Throughout the rest of September, Smart Growth America will be celebrating the positive impact that arts and culture have on the communities through a handful of inspiring local stories. The month will culminate with the release of a new examination of creative placemaking by our Transportation for America program in partnership with ArtPlace America.
Why spend the better part of a month talking about arts and culture? And what does it have to do with building better transportation projects or improving lives by improving communities, as SGA seeks to do?
Every great place — whether small town, big city, local neighborhood — also has a unique sense of itself that’s reflected in or supported by the arts and local culture. Because the arts are a core part of strengthening the social, physical, and economic fabric of communities, they’re also a key part of smarter growth, which is all about building great, sustainable, lovable places.
Smart Growth America has announced it is going to spend this month — largely through the lens of our Transportation for America program — telling a handful of stories about how arts and culture are essential to building better transportation projects that do more to lift up and celebrate what’s unique about the local communities where they are located.
Smart Growth America has announced 'ArtPlace America selected T4America to partner with them to undertake a rigorous national examination' of creative placemaking to better understand how and where artists, designers, and cultural workers are collaborating with local governments and community partners to solve transportation challenges.
As Smart Growth America gets prepared to release this “field scan” later in September with ArtPlace America, it is going to share a handful of stories that bring this issue to life; stories that show how arts and culture are not a “nice to have” when it comes to transportation or local community development projects — they’re essential.
