Beyond the Building: Performing Arts & Transforming Place, Session 2
Performances have multifaceted ways that they transform places, people's relationships with their communities, and community development processes. On November 3, 2014, the Arts Endowment hosted the "Beyond the Building: Performing Arts and Transforming Place" convening to develop a better understanding of how performance-based organizations, and the artists they engage, transform places through their artistic practices.
The convening brought together representatives of performing arts organizations from across the country and NEA staff for a day-long investigation of this topic. Barbara Schaffer Bacon, co-director of Animating Democracy, served as facilitator. Support for the convening was also provided by ArtPlace America.
The convening included public presentations and large group discussions as well as small group breakout sessions. The public presentations were broadcast live; the video archives of the four public sessions are available.
Presentations from Morning Small Group Discussions on the following topics/questions:
- Language & Framing: What does "creative placemaking" mean to your organization? Has your organization framed "creative placemaking" in other terms, or in other language?
- Place & Mission: How does the work of your organization relate to the place and community within which it is situated? In what ways have you engaged in creative placemaking strategies? How might you see creative placemaking as part of your organization's operational or artistic missions or philosophy?
- Events & Effects: How can temporary performance events transform and imbue lasting meaning and change within particular spaces and communities? How are they tied to broader social and environmental strategies?
