Exciting, diverse lineup of sessions in The Art of Healthy Communities

By Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

You can now see who's speaking at The Art of Healthy Communities: the second annual Creative Placemaking Knowledge Exchange, November 11 in Newark, NJ, We hope you'll agree it is a diverse and exciting line up.

There will be up to 24 presentations on six topics:

• Community building
• Research, evaluation and outcomes
• Healthy aging
• Youth health and engagement
• Dance, performance and community
• Healthy creative partnerships

Creative placemakers from as far as Australia, Canada, California and Colorado will be there, giving short presentations on innovative practices or new research and thinking in the Creative Placemaking field.

You can talk too.  Each topic features a facilitated roundtable-style conversation among participants and speakers.  In fact, the whole day is about having intelligent conversations on how creative placemaking impacts public health.

After lunch, we'll do two Open Space conversations, which let you pick the topics you want to talk about.

This event will be submitted for up to six AICP Certification Maintenance credits.

Registration is open.  You can get discounted registration if you register by October 10.

Learn more or register: http://www.artsbuildcommunities.com/events/cpexchange16/

The Art of Healthy Communities is sponsored by New Jersey Health Initiatives, Atlantic Health System, and National Housing Institute/Shelterforce magazine.  It is made possible with the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts Our Town program, and New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Workshop will help promote creative placemaking in South Jersey

By Leonardo Vazquez

South Jersey creative placemakers are doing interesting and important work in places like Atlantic City, Camden, Glassboro, Hammonton and Woodbury.  But there could and should be more creative placemaking in the region.

The South Jersey Cultural Alliance is working with The National Consortium for Creative Placemaking to do a workshop that introduces creative placemaking to arts, history and public affairs leaders in the region.  It will be December 8, 2016, 9 am to 2 pm, at the OceanFirst Bank Training Center in Toms River, NJ

Creative placemaking is a new way to improve quality of life and economic opportunities in communities through arts and culture. Participants will learn from the successes of other South Jersey creative placemakers and explore strategies for their own communities.

The workshop date and agenda will be announced soon. It will be designed for artists, arts administrators, culture and history professionals and public officials in South Jersey, Central Jersey and the Jersey Shore.

This workshop is made possible with support from the OceanFirst Foundation.  Partners include the Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation, Ocean County Cultural and Heritage Commission, New Jersey Historical Commission, Sustainable Jersey and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

For more information, or to get updates, please contact Karen Pinzolo, Executive Director, South Jersey Cultural Alliance by email.

Creative Placemaking Knowledge Exchange to feature art exhibit on place and healing

By Leonardo Vazquez


An exhibit of art works on health and community will be part of The Art of Healthy Communities, the second annual Creative Placemaking Knowledge Exchange, November 11 in Newark, NJ.

Up to 20 artists will display and sell their work. The exhibit will be part of the conference from 12 to 4 pm; it will be open to the public from 4 to 7 pm.

Any visual artist is welcome to apply to be part of the exhibit.   The Call for Artists closes on October 14.  To apply to be part of the exhibit, please follow the links for the Art Exhibit on the conference website.

There is no charge to apply, and participating artists will get free entry into the event.

The guest curator is Stephanie O'Connor, artist and owner of The Artistic Giraffe Studio Gallery in Hackensack, NJ.