Next Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit focuses on sustainability, social equity and partnerships

By Leonardo Vazquez

Thriving Together, the next Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit, will focus on how creative placemaking can improve quality of life for disadvantaged people, successful partnerships, and maintaining and growing creative placemaking over the long term.

The all-day event will be Friday, May 5, 2017, at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ. Registration and more information will be available in January.

Creative Placemaking Leadership Summits bring together people from many different fields -- arts, public affairs, urban planning, real estate development and more -- to explore ways to make communities better through arts and culture.  The Summit offers 'how-to' information through workshops, presentations, and other formats.  There is also plenty of time to build your network of creative placemakers.

The 2016 Leadership Summit attracted 150 people and got strong reviews from participants.

• 98% said that they enjoyed the summit
• 91% said they were satisfied with the quality of the speakers
• 89% said that the workshops and peer learning experiences were useful to them
• 80% said they learned a lot, and 55% said they learned more than they expected to
• 75% said that there was a good mix of learning experiences

Here are some thoughts from last year's attendees on the Leadership Summit

• "The Summit generated a lot of energy and consisted of big, thoughtful discussions
• It was great being with like-minded people from around the country and in a location which has experienced a lot of neglect but now is rising to the surface in a positive way
• Great networking and learning opportunity
• A bit different than the usual conference, with more time for discussion, networking and creative thought
• For people involved in the arts and community development, the program focused specifically on their needs
• Useful discussions and perspectives for those interested in the intersection of arts/culture and community development
• Great, current, relevant conversations.  
• I told colleagues that the sessions were helpful to a broad range of professions.
• High quality and well thought out event; worth your while
• Small conference with good content and a great chance to network with colleagues on the East Coast.
• I told them that I found out about some interesting metrics for 'gold' for the arts
• I raved about it.
• It was really inspiring
• The sessions were inspiring and helped solidify some organizational ideas.
• I encouraged colleagues to attend... and would definitely do so again.
• That it's very informative and educational, especially if they are new to or just beginning creative placemaking."

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