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Marty on Arts Blog
My article, Creating Social Change Through Community Connections & Shared Arts Experiences, was published on Arts Blog!
Summer UPDATE
Meeting Place project, by Art At Work Initiative, is among 51 grants nationwide selected to support placemaking. Portland, ME – Today Art At Work announced that it will receive an Our Town Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), one of only 51 awarded nationwide. Art At Work will receive support on the project Meeting Place, a citizen and neighborhood organization yearlong partnership.
Our Town is the NEA’s new leadership initiative focused on creative placemaking projects. In creative placemaking, partners from both public and private sectors come together to strategically shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood, town, city or region around arts and cultural activities. Created by Art At Work, Meeting Place is a multidisplinary arts project to help five of Portland’s neighborhoods develop and deepen their networks of connection by tapping into the transformative power of the arts with dynamic yearlong partnership with local artists.
National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Landesman said, “Communities across our country are using smart design and leveraging the arts to enhance the quality of life and promote their distinctive identities. In this time of great economic upheaval, Our Town provides communities an opportunity to reignite their economies.”
Yum…East Bayside’s International Dinner
Not only was the free international food incredible, but so was the community energy at the East Bayside Neighborhood Organization’s International Dinner & Community Conversation on Tuesday night.
The conversation following the dinner was focused on creating a sustainable vision for East Bayside in conjunction with the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT). The AIA selected Portland as one of seven sites nationwide for its volunteer SDAT services. The dinner and conversation were designed as an additional opportunity for the community to voice their opinions about the SDAT’s projects.
Portland Police Chief James Craig welcomes audience and gives AAW’s Thin Blue Lines project, “Radio Calls,” a shout out.
AAW Project Coordinator, Lauren Pongan, Alan Holt from USM Muskie and City Councilor Kevin Donoghue at E. Bayside’s AIA Community Dinner.
