Cally Vennare

How do you utilize the arts to foster civic identity, cultivate tourism, and brand your city, town or neighborhood?

Four arts leaders. Four diverse markets. Four distinct audience segments. While the cities and circumstances may differ, their authentic and creative approach to problem solving, consensus building, and collaboration did not. Here are their key insights and takeaways from last week’s 2013 Americans for the Arts Convention.

Andrew M. Witt, St. Johns Cultural Council (St. Augustine, Florida)
“Be real. Find the asset in the community that is going to be of interest to someone not in your community and sell that in a realistic way. The worst thing that can happen is to not meet (customer) expectations. If you don’t, they’ll tell 10 people; if you exceed expectations, they’ll tell 2 people. So you have to deliver on the promise you made.”
Learn more about the work of the St. Johns Cultural Council here.  

Robert Vodnoy, Aberdeen University/Civic Symphony (Aberdeen, South Dakota)
“The lesson in all the different stories that I told you is: the general impulse of the community is to have civic pride and not want to touch the stories that are problematic. Or to sanitize them. But I think the cultural tourist is more interested in the whole story. So I think the challenge is to get the civic identity to embrace its complete self, and not to walk away from what is actually a rich story just because it’s a little ‘icky.’ It’s a tougher story, but it’s a much more interesting narrative. Embrace the dark side.”
Learn more about the Aberdeen University/Civic Symphony here.

Cookie Ruiz, Ballet Austin (Austin, Texas)
“In Austin, until the time when we were under duress, we had a tendency to argue with each other. After our cultural planning process, we realized an advocate voice was really better when it was a more cohesive voice. So this last time, instead of turning on each other…we really bonded together. And we have maintained those relationships. That’s been a good lesson for us and has really changed the way we’ve done everything.”
Learn more about CreateAustin, the city’s community cultural plan here.

Laura I. Zabel, Springboard for the Arts (St. Paul, Minnesota)
“The common thread I’ve heard is the need and the power of working across sectors and understanding what other people value in your community. Build the connections…and the social capital. Lead with how the arts and culture can support the goals of a city or neighborhood, fill a need or address a challenge. That is going to be a much more effective and ultimately sustainable way of working than just approaching it from what we, internally as an arts community, think we need.”
Learn more about Irrigate, Springboard’s artist-led, creative placemaking initiative here.

You’ll find links to the three livestreamed general sessions, our Flickr photo feed, ARTSblog posts written about the Convention, and the Twitter feed. You can also follow everything on Twitter directly by searching with the #afta13 hashtag.

Check back often for new photos and content!

Nadine Wasserman

As part of the Annual 2013 Americans for the Arts National Conference, the Public Art Network (PAN) Preconference, presents the opportunity for public art professionals to explore all aspects of their field from invigorating communities to behind-the-scenes negotiations such as planning, fund raising, and working collaboratively with artists, architects, engineers, fabricators, city planners, and so on.

Like any worthwhile artistic production, good public art requires delicate negotiations, collaborations, and most importantly flexibility and adaptability. One of the many panels at PAN this year took a look at how the end result can often be very different from the initial prospectus. The panel, titled “Between the Lip and the Cup: How Projects Change from Initial Process to Final Installation,” was made up of four different professionals: Cath Brunner, Director, Public Art 4Culture, Seattle, WA; Stacy Levy, artist, Sere, Ltd., Spring Mills, PA; Natalie Plecity, Landscape Architect, Pittsburgh, PA; and Janet Zweig, artist, Brooklyn, NY.

The panel used examples to demonstrate how changes and unpredictable circumstances are inevitable at all phases of a project but they can be successfully managed in order to create the “best” outcomes for all stakeholders.
Ms. Zweig talked about two of her projects. One was for Maplewood, a neighborhood in St. Louis.  Her first proposal to create a digital sign proved cost prohibitive so she revised her plan. In the end her signs were made of recycled materials taken from bungalows that were scheduled for demolition in the neighborhood. One of the signs was intentionally installed backwards so that drivers passing by could read it in their rearview mirrors. Serendipitously, it was this aspect of the project that created a buzz and got the neighborhood the recognition it was seeking.

The other project Ms. Zweig talked about was for Milwaukee. It was supposed to be a simple piece but it became controversial when the city got rid of the arts administrator responsible for redoing the downtown streetscape and the project had to be presented to a committee of five city officials who knew little about public art. After the local arts community caught wind of some disparaging remarks made by this panel, things got a bit out of hand.  But after much consternation Ms. Zweig did end up making the piece and she made a conscious effort to use all local actors, filmmakers, fabricators, installers, and engineers.

Ms. Plecity talked about her experience as project manager on a piece here in Pittsburgh by Ms. Zweig.  Contrary to the panel topic, Ms. Plecity explained that in this case everything went very smoothly. She attributed this to the fact that all the people working together on the project really liked each other and that they all had a stake in making the family happy since it was a memorial piece.

Another project Ms. Plecity worked on was for a park in Asheville, NC. One of the problems encountered on this project was whether work by the chosen artists was even feasible as public art and whether the chosen artists could collaborate with structural engineers, contractors, architects, etc. In the end two artists were selected, Hoss Haley who created a stainless steel pergola and sculptural fountain, and Kathy Triplett who created tiles.

Ms. Brunner spoke about some of the difficulties she experienced as project manager for Susan Robb’s “The Long Walk” a complex four-day event, in which problems ranged from figuring out how people would camp on sites that were not previously used as such to how to deal with negative press. She also talked about the project VERDI with Christian Moeller and the necessity of renegotiating a project as things change such as the artist’s conception or the economy. Ultimately, she explained that each stakeholder owes it to the artist and to the community to ask “is it better” and to go for it even if it means modifying the production timeline and the budget.

Ms. Levy talked about the obstacles encountered on two of her projects and how essential support from the project manager is. Her installation Tampa Wind at the University of South Florida was hampered by the fact that every location she wanted was already reserved for other projects leaving her with only one spot on the side of a building stair tower. In the end she made the best of it and worked within the space constraints. However, on another project she felt that the physical limitations placed on the work left it looking unfinished so she took a risk and used guerilla tactics to extend her piece beyond the 10 feet into the roadway that she had been allowed. The piece only lasted three days before PENNDOT removed it entirely.  Despite this she felt that it was worth it because she had always played by the rules even though public art is too often constrained by odd rules that don’t always make sense.

Overall, the panel offered a glimpse into the daunting and time consuming practice that is public art. Instead of being downbeat the panel presented a refreshing and positive view and reinforced the idea that flexibility and adaptability are key aspects of any project.

Nadine Wasserman

Each year as a highlight of the Public Art Network’s preconference, a panel of jurors presents its selection of exemplary public art projects from the previous year. The 2013 Year in Review jurors were Justine Topfer, Curator, Out of the Box Projects & Project Manager, San Francisco Arts Commission, CA; Norie Sato, Artist, Seattle, WA; and John Carson, Artist and Head of the School of Art, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.From 350 submissions they selected 50 that were completed in 2012.

Since 2000, PAN’s Year in Review uses an open call submission process from which the panel selects up to 50 projects that represent the most compelling works from across the country. This year’s jury prefaced their presentation by explaining that although they had different points of view they agreed on all of the choices and were careful to recuse themselves during the deliberations from those projects where there had conflicts of interest.

In their introduction, the panel explained that this year they noticed an increased number of projects using light and technology, an interesting trend towards multiple or groups of artists working on one project, and the use of different funding sources with an increase in the number of projects initiated and funded by private developers. They also noted that there were fewer land-based projects and that in general it seems that the field is getting broader.

Before presenting their choices they described the criteria with which they based their decisions: Artistic and aesthetic excellence, innovative and original, and appropriate to context. More specifically, they looked at whether the work made a difference in the community, went beyond the usual, used a fresh approach, showed artistic growth by the artist(s), and operated on several levels. The panel then admitted that there were some that just caught their fancy, whether fitting neatly into the categories or not.

Highlights from the selections are below under the five designated categories as presented by the three members of the panel. For a full list of selections there will be a 2013 Year in Review CD-ROM available from the Public Art Network website that includes information and images on each of the projects. http://www.artsusa.org/networks/public_art_network/people_projects.asp

Justine Topfer presented works under the category of “It’s about community” that the panel felt were really serious about honoring and respecting both the place and the people in a specific community. Examples are:

• Troka Troka by Ana Teresa Fernandez – a collaborative project to customize the homespun vehicles used by immigrants who drive around the Bay Area to pick up recyclable materials.
• Iconic Signage Project by Michael Cain – an arts-based economic development project that revitalizes and promotes the small businesses in New Orleans’ Broad Street Main Street corridor using neon signs.

John Carson presented works under the category “Honoring the Environment” that convey a location as well as larger global environmental concerns. Examples are:

• Solar Phone Booth by Beth Ferguson – a project that makes use of abandoned payphones in San Jose, transforming them into public solar powered charging stations and offering a shady resting space.
• Dekumstruction by Buster Simpson and Peg Butler – a bike ride/gathering space/bike rack/storm water management system in Portland, OR.

Norie Sato presented works under the category “Site at the Center” that respond to, reveal, and animate the unique aspects of a site and its context whether architecturally, socially, or culturally. Examples are:

• Weather Report by Spencer Finch – a project that signals tomorrow’s weather in lighthouses on the top 40th floors of Grande North and Grande South buildings in San Diego.
• Virga: The Sound Performance by Patrick Marold – a performance that animated a decommissioned train bridge that the artist converted into a pedestrian bridge in Denver.
• Prairie Logic by Janet Zweig – a boxcar sculpture and performance space placed amid prairie grasses on a green roof in Kansas City.

Carson next presented works under the category of “Honoring the Materials” that included work that exploited or explored the potential of materials themselves. Examples are:

• Spinning our Wheels by Linda Beaumont – colorful and hypnotic wheels that spin at varying speeds at the Seattle airport where passengers wait for shuttles.
• Cloud by Christian Moeller – a bookcase at the Dixie State College Library in Utah that appears to be an image of a pixelated cloud but is actually made from the spines of notebooks that can be checked out and in by students who can use them as journals and sketch books.

Topfer presented the final works under the category of “Changing Perceptions of What Was” that included works that used history and that transformed a site by revealing its forgotten past. Examples are:

• The Polygonal Address System by Steve Badgett and Deborah Stratman – a sound-based sculpture shaped like the pentagon that was anchored in the Washington Channel that used recordings of public addresses and protests and was based on Abbie Hoffman’s 1967 action “Levitate the Pentagon.”
• Dark Serra by Glenn Weiss – a self-initiated ground painting on the surface of a parking lot in Houston.
• Henry “Box” Brown: FOREVER by Wilmer Wilson IV – a performance piece in Washington, DC, in which the artist symbolically re-enacted a slave’s act of shipping himself to freedom in a crate.  Wilson covered himself head-to-toe in stamps, and walked to a post office where he requested to be mailed.

As the only national program that specifically recognizes public art projects, the Public Art Network’s Year in Review not only extols the most exciting projects of the year but also celebrates the thousands of people it takes to create dynamic public art.

Kyle Bostian

Pittsburgh is widely – and deservedly – touted for its transformation from declining industrial center to post-industrial success story, with much attention devoted to the role played by the arts in that (ongoing) process. The site of the 2013 Americans for the Arts Annual Convention, downtown’s Cultural District, represents a shining example of how artistic activity can help drive an economic recovery.

But in many neighborhoods the transition isn’t quite as far along; in some, it’s barely begun. And, for me and plenty of other Pittsburgh residents, that raises questions about how artists – often among the “avant-garde” (regardless of the style of their work) in terms of moving into and restoring “blighted” areas – might strive to make the most of the opportunities presented to them there. In my case (and I’m by no means alone in this respect), these questions go beyond the relationship between artistic activity and economic revitalization to encompass broader aspects of community building, accessibility, and social justice.

As a citizen-artist-activist, I appreciate the feeling of community that the arts often generate among participants. I’m particularly interested in and devote some of my own creative energy to projects that address issues (social, economic, political) with direct relevance to local populations. I’m passionate about the work I do along those lines. At the same time, I wonder if there are ways I could use my creativity to engage more deeply with my communities and have a greater impact. That’s why I was struck so powerfully by the words of one panelist at a recent Pittsburgh Emerging Arts Leaders Network forum on “Arts as Urban Renewal.”

Multidisciplinary artist Vanessa German, whose unique forms of creative expression defy concise description, lives and works in Homewood, an area near the city’s eastern periphery with high unemployment and poverty rates, low housing values, and a history of gang activity, drugs, and violence. Toward the end of the discussion – perhaps in response to her real-estate developer co-panelist’s emphasis on property ownership (or economic stakes) as the key to preventing artists from being “priced out” of the areas they help transform – Vanessa stressed her belief in the importance of artists possessing “soulful stakes” in their home neighborhoods.

This prompted me to reflect on my own residential circumstances. My life partner and I own a modest row house in the Lawrenceville neighborhood, about three miles east of downtown along the Allegheny River. A former mill district that now hosts a major children’s hospital and a robotics institute (among other examples of “new” industries), Lawrenceville in many ways epitomizes Pittsburgh’s overall “reinvention” from “Steel City” to “The Paris of Appalachia” – including ever-present tensions between “yinzer” traditionalists and bohemian progressives (some might call them “hipsters”). As noted in national media coverage from about the time we moved here in 2007, “artists and other creative types” helped lead the renewal.

As a professional couple, we were able to afford a freshly renovated home in what was still considered a “transitional” – but already desirable – area. Our property value has risen significantly over the six years since then, as the array of neighborhood amenities continues to expand. Various artist studios and galleries, several performance venues (offering live music, theatre, and dance), and a wide range of restaurants, bars, coffee shops, boutique stores, and other specialty businesses line the main drag of Butler Street and enhance our quality of life.

Very few, if any, struggling artists are moving here these days. And it’s not only creative types who’ve been priced out. Some people who’ve lived in Lawrenceville for many years – even if they own homes and weren’t forced to relocate to an area with lower rents – no doubt lack the financial means to eat and shop at the new crop of local establishments. Have the changes to their neighborhood over the past decade or so improved their quality of life? In terms of things like personal security it’s likely so (although perhaps not as decidedly as one might think). But do they share the strong community identification felt by the “urban pioneers” who led the redevelopment efforts and even by we Johnny-come-lately types who arrived in time to get in on the spoils without having to do the hard work? Or have their “soulful stakes” actually declined?

As I contemplate this situation, I recall some additional words spoken by the artist panelist at the urban renewal forum. At an earlier point in the discussion, she said something along these lines: “All of our places belong to all of us. And all of us are worthy of being here.”

Vanessa’s approach to embodying those principles, which essentially turns her private residence into a public art house, might not be practical or appropriate for everyone. But we all can learn from her commitment to embodying them.

I wonder what Lawrenceville would look like if its revitalization had somehow managed to give everyone here – artist or not – soulful stakes in the neighborhood. (That it hasn’t is not intended as criticism of community groups such as Lawrenceville United, which have my utmost respect for their efforts on behalf of residents.) I wonder if that’s even possible. And I wonder if it’s not too late. Could artists use their imaginative capacities to help lead that kind of transformation?

Among the assorted existing annual neighborhood events – many with at least a loosely defined “arts” angle (architectural, culinary, gardening) – designed to celebrate the community, Art All Night may represent a step in that direction. For the last sixteen years, a completely volunteer team of artists and non-artists (if there really is such a thing) has put on a fully democratic (non-juried and uncensored) showcase – with free admission – for artists of all kinds from the entire southwestern Pennsylvania region that brings over ten thousand people to Lawrenceville in a 24-hour span. But I’ve heard residents shrug off its substance to complain about its effect on traffic.

As Pittsburgh continues to attract more artists from outside the city and cultivate more from within, maybe we all can strive to think about how our work might engage audiences differently – and engage different audiences – and what that might mean in terms of everyone possessing soulful stakes in our communities and neighborhoods.

And – who knows? – maybe residents of other post-industrial cities that haven’t yet recovered as fully as Pittsburgh will turn to us for yinzpiration.

Mara Walker

June seems like convention season in the arts world. There are lots of national arts organizations developing educational and networking programs for their constituents.  If you are an arts discipline organization like a theatre or chorus or a service organization like a local arts agency there is a gathering for you next month.

Why choose the Americans for the Arts convention? Sure, it has workshops like other conferences and we cover topics like finding creative funding sources for your work, getting arts supportive local ballots passed, mapping your cultural ecosystem, serving diverse audiences, working toward equitable funding for the arts and much more. Naturally, it has receptions at amazing venues like The Andy Warhol Museum and the Mattress Factory. Yes, it has amazing award winning, game-changing speakers like Jim Messina, Manuel Pastor, Bill Strickland, Paula Kerger, Gary Knell, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Adam Goldman, Matt Arrigo, Tim McClimon and Edgar Smith. And there will be plenty of opportunity to hear from peers, colleagues and decision makers about how they are ensuring the arts are sustained and seen as core to building better communities.

We’ve picked an amazing city, Pittsburgh, for the convention where you can literally see the arts making a difference as you walk down Liberty Avenue. In return, Pittsburgh has the Three River Arts Festival, Gay Pride and baseball games taking place while we are there, June 14-16, so you can have the best of times.

past Convention attendees

There’s also lots to do before the convention even starts with in-depth programs for people involved in public art or emerging leaders in the arts and our first ever Arts, Entertainment and Cultural Districts.  We can’t tell these stories in a session or two so these preconferences provide you with the chance to explore these topics more fully.

Yup, going to the convention costs money and there is never enough of that to go around. But spending time with people who “get” what you do every day, well that is worth every penny. And spending time with people who have new ideas for how to accomplish your goals is priceless. You’ve got limited dollars and hard choices to make. As you think about whether you can afford to attend an arts convention this June, I hope you will consider joining us in Pittsburgh June 14-16.  May 31 is the cut-off date to get a discount on your registration.

I hope to see you there!

Melissa LuVisi and Christine Smith of Treading Art

Pittsburgh has vastly changed from what once was known as the “smoky city,” covered in smoke and grit, to a city that is open, architecturally diverse, young, and thriving. Pittsburgh has become a leader in the technology, energy and medical fields which has attracted transplants from across the country to work in and live in Western Pennsylvania. It has managed to diversify its economy away from an over reliance on manufacturing while preserving its industrial heritage.

As Pittsburgh continues to implement programs like the Propel Pittsburgh Commission, an initiative developed by the city to give a voice to young careerists living and working in the city, we can expect to see more population growth spurts in the region. Furthering this commitment to growth, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl put forth several efforts to retain college graduates by asking them to ‘pick’ Pittsburgh in 2012. For the last three years the city has been showing a strong number of increases in population. In terms of the arts and culture fields, it cannot be denied that the liveability of the city has more artists moving and settling in Pittsburgh to pursue their craft. Nationally speaking, here at Treading Art, we believe Pittsburgh is a city for America to keep its eye on while it continues to make broad strokes towards the top.

While some artists sell and create their work strictly within the city, others live part time between here, New York or even D.C.. Printmakers such as Just Seeds, a national artists co-op based out of Pittsburgh, and Tugboat Printshop, a young family whom work out of their home in Lawrenceville, sell most of their work online and at print shows. With the increase in the creative population came underground movements and groups such as the musical pioneers behind VIA. VIA is a group of artists and musicians who host several events throughout the year and an annual music and new media festival. VIA was voted # 4 in the world on Residential Advisors: Top 10 October Festivals. Galleries such as CMU’s Future Tenant can be found pulling from the local bank of artists for their exhibitions and programs which produced 8 visual art shows, 9 performing arts programs and 7 one night only events, including their annual fundraiser, in 2012.

It’s not just artists who are paving the way for creative business. Entrepreneurial groups like the Beauty Shoppe, a coworking space with networking resources, and the Hustle Den, a startup incubator, have popped up in East Liberty which was once a part of the city that was riddled with crime and poverty. Their programs provide space for young entrepreneurs to work, grow their companies and find mentorship. These young business men and women are finding value in collaboration and becoming the leaders of a new generation of creative businesses here in Pittsburgh.

The historical, community-driven endowments and grants are also furthering the strong push to revitalize Pittsburgh’s cultural scene and making it happen. The Sprout Fund has grant opportunities ranging anywhere from $1,000 to $15,000. In 2012 they invested over $400,000 in Southwestern Pennsylvania and supported 55 different recipients. On a larger scale, The Heinz Endowments is responsible for giving away up to 60 million dollars a year and ranks among the 50 largest foundations in the country. The city’s commitment to one another doesn’t stop there either. On a grassroots level, Kickstarter funds seem to be having a lot of success; especially, for the local boys behind the Brew Gentlemen. They were able to earn $7,000 more than the pledged goal of $25,000. That is just one example of several Kickstarters based out of the Pittsburgh region.

Pittsburgh is happy to host the American’s for the Arts Convention this year and welcomes its attendees to explore our up and coming city.

Jamie Kasper

Imagine a fast-growing, increasingly diverse school district with approximately 2,700 students in grades K–12, located 12 miles from the downtown area of a city. The district currently consists of three buildings: an elementary school (grades K–4), a middle school (grades 6–8), and a high school (grades 9–12). Also imagine the following:

• Because of the growing population, the district is building a new facility for grades 3-5 that will open in the 2013–2014 school year. This building will have a STEAM focus.

• In addition to visual arts and music, students in the elementary school also participate in an Arts Alive class. Arts Alive is a performing arts class that focuses on storytelling; students employ dance, music, and theatre to tell and create stories. Students often comment that they wish Arts Alive would continue into the middle school because they learn so much in elementary school.

• The administrative team—including the superintendent and other central office staff; building leadership; heads of transportation, food service, and grounds; and other leaders—has spent its last three summer leadership retreats at local arts and cultural facilities, engaged in creative arts-based learning with staff from those facilities.

• The middle school visual arts teacher took it upon herself a few years ago to attend a robotics workshop at a local university. With the help of staff from a special robotics program at the university, she now engages her middle school students in designing, creating, and programming kinetic sculptures that use the elements and principles of design.

• Over the past two years, the district has collaborated with a local nonprofit organization to conduct self-assessment processes focused on improving the quality of the music, health/physical education, theatre, and visual arts programs. As a result of that work, teachers in those areas participated in rich professional learning experiences in areas such as music technology, incorporating dance and movement into physical education, and decoding works of visual art. These experiences utilized artists from local organizations and teachers from other school districts.

• The district has received multiple STEAM grants from a regional funder, allowing district staff to engage students in project-based learning focused on STEAM subjects.

This district is real, and it is right here in Pittsburgh.

South Fayette Township School District is engaging community partners and collaborators—designated in bold type above—to offer its students world-class learning opportunities across all content areas, including the arts. The story above is only an example of what happens each day in South Fayette, and partners and collaborators are an important part of the work. My organization, the Arts Education Collaborative, is lucky enough to be one of those collaborators.

Before I go any further, I’d like to talk a bit about the differences between partners and collaborators. I fully (and proudly) admit to stealing these definitions from the director of my organization, Dr. Sarah Tambucci.

Partners are people or organizations that come to the table to enhance a project or initiative already conceived.

Collaborators are people or organizations that come to the table at the beginning of the planning process to create a project or initiative.

Both partners and collaborators have important roles to play in supporting quality learning in school districts.

In South Fayette’s case, the superintendent, Dr. Bille Rondinelli, has a strong interest in placing the arts in a visible place in the district’s work. The self-assessment processes that the Arts Education Collaborative has conducted recently in the district have ensured that while the arts are frequently combined with other subjects, they are also taught as stand-alone disciplines that are valuable in their own right.

Dr. Rondinelli and her staff leverage their partners and collaborators to strengthen the expertise, experience, and passion already in the district. My organization has worked directly with the health/physical education, music, theatre, and visual arts educators over the past three years. These educators have extensive knowledge about the community and their students, so it makes sense to provide them with connections to people and organizations that can share very specific expertise in areas such as robotics, computer programming, and contemporary music.

South Fayette has chosen to take a unique approach, utilizing community partners and collaborators to immerse students in content in the arts and other important subjects while presenting them with engaging, real-world problems.

When we asked South Fayette students to tell us what would happen if the arts were cut from their schools, one student said, “I would leave school with a headache! There would be nothing to look forward to.”

I think the approach might be working.

The Americans for the Arts Annual Convention is heading to Pittsburgh in June. Follow along as we spotlight the city every week between now and then here on ARTSblog. Also, don’t forget the Advance Registration deadline is May 31 so be sure to register before then to receive a discount!

Sam Laffey

I love Pittsburgh. I mean it; I am a full on Pittsburgh-loving evangelist.

I have a full-time job that I love here. I co-own a small business here. I own a house here. I wasn’t born here. I’m a transplant. And unlike my friend Michelle, it took me longer than a year to get on board with Pittsburgh.

“Why did you come here?” The emphasis on ‘here’ was always more dramatic when the person asking knew I came from Los Angeles. I grew up in L.A. for 18 years and couldn’t wait to leave when it came time to apply to college. It’s not that I didn’t like L.A., but I was hungry for something new and different. I mean, how much sunshine can a person take? I kid, but in truth I did want to experience seasons.

I originally came to feed my hunger for seasons and independence and to study art at Carnegie Mellon University. After about two months, I felt my hunger had been satiated and I announced to my family that after I completed my four-year degree, I was coming home as fast as that plane could carry me.

When I tell this story now it makes me laugh, because it truly was a rough beginning to my courtship with Pittsburgh. My apartment and school and the four square blocks in between were all I knew. It got really small really quick. The public transportation system was pretty good back then and my school ID got me on for free, but I didn’t know where to go, so I felt trapped.

In my second year, I drove my car out which was a turning point for me. I didn’t have to know where I wanted to go—I was in control and could just drive, get lost, and see what I found. I did this on my own and I did it with friends, and it opened Pittsburgh to me.

I discovered Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, and Pittsburgh Sports League. I learned that there were more than four restaurants in Pittsburgh, which thankfully has only grown in recent years. Seriously, the Pittsburgh food scene has blown up! Just looking at that link causes this foodie’s mouth to salivate.

The timeline of where my love affair with Pittsburgh really heated up gets a little fuzzy in the third year. I know I learned about the Accelerated Masters of Arts Management Program at Heinz College during that year.

That was an important moment because participating in that program meant going back on my “out in four years” declaration. In fact, I was willing, if not eager to apply and stay on for a fifth year. It wasn’t long before that turned into “oh I can stay a couple of years, get a job and gain experience before leaving” which then morphed into “Pittsburgh I love you, I’ll never leave you, please never leave me!”

So now that “Why did you come here?” question is more often “What are you doing here?” Or “Why did you stay?”

It’s no secret that Pittsburgh has a youth retention/brain drain problem, so the fact that I came here for school, finished my degree and didn’t immediately leave makes me somewhat of an anomaly. When native Yinzers or Pittsburghers for the uninitiated ask me these questions, I often feel like a science experiment, or perhaps a gorilla in the mist.

Truth be told, I enjoy being different and going against the grain, but it’s difficult at times to find the words to describe why I’m here, why I stayed, why I love this place so enthusiastically that I once loathed so vehemently. My answer changes often as I consider the questions more, but ultimately it comes down to this: Pittsburgh wooed me. It wasn’t love at first sight, but with some persistent wooing, I fell in love with the well-rounded life that Pittsburgh has to offer.

It’s the world-class sports teams, sitting next to the world-class arts. It’s world-class high art collaborating with the diverse art forms and venues the city brings together. It’s the centuries old architecture paired with the world’s leaders in technology innovation. It’s the abundance of natural beauty, hiking trails, and waterways just steps away from the cultural center of downtown. And yes, it’s the seasons. Now, I’ll admit, nothing beats Southern California weather if you want dry warmth and consistency. But the blistering cold winters opposite the sticky mucky hot summers make the few weeks of spring and fall in between sheer perfection.

When you come for the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention, don’t just hole up in your hotel room or spend all of your time in our incredible Convention Center. Check out some of Michelle’s recommendations, or email me to see what I might be up to. Do some exploring and get lost.

Even though Pittsburgh had to work hard over a few years to woo me, some have fallen in love immediately, so be prepared—you may be next.

The Americans for the Arts Annual Convention is heading to Pittsburgh in June. Follow along as we spotlight the city every week between now and then here on ARTSblog. Also, don’t forget the Early Bird Registration deadline is April 26 so be sure to register before then to receive a big discount!

John Eger

Welcome to the global economy and society.

U.S. astronauts reflecting on their experiences in space all seemed to see the earth as one “big blue marble.”

As NASA writes: “For the first time in history, humankind looked at Earth and saw not a jigsaw puzzle of states and countries on an uninspiring flat map—but rather a whole planet uninterrupted by boundaries, a fragile sphere of dazzling beauty floating alone in a dangerous void.”

Thanks to the pervasive worldwide spread of internet technology, the “big blue marble age” is here, the global economy has arrived, and in a sense, the world’s map is being redrawn in a way never envisioned.

While interviewing Nandan Nilekani, the C.E.O. of Infosys, Thomas Friedman, columnist for The New York Times and author of The World is Flat, observed:

“There (has been) a massive investment in technology, especially in the bubble era, when hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in putting broadband connectivity around the world, undersea cables, (and) those things…created a platform where intellectual work, intellectual capital, could be delivered from anywhere. It could be disaggregated, delivered, distributed, produced and put back together again.”

The net effect of these changes to the world’s economy is that there are no longer the traditional barriers to doing business in the digital age. Every community, every individual is suddenly able to compete with every other and despite what you may hear from politicians running for national office, there are no national economies. There is only a new, truly global economy, which no one is in charge of. Instead, as Kenichi Ohmae, author of The End of the Nation State: The Rise of Regional Economies, pointed out, there is the rise and rebirth of the city-state, or as he calls them, the Region State.

Nations are not going to disappear. Nor are states, provinces, or prefectures. Indeed, elected officials are loath to accede power to any kind of consolidation. Nevertheless, their responsibilities are changing and cities, or more precisely, larger economic regions are emerging that have heavy responsibilities to organize one’s community to reinvent itself for a knowledge-based economy and society.

Now more than ever, business and industry are dependent upon an economic system that rewards innovation. But to have innovation, you also need creativity; and a creative and innovative community is vital to that effort.

A creative community is one that exploits the vital links among art, culture, and commerce; and invests in the human and financial resources necessary to prepare its citizens to meet the challenges of the rapidly evolving, postindustrial knowledge economy and society. “Cities of the Future” also provide the vibrant culture that is essential for attracting and retaining that innovative workforce.

There is much to do to change the way we educate our young people for this brave new world; there is much we must do to reinvent our communities for the creative and innovative economy.

We can start by redesigning the look and feel of our cities; and reinventing them as the incubators of creativity, the living rooms of the community.

“Art and Culture Districts” may be the answer.

“Such districts”, says Local Arts Agency Services Program Manager Theresa Cameron of Americans for the Arts, “have the potential—with their critical mass of art galleries, cinemas, music venues, public squares for performances, restaurants, cafes and retail shops—of attracting, and nurturing the creative workforce our cities need to succeed in the new economy.”

This coming June at the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention in Pittsburgh, an Arts, Entertainment & Cultural Districts Preconference will showcase some of districts leading the way to transform cities.

In addition to the Preconference, Cameron plans to produce an update of an earlier report on such districts, but more importantly, will launch a three-year effort to “involve mayors and other city executives in the discussion, and include webinars, conferences and inactive media to help cities across America reinvent their city for the age of ‘creativity and innovation.'”

As the geographical landscape of a city morphs into a larger metropolitan region-partly because of growth, mostly out of economic necessity—what we call downtown becomes even more critical to wealth and well-being of the people living in those communities.

Few efforts to insure America’s success and survival in the new economy could be more important.

Americans for the Arts’ first ever Arts, Entertainment & Cultural Districts Preconference, being held June 12–14 in Pittsburgh, will examine the city’s own cultural district up close and will provide registrants with the opportunity to learn about existing policies and incentive programs from experts from across the country. For more information about the full Annual Convention (June 14–16) and two additional Preconferences, visit convention.artsusa.org.

(Editor’s Note: This post was originally published at HuffPost Arts & Culture’s The Blog on April 12, 2013.)

The photo for our album cover – Public Art n’At by the Office of Public Art and Morton Brown: Live From Agnes Katz Plaza

On Wednesday, June 12, all of the preconference attendees are invited to our Welcome to Pittsburgh event. Meet up in the lobby of the Westin to get your registration and Dine-Around location organized.

A guide will walk with you a few blocks down to Agnes Katz Plaza in the heart of the Cultural District. The photo was taken at the end of March. We promise you won’t need a winter coat in June! But you might need an umbrella, so please pack one. 

At the plaza you will pick up the 2013 edition of the Office of Public Art’s (OPA) guidebook Pittsburgh Art in Public Places: Downtown. You can take a self-guided tour, or meet up with a local artist who will take you to a few of their favorite pieces.

After the tour, meet up with friends and colleagues at a Dine-Around for dinner. Each table is hosted by a local artist and a Public Art Network Council Member. A variety of local restaurants have been selected by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and OPA’s food blogging staff.

Liesel Fenner with “Pittsburgh Recollections” by Romare Bearden.

You are going to have to get ready for a difficult choice. What tour or workshop will you attend on Thursday (June 13)?

It’s a great problem to have so many good ones to choose from. The Collections Management tour will include the back story of how the mural above by Romare Bearden was moved across the street from one subway platform to another.

The tour about Public Private Partnerships will feature visits to Mellon Park, where the City of Pittsburgh collaborated with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the Office of Public Art to fund the restoration and relocation of these sculptures…

Hint: The relocation involved heavy equipment.

…as well as a visit to a pedestrian bridge in East Liberty designed by Sheila Klein and SAI Consulting Engineers. A team effort by the city with many local public and private partners! The tour will also learn about the arts initiatives of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, with a focus on their storefront activation program Project Pop-Up Pittsburgh: Downtown.

A pedestrian bridge in East Liberty.

The Art:Campus:Community tour will include the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. Participants will learn how the art on both campuses developed and how artists from the campuses have developed projects in different Pittsburgh communities.

The Art as Placemaker Tour will explore different grassroots arts projects that have helped to define communities. Visit an artist in residence project at the Kingsley Center; the Union Project, which transformed a church into an arts and community center; and Gist Street, an arts enclave in Uptown. The tour will end with a visit to City of Asylum/Pittsburgh, which is building a visual art, music, and literary corridor on the Northside.

City of Asylum/Pittsburgh’s Jazz Poetry Festival and a House Publication by Huang Xiang. (Photo by Renee Rosensteel)

The Monuments, Memorials, and Murals tour will include a presentation by artist Janet Zweig and landscape architect Natalie Plecity, who collaborated on a memorial and garden in Mellon Park, and visits to the Carnegie Museum of Art and Schenley Plaza in Oakland led by art historians Sylvia Rhor Samaniego and Kirk Savage.

A star in the lawn at the Anne Katharine Seamans Memorial Garden, part of Janet Zwieg’s public art installation.

In addition to the four tours, one workshop at the hotel focuses on how design review bodies are an essential part of the public art and civic design process. Representatives from the Borough of Wilkinsburg and Barbara Goldstein will give examples of best practices and discuss their recent work to develop new art and design commissions, or revamp old ones!

The Community Art and Civic Design Commission in Wilkinsburg meets with an applicant to review a garden design.

Thursday night, it’s all about the party. After your tour, the bus will bring you to the PAN reception. Which, thanks to generous support from McKay Lodge Conservation Laboratory and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, will be one heck of a party at The Mattress Factory Art Museum.

Food. Drinks. Music by Lungs Face Feet. The entire museum will be open for visitors to explore.

The Office of Public Art is planning a party for you!

If you register for the full day of events on Friday (June 14), not only will you get to attend the fantastic Convention Opening Reception at the Warhol Museum, you can take an in-depth tour of the public art at the convention center with Angelica Cirrani and Marc Pally.

Don’t miss this opportunity to see Jenny Holzer’s installation up close, and meet several local artists who completed commissions for roof deck and other public areas.

“For Pittsburgh” by Jenny Holzer on the roof of the convention center.

And if you are staying for the full Americans for the Arts Annual Convention—which we definitely encourage!—you’ll get to see much more of the city!

We are all looking forward to seeing you in Pittsburgh!

Victoria Plettner-Saunders

As an arts education advocate who is leading an effort in San Diego to ensure that arts education is not lost in the midst of budget cuts at San Diego Unified School District, I must confess I am a little lost these days.

In the past, it’s been easy. District administration red lines the visual and performing arts department to save money, we advocate to the school board, and the school board approves funding for another year. It’s been this way for at least the last three years. But this year is different.

This year, the pink slips to more than 1,600 teachers were not rescinded in the final hour as they had been every year before. This year, the May revise shows the state budget gap is not $9 billion but almost $16 billion—definitely not what the governor anticipated. In 2009 they projected that the district budget would turn around by 2013. But that’s nowhere near what’s happening. This year it’s a very different ball game.

As a strategist, I take pride in knowing just what tools to use and what angle to take when going to bat for the arts in San Diego City Schools. But I’m at a loss this year. How do we continue to demand that the arts education budget remains intact when 1 in 5 teachers district-wide will be without a job come June unless the board can work with the teachers union and agree to contract concessions?

How do we continue to have faith that it will all work out when California voters refuse to support the taxes needed to ensure that education budgets aren’t decimated and fiscal conservatives in the state legislature think that the only answer is more cuts. And even if the governor’s tax increase proposal is approved by the voters in November, the result the district projects is a flat budget, not an increase, in school funding.

I understand now why so many give up on advocacy (and arts education advocacy in particular). It is hard work. It’s never ending. And lately it seems to be more exhausting than ever. So what can I do?

This year I’m looking forward to finding inspiration by spending three days next week with other arts education advocates at the 2012 Americans for the Arts Annual Convention in San Antonio. We’ve got a great lineup of daily sessions that will inform and inspire.

Starting first thing on Friday morning with something different—a documentary screening and discussion session called Documenting the Importance of Arts Education. We’ll view a new documentary about Chicago’s Albany Park Theatre Project titled “TRUST: Second Acts in Young Lives” and talk about how to use video documentation to speak to the value of arts education in our communities.

There are also several practical sessions planned including an introduction to the new publication from Americans for the Arts, the “Arts Education Field Guide”, that helps you better understand the very complex ecosystem of stakeholders that we encounter when doing advocacy. Another great session on Saturday called Be the Solution helps us think about new ways of becoming allies with our school leaders in support of the arts. The Arts Education Network is focusing on the important role higher education plays in our ecosystem. We often get trapped in thinking of this as a K–12 issue, but it’s so much bigger and interconnected than that. Come talk with your peers about this often overlooked issue.

And to cap it all off we have a coveted Innovation Session slot on Sunday morning for Changing Lives: Arts Education, El Sistema, and a Whole New Set of Possibilities at which Tricia Tunstall the author of the first book on El Sistema will be on hand with teaching artist and writer Eric Booth, to talk about this inspiring music education program that’s taking over our communities.

So if you need a little encouragement to continue fighting the good fight, come reignite your enthusiasm with us in San Antonio (or virtually through Convention On-Demand after the live version concludes).

I hope to see you there.

Arts & Economic Prosperity IV demonstrates that the nonprofit arts and culture industry is an economic driver in communities—supporting jobs, generating government revenue, and securing tourism.

Improving upon our 2005 study, with the help of over 180 research partners, we have collected 150,000 audience intercept surveys from cultural event attendees, as well as detailed budget and attendance information from 8,000 nonprofit arts and culture organizations across the country. This will be the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind ever conducted!

Tune in to this link on Friday, June 8 at 1:00 p.m. EDT/Noon CDT to watch Vice President of Research & Policy Randy Cohen present the new findings. (The AEPIV presentation is expected to begin at 1:20 p.m. EDT/12:20 p.m. CDT, so you may see our attendees enjoying their lunch when you first go to the site.)

In addition to Randy, you’ll also hear from panelists Michelle Boone, Julie Muraco, and Michael Spring about how to effectively use this study to make the case for the arts across various sectors.

For more information on Arts & Economic Prosperity IV visit our updated website or contact our research staff.

Angela Harris

When I received the call from Americans for the Arts saying that I had been selected to receive the 2011 American Express Emerging Leaders Award, I had so many emotions.

I was thrilled that the panel appreciated the impact that I was making in the community. I was proud that all of the hard work and countless hours that I had invested into starting a nonprofit and growing from the ground up were being recognized; and I was nervous about the future and committed to making sure that I lived up to the honor of the award.

2012 has been a wonderful season of accomplishments for both me and my organization, Dance Canvas. Since June, when I received the award, I have cultivated a new choreographic partnership with Kennesaw State University, which will be developed into a new track and choreographic options for the students of the dance department.

I also began a new partnership with Career Transition for Dancers, and worked in conjunction with the Los Angeles-based organization to provide career training to dancers and choreographers in Atlanta.

Artistically, Dance Canvas partnered with the Rialto Center for the Arts to provide creative connections to involve the community in educational outreach and residencies. These community connections allowed Dance Canvas to work with The Trey McIntyre Project, and with the French Consulate of Atlanta to present a master class by Pierre Rigal’s production, Asphalte.

For the past two years, Dance Canvas has presented a youth after-school dance experience, in partnership with the City of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and their Culture Club initiative.

Through my association with the marketing department of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Ailey Company selected Dance Canvas’ youth program to receive an “Ailey Experience.”

On February 15, new Alvin Ailey Artistic Director Robert Battle and Ailey dancer Matthew Rushing visited our Culture Club students, ages 5–11 years, and taught Alvin Ailey’s celebrated work, Revelations. The experience was a “once in a lifetime” moment for these students and a huge milestone for Dance Canvas.

With the assistance of the 2011 American Express Emerging Leaders Award, I have a received an incredible validation from two well respected organizations, Americans for the Arts and American Express.

I know that as I look toward the future and to the new endeavors that I want to create, the award will provide credibility in an industry and an environment where emerging leaders are often dismissed. Larger institutions are now taking notice of our accomplishments and have taken an interest in the much needed resources that Dance Canvas provides.

I am looking forward to our 2013 Season…the five-year anniversary of Dance Canvas and I am thankful that the first four years were capped by the honor of being recognized by my peers!

Krista Lang Blackwood

This past summer I sat in a room at the Americans for Arts Annual Convention on a beautiful afternoon and listened to folks from Memphis talk about how art and business have created a partnership that works (you can find a longer blog post about it here).

The conversation wasn’t what I expected to hear.

I expected to hear the tired old platitudes about the ROI arts can provide; pie graphs, bar graphs, numbers galore. Bottom line revenue creation. Profit points. Cost projections. Economic development. Blah, blah, blah…

But as I stiffened my spine to sit through another pile of accounting  buzzwords, the corporate guy got up and said, “When we’re trying to hire quality people, the town’s cultural footprint is important in attracting the right kind of people.” In short, “I don’t really care about the arts themselves or the money the arts can make;  I only use them as a tool to make sure we get quality employees.”

There was a palpable, audible, unified grumble that cascaded across the room. However, I leaned forward in my chair, newly in love with this guy who cut through the bull and told it like it is.

I loved that he wasn’t making ArtsMemphis give him a line about the economic impact of the arts. What he needs is a vibrant community and ArtsMemphis can provide what he needs. Easily. It’s what ArtsMemphis is designed to do.

That’s how arts should market themselves to business — arts as a quality of life issue, not an economic one.

Sure, there are economic benefits to the arts, and all the pie graphs certainly aren’t meaningless.

But they aren’t compelling.

Just the fact that artists are starting to use terms like “ROI” is telling.

Did any of us go into the arts because we took an accounting class?

Do any of us get excited when we see a pie graph? Doubtful. And because we are not passionate about the economic impact of the arts, we cannot be compelling in its defense. It’s a language few of us speak.

But what is compelling is how the arts can make a town into a community; how it can make a group of people with disparate opinions into a unified mass of shared concerns.

This is why many of us went into the arts. And when we explain this we speak from the heart and our arguments are more likely to resonate.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t also draw up the pie graphs and the bar charts. The arts ARE an economic driver.

But the arts also drive the quality of life in our communities and, in a world that is rebranding “Human Resources” into “Talent Management,” that is an argument worth making.