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Placemaking: Community-led process that uses art and cultural assets to create a sense of place (physical and/or social).
Placekeeping: Honoring the history, heritage, cultural identity that already exists — and amplifying it.
Regardless of the term used, this kind of work strives for a shared process where creatives, neighbors, and civic leaders co-create space.
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Resident-Informed Planning
Ask people what they want! Artist-designed planning meetings; Artist activations designed to solicit community feedback
Community Ownership in Public Space
Co-creation! Paint-by-number murals; “Barn-Raising” type events
Digital Storytelling
Expand your reach! GIS mapping projects; Interactive archives
Storytelling in Real Life
Meet people where they are! Artist-designed walking tours/scavenger hunts; Site-specific art installations
Definitions courtesy SAIRA Creative
Looking for ideas? We’ve gathered some projects we think might inspire you. Some of these the League was directly involved in, but many of them we were not. However, all of them are good examples of what this kind of work could look like. We’ve broken these examples down into three main categories: 1. Projects done in support of planning 2. Projects done to foster a sense of pride in place 3. Projects done with the intention of advocating for historic places. There is, of course, a lot of overlap between these categories and the three categories we have identified here are by no means exhaustive. Our intention is merely to provide food for thought for anyone thinking about ways they might work with artists in support of their own preservation projects.
Project examples: Planning
The Tanner House 2023-24 Community Visioning Process Report
Project Examples: pride in place
AKG x stitch Buffalo Community Mural
Village Voices
Migration by Jerome Haferd and Ifeoma Ebo at Kingsborough Houses
Photo by Tameek Williams
Downtown Oneonta Historic District mural
Project Examples: Advocacy
ed woodham’s The Keepers
Photo by Paul Takeuchi
Tiffany Baker's Dear Neighbor Project
Photo by Cameron Blaylock
The Land Protectors Project