The NH Institute of Art (NHIA) in Manchester is offering a new Certificate in Creative Placemaking program this year in partnership with the National Consortium for Creative Placemaking (NCCP).
Creative Placemaking is a fast-growing field that integrates resources and ideas from urban planning, community development, the arts and design to help individuals and communities strategically shape their communities and environments to improve quality of life, economic opportunity, and the climate for creativity.
NHIA’s and NCCP’s new 10-month-long Certificate in Creative Placemaking program is one of the only programs of its kind in North America and the only hybrid online/low-residency program designed to allow busy professionals working in the fields of arts management, design, urban planning, economic development, community development, and government policy to gain deep, practical knowledge from nationally recognized experts in the field of creative platemaking, says NHIA President Kent Devereaux. “We’re incredibly excited about this new program,” he says.
Students in the new Certificate in Creative Placemaking program, which starts in August, will have the opportunity to enroll in the program for either professional development or graduate course credit. Additionally, the program has been designed to allow students to:
- Come together for short 3-day and 2-day residencies at the beginning and end of the program and learn from a diverse pool of creative placemaking experts from around the United States;
- Complete the six modules comprising the Certificate curriculum (community development, economic development, financial analysis, building community capacity, site planning, and marketing) entirely online;
- Get coaching in collaborative leadership and culturally competent practice;
- Complete a creative placemaking plan, proposal, or analysis for a community of their choice;
- Join a professional community of creative placemakers and make connections with possible future colleagues, clients, or funders;
- Get discounted access to workshops, conferences, and other learning opportunities offered throughout the country by NCCP.
“This program will benefit anyone committed to improving communities through arts and culture,” says Leonardo Vazquez, executive director of NCCP. “Civic artists can learn more about the inner workings of communities and local economies. Urban planners and public policy professionals will understand better how to engage and support the arts and artists.”
Individuals interested in learning more about the Certificate in Creative Placemaking program and possibly enrolling for the inaugural session in August 2017 should contact the program office at placemaking@nhia.edu or visit www.nhia.edu/creativeplacemaking.
About Creative Placemaking
“Creative Placemaking” is a term coined in 2010 by Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa Nicodemus to describe a range of creative activities designed to foster more creative, livable, economical viable, sustainable, and equitable communities. As they wrote: “In creative placemaking, partners from public, private, nonprofit, and community sectors strategically shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood, town, tribe, city, or region around arts and cultural activities. Creative placemaking animates public and private spaces, rejuvenates structures and streetscapes, improves local business viability and public safety, and brings diverse people together to celebrate, inspire, and be inspired.
“In turn, these creative locales foster entrepreneurs and cultural industries that generate jobs and income, spin off new products and services, and attract and retain unrelated businesses and skilled workers. Together, creative placemaking’s livability and economic development outcomes have the potential to radically change the future of American towns and cities.”
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