Each of the respondents we interviewed gave of San Francisco Community Development us a narrative of their experience of creative 15 Seth Beattie explains that “Artists In Investment Review 10(2); Jackson, M. R., Kath- placemaking. We view these narratives col- Residence was an effort to go deeper with erine Bray, John Arroyo (2013) “Initial Scan of lectively as an important public record of what From Rust Belt to Artist Belt by applying the Selected Creative Placemaking Projects: Digest goes on in creative placemaking on the ground. best practices from the conference series in of Key Findings,” Internal Working Paper for What follows is not an “objective” account in one neighborhood over a sustained period.” the Kresge Foundation and Surdna Foundation; the standard sense, but a representation and The Leveraging Investments in Creativity Nowak, J. (2007) Creativity and Neighbor- an exploration of the social phenomenon of (LINC) consortium funded the From Rust Belt hood Development: Strategies for Community creative placemaking as refracted through the to Artist Belt conferences, and Kresge and the Investment, The Reinvestment Fund; and Stern, experiences of its practitioners. We believe Ford Foundation provided financial support M. J., and Susan C. Seifert (2014) Communi- this ethnographic record of the representations for a closing challenge grant which funded the ties, Culture, and Capabilities: Preliminary re- that creative placemakers make of what they Artists In Residence work. sults of a four-city study, Human Development do, why they do it, and the effects they think it and Capabilities Association. Athens, Greece. has, is a valuable resource for understanding the complexity inherent in embedding arts 16 http://cultureforward.org/Refer- and culture in community revitalization, and ence-Desk/Research-Library/neighborhoods/ advancing creative placemaking as a field of Picturing-Collinwood-2011 practice. 17 http://www.cultureforward.org/Refer- 10 Beauregard, R. A. (2012) “Growth and ence-Desk/Research-Library/neighborhoods/ Depopulation in the United States,” Rebuild- Guide-to-Mapping-Neighborhood-Arts-and- ing America’s Legacy Cities; New Directions Cultural-Assets for the Industrial Heartland, New York, The American Assembly, Columbia University: 18 Jones, K., T. Lea, D. Sharpe, T. Jones, 1-24; Warf, B. and B. Holly, “The Rise and Fall and S. Harvey (2004) “The Spillover Effects and Rise of Cleveland,” The Annals of Amer- of Investments in Cultural Facilities,” Centre ican Academy of Political and Social Science: for the Study of Commercial Activity, Ryerson 208-221; Krumholz, N. and K.W. Hexter (2012) University, Canada, http://www.artscapediy. “Re-Thinking the Future of Cleveland’s Neigh- org/ArtscapeDIY/MediaLibrary/ArtscapeDIY/ borhood Developers: Interim Report,” http:// Archives/Artscape_Research/spillover_ef- cua6.urban.csuohio.edu/publications/center/ fects_of_investments_in_cultural_facilities. center_for_community_planning_and_de- pdf. velopment/Re-thinking_the_Future.pdf; Yin, Jordan S., “Chapter 5: The Community Devel- opment Experience in Cleveland, 1967-1997,” 19 https://springboardforthearts.org/ The Community Development System: Urban programs/irrigate/ Politics and the Practice of Neighborhood Redevelopment in Two American Cities from the 1960s to the 1990s, Cornell University PhD 20 http://www.ballotboxproject.org/win- Dissertation: 81-116; http://progressivecities. ners/ org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Yin-Com- munity-Developmnet-in-Cleveland-Disserta- tion-Chapter.pdf.