Finalists Named for $15 Million in Creative Placemaking Grants

The Community Design Collaborative has been named a finalist for support from ArtPlace, an unprecedented private-public collaboration of nine of the nation’s top foundations, eight federal agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, and six of the nation’s largest banks. ArtPlace supports creative placemaking with grants and loans, research and advocacy.

The Community Design Collaborative joins 128 other organizations in 68 cities working to transform their communities by driving vibrancy through investments in the arts.

The selected projects represent the best of the more than 2,000 applications from across the country. Finalists were chosen for their potential to have a transformative impact on community vibrancy. Proposed projects run the gamut from temporary art spaces to permanent performance venues, from music festivals to art walks and from streetscaping to artist residencies.

“This new round of applications shows that there is serious momentum building for creative placemaking in the U.S.,” says Carol Coletta, president of ArtPlace. “These artists and designers are an undervalued asset for kick-starting momentum in our communities. And in this economy, it’s hard to imagine why any community wouldn’t deploy every asset it has for success.”

ArtPlace expects to distribute $15 million in 2012.  This year’s grant recipients will be announced in May.  Last year, 34 organizations received a total of $11.5 million.   The full list of finalists can be found at http://www.artplaceamerica.org/articles/2012finalists/   Participating foundations include Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Robina Foundation and an anonymous donor. In addition to the NEA, federal partners are the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education and Transportation, along with leadership from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council. ArtPlace is also supported by a $12 million loan fund capitalized by six major financial institutions and managed by the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Participating institutions are Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Chase, MetLife and Morgan Stanley.

The Community Design Collaborative is a community design center that provides pro bono preliminary design services to nonprofit organizations, offers unique volunteer opportunities for design professionals, and raises awareness about the importance of design in community revitalization. Founded in 1991 as a program of AIA Philadelphia, the Collaborative is an independent 501(c) (3) with a network of more than 1,000 volunteers. Linda Dottor, Program Manager Community Design Collaborative 1216 Arch Street, First Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 215.587.9290 linda@cdesignc.org