Questions about Creative Placemaking? You're Not Alone.

It’s a tricky word, placemaking.

Places don’t need to be made. They exist already.

Many of us look (and pay lots of $$) to experts, outsiders, and other random people (including artists) to tell us how to develop our communities.

And guess what? We’re the experts. We often don’t need others telling us how to “make” our places. 99% of the time, we’ve already got folks - creative, out-of-the-box, experimental folks - in our places with superb ideas who may need some support, authority, or permission to try some things out.

The best thing that outsiders can do is provide that support and perceived permission to veer off the straight and narrow, and try something that may sound a little nuts.

This webinar is intended to support that approach to creative community development.

Discover how to utilize free community art toolkits from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach while diving into best practices for creative placemaking. Plus, hear real-life stories about creative placemaking from Iowa communities themselves.

This video is a partnership between the Iowa Arts Council and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. A special shoutout and thank you to Jon Berg, the Program Manager for Arts in Community Development at the Iowa Arts Council, for making this possible. And thank you so much to Lauren Kollauf, Director at The Avenues Des Moines; Allison and Andy McGuire from George Daily Auditorium in Oskaloosa; and Brant Bollman, artist and Director of Uplifting Puppet Company, for sharing your experiences and expertise.

Make sure you watch on YouTube to see the entire 70-minute webinar. Squarespace limits me to 30 minutes.