Part Three: Dynamic Partnerships and Their Necessity

From my experience in urban communities, most non-profit organizations are hesitant to create partnerships, especially non-profits providing a similar service.   As government funding continues to decrease for human services and communities remain in decline, I grow increasingly confident that partnerships are the key to a thriving non-profit sector.

At the Dynamic Partnerships: The Arts and Community Development workshop, Megan Whilden made great points about why the partnership between the Storefront Artist Projects and Pittsfield’s Office of Cultural Development worked so well, but I was most impacted by her assertion that partnerships should highlight already present community strengths.

Some projects do not highlight present community strengths. For example, the creation of a community mural solely to improve a space’s attraction will not empower the community for real change.  The motivation of any project will be evident to community members by who is involved in the project, the project’s theme, and access to the planning.  When only outsiders are engaged in the project and community members have no part of the planning process, community empowerment will not happen.  Instead, the project will communicate to community members that their community is: ugly, dangerous, insufficient, etc.

The more effective and empowering project involves collectively planning and promoting a design highlighting positive community attributes.  Empowerment will happen when community members are engaged, in their areas of skill, to executive the project.  In order to accomplish this, partnerships with other community organizations in these projects are important: they provide both unity and positive reputation. 

I believe organizational partnerships help community members to see the broader picture in their community.  When organizations begin to function together towards a common goal, it becomes one community.  Competition breeds distrust, and community members can sense this distrust.  If organizations do not trust one another, why should community members trust organizations working on a community project?  In a project, positive reputation helps community members warm to new project and unity helps them feel comfortable enough to participate.

Non-profits resisting partnership are counterproductive and hurting their constituents.  The best projects are those approaching communities from a holistic perspective: just like a person, communities have multifaceted needs.  Community problems are usually much more complex than projects care to address.  The simple route is indeed to say that a community is not thriving because of _______ (a lack of jobs, you fill in the blank), but providing just _________ (allowing a new factory to be built in the community, a one-dimensional service) does not provide the whole answer (community members with the skills they need or remove the obstacles they have to succeed in a newly obtained job, other problems below the surface will exist).   When non-profits come together, they often are able to provide a more holistic project that successfully addresses the “whole” problem.

Partnership promotes unity, positive engagement, and holistic solutions in communities.  When non-profits overcome their fears of partnership and need to compete, the result will be thriving organizations and communities.  

Part 2: Dynamic Partnerships and the Role of Art in Revitalization

While Pittsfield Storefront Artist project was not intentionally designed to promote economic development, the natural outpouring of their efforts was attracting businesses.  It seems as if beautification of the space gave people motivation to return downtown.  This is an example of how artists can become social entrepreneurs: those who create opportunities in their neighborhood while earning a living (SIAP, Cultivating “Natural” Cultural Districts).  

Keynote speaker, Megan Wilden shared that one challenge of partnership with artists/an arts organization is to encourage without destroying the purity of the art.  In other words, when involving art with community development, the focus must always be creating art.  The partnership between the City of Pittsfield and artists seemed to reach an appropriate balance, because artists were cultivated to continue creating art, not attracting businesses.   Around this premise, the partnership provided fertile soil, because in addition to the presence of art, a sense of community was created among artists.  I think this sense of community was an added attraction for residents and businesses. 

University of Pennsylvania’s Social Impact of the Arts Project (SIAP) promotes a model of development integrating neighborhood residents with regional economy and civil society through aiding a transition from creative economy to creative society (Seifert and Stern, Culture and Urban Revitalization).  One way to achieve this is to create opportunities for artists, amateurs, and residents to collide; artists’ centers are an effective opportunity for this collision to occur.  Artists’ centers provide the community open access to the arts, classes, opportunities to mingle with artists and art lovers, mentoring, and useful networks for resource sharing (SIAP, Culture and Urban Revitalization).  Artists' centers make it more about relationships than transactions; thus creative society rather than economy.

Practically, how do artist’s centers revitalize communities?  Artists’ centers are so are embedded in the lives of community members that it provides: youth development through classes and mentoring, increased neighborhood safety through heavier foot traffic in the community, and improves local economy, as more foot traffic leads revenue for local businesses (Seifert and Stern, Culture and Urban Revitalization).  Moreover, stronger community relationships always generates greater community security among residents.

Cultivating the arts through partnerships in local communities is very effective as the arts continue to become more open and accessible to the general population.  The arts are powerful expressions of culture and experience, so it only seems natural that community revitalization engages art to empower community members and tell the neighborhood story.  Increased access has also uncovered the presence of organic art in low-income communities through anything from graffiti, to rap and spoken word, to resident gardens.  As stories are told, these organic artists are empowered to embrace their talent and use it towards personal, community and maybe even professional transformation.  

Resources:
Seifert, Susan, and Mark Stern. "Culture and Urban Revitalization: A Harvest Document." Social Impact of the Arts Project (January 2007). Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/SIAP>.
Seifert, Susan, and Mark Stern. "Cultivating “Natural” Cultural Districts." Creativity and Change (September 2007). Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www.trfund.com/resource/downloads/creativity/NaturalCulturalDistricts.pdf>.

Vacancy and Dilapidation Part 2: What can we do?

Philadelphia is a rich Mecca of community development corporations (CDC) and community organizations, some which have placed a great deal of effort into transforming vacant lots.  One such CDC is New Kensington CDC, which was featured at this year’s annual Flower Show.  "From Blight to Blossom" is the name of the exhibit, and its conception was the result of a partnership between the New Kensington CDC and Philadelphia's Office of Housing and Community Development. Its intention, according to a press release describing the project, is to "tell the story of an urban side-yard transformed from a vacant lot into a garden" (http://www.flyingkitemedia.com/devnews/blossom0308.aspx).   Instead of allowing blight to fester in Philadelphia’s neighborhoods, New Kensington has viewed vacant lots and abandoned homes as areas of potential beauty.  

What can be done with vacant lots?  One potential use of such space is to create new affordable housing sites, the foundation upon which Habitat for Humanity has built their organization.  Other possibilities include using the spaces for parks, community gardens, recreational centers, and even centers of community art.  Some projects such as New Kensington Vacant Land Management Program and Philadelphia Horticultural Society’s Community-Based Vacant Land Maintenance Program have dedicated their efforts towards cleaning and creating parks and community gardens throughout the city.   While the end result is transforming space, the Philadelphia Horticultural Society’s project partners with nine community organizations, including Ready, Willing & Able and SELF, Inc. to employ individuals making the transition back to work after experiencing drug addiction and homelessness.  The Mural Arts Restorative Justice program has also helped with these efforts by employing ex-offenders in cleaning and transforming vacant lots.  The great aspect of these projects is people are given the opportunity to transform themselves through the process of transforming the land.

The Village for the Arts and Humanities is another organization that has transformed a great deal of space in North Philadelphia.  On their campus alone, they’ve transformed over 150 vacant lots into gardens, green spaces housing collections of community art and a two acre farm.  In this particular community, the Village for the arts and Humanities has worked organically by recruiting the help of community residents.  As the Wallace Foundation states: “With a phantasmagoria of mosaic sculptures, murals and gardens glimmering with giant angels and creatures no zoo has ever seen, the Village offers vibrant testimony to the role that art can play in bringing a desolate urban landscape back to life and engaging youth and families in the arts.”  As a result, neighbors are given the opportunity to connect and build relationships, while working together towards a common goal.  In addition, the two acre farm has given the community access to fresh and healthy food options.  

 The Southwest Community Development Corporation also provides a community beautification project that includes a community garden.  One of the 2011 graduates from the MA in Urban Studies, Regina Broomell-Young, assisted the Southwest Community Garden by facilitating research investigating is it was needed in the community: Her researched concluded that the garden was absolutely needed in the community for both health and community organizing purposes.  

While the potential for transformation is available to each of Philadelphia’s 40,000 vacant and abandoned properties, it is a large endeavor from start to finish.  Before starting, there is often the task of acquiring land or permission from owners, which makes the process a laborious one, especially in the cases of those lots privately owned.  For those ready and able for the task, the Philadelphia Horticultural Society has developed a guide entitled Reclaiming Vacant Lots: A Philadelphia Green guide. This guide not own provides practical tips on gardening and landscaping but also highlights steps for the project from beginning to finish.

Steps include:

1. Resolving Ownership Issues
2. Mapping Community Resources
3. Assessing Site Conditions
4. Developing a Site Plan
5. Outlining a Maintenance Strategy
6. Cleaning the Site
7. Implementing Site Improvements
8. Performing Ongoing Maintenance

From start to finish, there is much to be accomplished in terms of physical space, but let’s expand our view and see the potential in also lives of community members.  While funding has been cut back for many of the above mentioned projects, hopefully they will be able to endure and continue to impact this generation as well as many to come.