Professor Ann
Markusen
'Creative Placemaking: Artists,
Designers, and Arts Organizations as Shapers of Urban Space and
Vitality' watch
video
Professor Ann Markusen has researched the livability and economic
development outcomes of many American places at every scale: city,
town and hamlet. In her discussion of 'Creative Placemaking'
Professor Markusen will present research conducted over ten years
and two continents, including a major White Paper, Creative
Placemaking, to be published by National Endowment for the Arts in
October 2010, that includes 15 new case studies of the marriage of
art, design and economic development across the US. Her research
concludes that partners from public, private, nonprofit, and
community sectors can strategically shape the physical and social
character of a neighbourhood, town, city or region around arts and
cultural activities, resulting in vibrant and stabilised places:
findings that are relevant to the architecture, urbanism, design
and art communities alike.
Abstract from Professor Ann Markusen:
"In this talk, I begin with human rather than physical
capital, with creators such as artists and designers, to make
several points about their under-appreciated contributions to
cities, places, and regional economies. Using Census data and
qualitative methods, I explore the career trajectories of creative
workers and underscore the place-based strategies, arts
organizations, and dedicated spaces that nurture them. From a
scan done this year for the US National Endowment for the Arts, I
explore the roles of artists and designers as initiators of and
partners in revitalization, showcasing successful cases in large
cities and tiny towns, documenting the challenges in building
partnerships and assembling resources."
Professor Ann Markusen is currently UK Fulbright Distinguished
Chair at the Glasgow School of Art (Mackintosh School of
Architecture - Glasgow Urban Lab) and Professor of Urban Planning
and Public Policy, and Director of the Project on Regional and
Industrial Economics at the University of Minnesota. Professor
Markusen's Fulbright position at the Urban Lab within the GSA will
enable the development of her research to encompass comparative
study and further development work in and around Glasgow.
This event was hosted by The Mackintosh School of Architecture -
Glasgow Urban Lab, a GSA Research Centre.
Hosted by The School of Fine Art, The Friday Event
Lecture Series is The Glasgow School of Art's flagship public
lecture series, and brings major international speakers (including
artists, architects, designers, historians and cultural theorists)
to the city of Glasgow.
