Last month, eleven national foundations plus the National Endowment for the Arts announced the founding of ArtPlace America, a nationwide initiative to drive revitalization in cities and towns with a new investment model that puts the arts at the center of economic development. The launch of Artplace, based in Chicago, coincided with the awarding of $11.5 million in grants to 34 community-oriented arts organizations nationwide.
The grants reinforce the widely held belief that in a down economy, the arts – and the foundations that support them – can play a critical role in stimulating urban revitalization. The aim of the grants is not only to support individual organizations but also to promote economic development and revitalization of areas where the organizations are located. Artplace operates on the principal that the arts can contribute just as much to a local economy as can conventional businesses and industries.
“We are acting very deliberately to affect places and we believe vibrancy is the best proxy for quality of place, and quality of place is essential to attracting and retaining talent,” said Carol Coletta, executive director of ArtPlace.”
This is a truly visionary initiative which will provide benefits way beyond the cultural communities of these cities and towns. It is timely consideration of culture and the arts as serious engines of economic growth and urban renewal and I hope that future grants find their way into many more small communities around the country.
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