creative placemaking

Staff spotlight: Marian Liou, SGA Director of Arts & Culture

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Marian Liou has served as Director of Smart Growth America’s Arts & Culture Program for a full year. Under her leadership, the program has expanded in scope, all while maintaining a steady pace of new resources and initiatives—such as the Transportation Artists in Residence report and a new grant program, Healing our Highways. We sat down with her to discuss her thoughts on the program’s current trajectory, as well as her vision for its future.

our staff

The Mountains Are Calling: Placemaking and Redevelopment in Elkins, West Virginia

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  Elkins, West Virginia has been working to revitalize their downtown, a challenge in any circumstance, but especially in a rural Appalachian town. The workshop with Smart Growth America shared expertise and provided site-specific advice to aid local officials and community members in placemaking. The SGA team visited Elkins for two days where they participated … Continued

Economic development Resilience Rural Development Technical assistance

Equity Forum Recap: Protecting and preserving culture during change

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Our Equity Forum: Upending Cultural Displacement featured key thought leaders and practitioners who discussed the complex relationship between smart growth and cultural displacement, as well as shared innovative strategies for preserving and protecting neighborhood culture during change. Communities across the country are experiencing significant changes driven by reinvestment, disinvestment, rising housing costs, and the changing … Continued

Advancing Racial Equity Events

Relaunching the Scenic Route: T4A’s newly updated resource on arts, culture, and transportation

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Last week, we hosted a webinar to celebrate the relaunch of our newly updated creative placemaking guide, the Scenic Route. This conversation with Smart Growth America, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the leaders of two projects featured in the guide explains key case studies to help inspire you, and provides an orientation to the new website, which can be found at www.transportation.art. If you asked a question that wasn’t answered in the webinar, we’ve included answers below.

Creative Placemaking Transportation

Take the Scenic Route: TRAVELS FAR, MTA COVID Memorial

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One of over 50 case studies included in the newly updated creative placemaking guide, the Scenic Route. Portraits of MTA workers who have died from COVID are displayed on screens that normally show maps and service changes, along with a newly commissioned poem, “Travels Far” by the U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith.

Creative Placemaking Transportation

Take the Scenic Route: Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk

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One of over 50 case studies included in the newly updated creative placemaking guide, the Scenic Route. Started by artist Marcus Young 楊墨 in 2008, Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk is a program by the City of Saint Paul that uses the city’s existing sidewalk maintenance program as an opportunity to stamp—and publish—residents’ poetry into its sidewalk network.

Creative Placemaking Transportation

The Scenic Route is getting a makeover

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Back in early 2016, we launched the Scenic Route website, a new interactive guide to help transportation professionals collaborate with artists and to introduce creative placemaking to transportation planners, public works agencies, and local elected officials. This guide was an important touchstone, but the evolutions in this field and the notable projects that have happened since its launch have left it in need of an update, which we’re pleased to announce is on the way.

Creative Placemaking Transportation

Looking back on Minnesota and Washington State DOTs’ inaugural artists-in-residence

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Last week, we brought together the artists and agency staff involved in the nation’s first ever artists-in-residence at state departments of transportation to reflect on the inaugural year of the program. Speakers shared their reflections on the residencies, how they coped with the current pandemic, lessons learned, and plans for the future of these novel programs.

Creative Placemaking Uncategorized
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