Creative Placemaking in Baltimore Learning from Baltimore’s Place-Based Cultural Workers
Prepared by MICA’s Center for Social Design, Center for Creative Citizenship, and Strategic Initiatives 1
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Frame + Plan
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Introduction Our Process Design Challenge
Research 8 Guiding Questions Secondary Research Interviews Key Takeaways
Synthesize + Ideate 15 Personas Design Principles Themes + Insights + Opportunities Brainstorming + Ideas
Prototypes 24 Creative Placemaking @ MICA Advisory Board Creative Placemaking Fellowship Placemaking in Action Course Community Engagement Toolkit Placemacon iCara App
Credits 36
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Frame + Plan Introduction Our Process
Left: Screenshot from a shareback session with project stakeholders.
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Introduction In 2019 Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) was awarded a $510,000 grant from ArtPlace America to advance its work in expanding the field of creative placemaking. According to ArtPlace America, creative placemaking is “the intentional integration of arts, culture, and community-engaged design strategies into the process of equitable community planning and development.” With the new grant funding, MICA intends to expand its community and organizational partnerships as well as create a sequence of undergraduate and graduate courses in creative placemaking, all of which will take place at MICA’s new Center for Creative Citizenship. To help kick off the initiative, MICA’s Center for Social Design facilitated an interdisciplinary practice-based studio with students, staff, and community members focused on the question:
How might we collectively envision what creative placemaking means in Baltimore through a racial justice lens? This publication summarizes key insights and opportunities from the practice-based studio.
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Our Process The Center for Social Design utilizes a human-centered and collaborative process to understand and define social problems, identify opportunities and generate ideas, and make tools that support positive change. The process includes multiple interwoven phases:
FRAME & PLAN
IMPLEMENT & ITERATE
1. Frame & Plan: Organize existing research and facilitate discussions to appropriately scope the engagement. 2. Research: Talk to, observe, and learn from stakeholders to locate needs and assets to support. 3. Synthesize: Compile observations and research findings and look for common themes and insights. Find appropriate opportunities for intervention. 4. Ideate: Generate as many ideas as possible and defer judgment. 5. Prototype: Make tangible representations of ideas and give them form. Prototype with people to better test assumptions, lower risk, align stakeholders, and reveal potential problems early. 6. Implement & Iterate: Test, iterate and develop prototypes in context. Document and collect feedback to inform strategies and interventions that are more likely to be adopted and align with target outcomes.
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Research Guiding Questions Secondary Research Interviews Key Takeaways
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Guiding Questions Before beginning research, the team crafted the following guiding questions:
How does creative placemaking look as an agent of change in Baltimore? How do we measure the impact, if any, of creative placemaking initiatives on those most impacted by racial injustice? What has been the response to existing creative placemaking initiatives? How are creative spaces in Baltimore racially driven?
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Secondary Research The reading, videos, and case studies below helped to inform the team’s research process: Perspectives on Creative Placemaking: • “Creative Placemaking” by Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa • Maria Rosario Jackson TEDxWDC talk • “Spatial Justice: Rasquachification, Race and the City” by Roberto Bedoya Design Justice: • Design as Protest Demands • The Just City Index • Design Justice Principles Conferences: • Greater Good Studio Restorative Design Conference • Art Place America Virtual Summit 2020 Case Studies: • Baltimore Performance Kitchen • Camden Night Gardens, Camden, New Jersey, MA • Mini Hiphop Museum + Gallery of Nothing, Baltimore • Much More Than an Open Mic, founded by Alanah Nichole • Seattle City of Music Initiative • Stories from Ladakh, India • Underground Ink Block, Boston • Zadia’s Vacants album tour in East and West Baltimore
Above (left to right): Zadia’s Vacants album tour, Stories from Ladakh, Underground Ink Block
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Interviews The team spoke to over 20 culture workers, artists, educators, administrators, and leaders. The conversations highlighted both bright spots and paint points for creative placemaking in Baltimore.
Who we talked to: Arica Gonzales Executive Director of The Urban Oasis Ashley Yates Rock+soul singer, event curator and activist Brion Gill Executive Director, Black Arts District Briony Hynson ‘11 (Social Design MA) Deputy Director, Neighborhood Design Center Cheyanne Givens Curator, artist, poet, designer, and musician Damien Poole Performance artist, event producer, culture enthusiast, and educator Edgar Reyes ‘14 (Community Arts MFA) Multimedia artist Ernest Shaw Muralist Graham Coreil Allen ‘10 (Mount Royal School of Art MFA) Public Artist and Principal, Graham Projects Herb Massie Artist and instructor, Baltimore Clayworks Jose Ruiz MFA in Curatorial Practice Director Kariz Marcel Producer and social-entrepreneur, BlakWater productions Maggie Villegas Executive Director, Baltimore Creatives Acceleration Network (BCAN) Malaika Aminata Coordinator for BMA Lexington Market
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Michelle Geiss Co-Founder & Executive Director at Impact Hub Baltimore Molly McCullagh Project Associate, Southeast CDC Patricia Valeria Fuentes ‘18 (Social Design MA) Multi-disciplinary artist and designer Rebecca Chan Executive Director, Friends of the Rail Park Retji Dakum ‘20 (Film and Video MFA) Interdisciplinary artist, BlakWater productions Robbyn Lewis Maryland State Delegate Ryan Patterson Public Art Project Manager, Maryland State Arts Council Shelton Hawkins, Founder, Play in Color Timmy Aziz BFA in Architectural Design chair
Above: Screenshot of a zoom interview with Arica Gonzales.
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Key Takeaways The following key takeaways emerged from our interviews: • People questioned the use of the term “creative placemaking.” • Many creatives have been doing the work for years without institutional recognition and support. • Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) have been consistently left out of placemaking spaces in Baltimore. • There is a need to redistribute resources to communities so they can utilize them the way they want. • There are many different perspectives on what successful placemaking looks like. • It is important to look at already existing work, to build off what work is already being done and honor the experts. • Placemakers need to be supported throughout the process, financially and otherwise, to avoid burnout.
“A very integral part to creative placemaking is the dubbing of creative placemakers or leaders of creative movements in neighborhoods. People who will deeply immerse themselves, ensure fairness and inclusion in often overlooked neighborhoods and artistic subsets. Many people in the community have to agree on this person’s leadership qualities. But the leader should never work alone and should always be shoulder to shoulder with other thought leaders.” Alanah Nichole Davis
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Synthesize + Ideate Personas Design Principles Themes + Insights + Opportunities Brainstorming + Ideas
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Personas The personas below are fictional characters created based on the research. Making personas helped the team to understand the different needs, experiences, behaviors, and goals of project stakeholders.
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Design Principles Next, the team developed design principles based on what they learned from the research. Together, the design principles formed a framework to guide us through ideation, prototyping, and implementation.
• Prioritize people’s voices and stories. • Envision systems of change. • Be responsive and flexible during the design process. • Honor existing work and community experts. • Set realistic expectations. • Define accountability and hold each other accountable. • Use inclusive language that resonates with everyone. • Accept contradictions and multiple truths.
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Themes + Insights + Opportunities The next step in the synthesis process was to reflect on all of the conversations and identify key themes, insights, and opportunities. The team sorted interview quotes and observations into the following themes:
1. Redefining Creative Placemaking 2. Avoiding Harm from Institutions 3. Uplifting Community Expertise 4. Redistributing Resources to BIPOC 5. Measuring Impact The following pages dive deeper into each theme and unpack what we heard, the insight and opportunity, and ideas generated by project stakeholders during a virtual brainstorming session.
Above: Screenshot of themes in the team’s Mural, a digital workspace for visual collaboration.
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Theme 01 Redefining Creative Placemaking What we heard: “Creative placemaking is a fraught term”
“People who don’t identify as artists are creating cultural space”
“There should always be an opportunity for placekeeping as well as placemaking”
“Placemaking doesn’t have to be permanent, it can be ephemeral (i.e. a pop-up)”
Insight:
People want authentic ways to identify creative placemaking but are constrained by limited definitions.
Opportunity:
How might we redefine creative placemaking beyond expected terms and spaces?
Ideas: • • • • •
Launch a new academic publication that redefines the field Put community vision boards in public spaces Shine a light on work happening outside of traditional institutions Collaboratively develop a new term Redefine the academic model to highlight community knowledge and expertise in talking about and teaching creative placemaking • Move beyond words - define with images and emotions
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Theme 02 Avoiding Harm from Institutions What we heard: “Once a muralist shows up, gentrification comes not far behind”
“There has been so much development and work done not with community but in spite of community”
“Black communities get bulldozed into ideas without their consent”
Insight:
The imbalance of power between institutions and the community creates harm and skepticism.
Opportunity:
How might we leverage institutional power to uplift and address community needs?
Ideas: • Use research capacity to identify revenue sources that allow communities to be less reliant on foundation funding • Have community advisory boards WITH decision making power • Create “in-residence” opportunities for practitioners to work inside some of the nonprofit and funding institutions to inform, change and shift how decisions are made • People with power have to be involved and be willing to cede their own power 19
Theme 03 Uplifting Community Expertise What we heard: “Pay homage to those who are experts”
“Pay artists, black people, organizers…all of them. They are not work horses. Give them credit”
“Not extracting skills and talents but leaving it in the place”
Insight:
There is a tension between existing community expertise and the extractive nature of institutional projects.
Opportunity:
How might we ensure we center community expertise so that creative placemaking is non-extractive and sustainable?
Ideas: • Design project commitments to be open ended, flexible, and centered on community priorities • Make exerted effort to create positions and avenues for money to go to black artists and organizers • Step back so community members have the space to put into existence their visions • Take time to hear out community voices instead of being pressured by timelines 20
Theme 04 Redistributing Resources to BIPOC What we heard: “I know my hood better than the corporation that is funding the situation.”
“There is no institution in the city that is really working to the benefit of black creatives specifically, even though Baltimore is still a very predominantly Black city”
Insight:
Black artists and cultural organizers have been key in creative placemaking but they are often under funded & under resourced.
Opportunity:
How might we redistribute resources to acknowledge the work of Black artists and cultural organizers?
Ideas: • Invest directly in Black-led institutions and organizations • Reformat how funding is distributed, traditional grant application processes are not always accessible to people doing the work • Establish a universal basic income for artists and creatives
• Create grant review committees made up of community members, who are also paid for their time to review grants
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Theme 05 Measuring Impact What we heard: “Economic empowerment and fortifying communities with resources.”
“Successful placemaking is about creating a sense of pride. Ownership is enhanced by having something joyful and happy.”
“Black-led grassroots movements don’t often use metrics.”
Insight:
There is a tension between trying to find a universal metric of success and also recognizing that success means different things to different people.
Opportunity:
How might we envision metrics of impact that are reflective of different stakeholder values and definitions of success?
Ideas: • Acknowledge that a focus on metrics is part of white supremacist cultural so that we can use different metrics of success • Focus on the spirit of the community, how people are interacting with their environment, and if the community is thriving • Uplift relationships and connections MORE than quantitative outputs • Ensure indicators of success are defined by those most affected
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Prototypes Creative Placemaking @ MICA Advisory Board Creative Placemaking Fellowship Placemaking in Action Course Community Engagement Toolkit Placemacon iCara App
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Prototypes After the ideation session, the team created prototypes, or tangible representations, of a few big ideas generated during the session:
• Creative Placemaking @ MICA Advisory Board • Placemaking in Action Course • Creative Placemaking Fellowship • Community Engagement Toolkit • Placemacon • iCara App
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Creative Placemaking @ MICA Advisory Board What’s the idea? An advisory board of practicing artists and neighborhood residents with decision making power on creative placemaking projects at MICA. Members would be compensated for their time. The board would focus on the following: • Elevating the voices of neighbors who are affected by placemaking projects • Collaborating with Baltimore agencies, artists, and institutions • Guiding creative placemaking projects to ensure equitable and community-centered outcomes • Allocating funding and resources to BIPOC creatives
Next steps and suggestions: • Have a diverse population in the advisory board who would be blunt and speak up for the community (not only MICA folks). • Have a clear set of rules/guidelines that both the community and large organizations (MICA) need to follow while making decisions. • Make it multilingual. • Leverage the relationships developed during this practicebased studio to launch a “pilot” advisory board.
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Placemaking in Action Course What’s the idea? A course taught by the Creative Placemaking Fellows where Baltimore residents and MICA students work on a long term project outside of a semester schedule. Topics covered would include creative placemaking, humancentered design, public policy, systems thinking, and more. Projects would be approved and guided by the Creative Placemaking @ MICA Advisory Board. .
Human-Centered Design
Creative Placemaking
Public Policy
Resource Allocation
Systems Thinking
Next steps and suggestions: • Be imaginative about the structure, make it different from a typical academic model. • Gather a group of stakeholders to create a course description and syllabus. Include undergrad and grad students, alumni, faculty, and community members.
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Creative Placemaking Fellowship What’s the idea? A paid fellowship for Baltimore-based creatives. The fellowship would include a stipend for personal expenses and additional funding for project-based work. Fellows would have access to studio space and equipment at MICA and opportunities to teach. Fellows would be selected by the Creative Placemaking @ MICA Advisory Board based on the following criteria: • Relationship to Baltimore: The artist has a story of how Baltimore has shaped their identity and practice. Artist has been involved in the creative community of the city and is currently connected with the needs and concerns of the community. The portfolio work presented is uniquely reflective of the people, values, history, and culture of Baltimore. • Transformative Impact: The artist’s creative practice creates social transformation, collective meaning making, collective empowerment, and has social/political/cultural resonance. • Creative Integrity: The artist’s work demonstrates integrity and ethical use of material with specific cultural origins and context, demonstrates responsible social and/or environmental practice, disrupts and challenges dominant norms and models new forms of creative action. • Access and Equity: There is a clear articulation of the role and relationship of the artist with the communities of Baltimore in which they are engaged. The artist engages in equitable creative practice which seeks to build social/structural/systemic equity.
Next steps and suggestions: • Include people who do not identify themselves as artists. • Look at examples of existing fellowships in and outside of academia for inspiration.
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Community Engagement Toolkit What’s the idea? An interactive installation used as a toolkit that puts the community at the center of each of the three phases (vision, planning, feedback) of engagement through organized community events. This toolkit is a movable installation so organizers can use it for events at any time, indoors and outdoors. Organizers who request the boxes will be responsible for the maintenance and use of the boxes. An infographic will be given to organizers for suggested use.
Next steps and suggestions: • Find a way to incorporate this with the local events happening in Baltimore (eg. Think-a-thon.) • Ensure materials are available for free or cheap. • Consider creating a smaller, easier to assemble version. • Consider changing the word ‘toolkit.‘
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Phase 1: Vision
Phase 2: Planning
Phase 3: Feedback
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Placemacon What’s the idea? A creative placemaking event with a primary focus on introducing place-makers to one another. Books, workshops, keynotes, culture and exhibitions would be present. Place keepers and makers will gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly this would be a multi-day event hosted at a convention center, hotel, or college campus, but could happen virtually due to COVID-19. Feature keynote speakers, vendor displays, and other information and activities of interest surrounding placemaking will be curated by Placemacon’s event organizers and attendees. Jamboards, Murals, and other digital collaboration platforms will be available.
Next steps and suggestions: • Host every 6 months with a new focus. • Seek financial support and sponsorship for managing the event. • Use the event as a way to build ongoing local community in order to distinguish this from existing national placemaking conferences, e.g. NCPL Summits, Alternate Roots. • Invite different artists and organizations around the city to host.
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iCARA (Immersive Community Arts Resource Application) What’s the idea? An app where artists and communities can connect with one another, share resources, and track progress on projects. The main feature of the app would be a project journey map that provides transparency around project timeline, budget, and milestones with the ability to collect feedback along the way.
Next steps and suggestions: • Apps can be expensive to develop and maintain, consider adapting this concept to a crowd sourced wiki page. • Explore innovative ways to promote this resource in order reach Baltimore artists outside of well-worn networks.
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Credits Special thank you to everyone who contributed to this project. Whether you chatted with us about your work or shared your ideas at a virtual presentation - we couldn’t have done it without you!
Project advisors & collaborators
Practice-based Studio team
Arica Gonzales Ashley Yates Brion Gill Briony Hynson Cheyanne Givens Damien Poole Edgar Reyes Ernest Shaw Graham Coreil Allen Herb Massie Jeffry Cudlin Jose Ruiz Kariz Marcel Maggie Villegas Malaika Aminata Merrell Hambleton Michelle Geiss Molly McCullagh Patricia Valeria Fuentes Rebecca Chan Retji Dakum Robbyn Lewis Ryan Patterson Sarah Dunn Shelton Hawkins Timmy Aziz
Alanah Nichole Davis Asheeta Khanna Becky Slogeris Damella Dotan Eesha Patne Isaac Farley Kalyani Jhaveri Kathleen Harmanson Kevin Griffin Moreno Rishika Dhawan
Creative Placemaking @ MICA Implementation Team Abby Neyenhouse Collette Veasey-Cullors David Bogen Eesha Patne Kevin Griffin Moreno Kate McGrain Lee Davis Sheri Parks
Left: Screenshot from a shareback session with project stakeholders.
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