Bringing artists and local government together for lasting change

How can artists, local government, and civic organizations collaborate effectively? Art-Train brings them together and offers ongoing support for proven models of artist-led change. Artists use their creative process and power to make meaning, share ideas, bring people together, shift conversations, challenge assumptions, and envision new futures. Studies repeatedly show that experiencing and…

Ka Oskar Ly Creates Connections and Understanding

As a kid growing up in France, Ka Oskar Ly wasn’t sure how to define “being Hmong.” Their parents were refugees, having fled Laos after the Secret War. “My parents didn't talk about who we were,” Ly says. “They just said, ‘You have to be Hmong.’” Now, Ly lives in St. Paul, along with an estimated 60,000 other Hmong Americans. She says being around other Hmong people — seeing them on the bus or at…

Train-the-Trainer Intensive recap

In July, Springboard for the Arts held the first Train-the-Trainer Intensive, a “summer camp for artist organizers, creative community development folks and creative economy nerds,” according to the National Endowment for the Arts. 28 attendees from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Arizona came to Saint Paul,…

Roots of Rondo honors a neighborhood, looks to the future

America’s network of interstate highways is considered to be one of the most impressive infrastructure achievements of all time, a lasting symbol of the country’s postwar prosperity. But the interstate system carries a dark legacy — one still felt in the Black communities of major cities — of the neighborhoods destroyed to make way for the highway. Sugar Hill in Los Angeles became home to many…

Imagining New Futures: Artists & Aging Pilot

What is the future for our artists?  What is the future for our aging communities?  What is the role of arts in aging and policy? In The American Prospect, author Jeff Chang writes, “When artists tell new stories, they can shift the culture and make new politics possible – cultural strategy is about understanding that fact and empowering artists to do what they do best.” Artists are masters in…

New & Next: Arts and Community Converge at IdeaLab

The people who make a place matter. The artists, creative collaborators and community organizers who create local arts and culture can have a national impact by sharing their work, programs and ideas. That's the driving conviction behind the work of Creative Exchange, an online platform of artful ideas for stronger communities: what we do in our neighborhoods and cities adds up to big things…

Bringing People to Play in Urban Green Spaces

In 2013, Springboard for the Arts launched the Artist Organizers (AOs) pilot program as part of Irrigate’s artist-led community development. Supported by the Surdna Foundation, the pilot planted artists in community-invested organizations to contribute their creative skills to make change and strengthen vibrant places. This is a series of case studies of those AO partnerships. Get the Irrigate…

Making Home Where the Community Is

In 2013, Springboard for the Arts launched the Artist Organizers (AOs) pilot program as part of Irrigate’s artist-led community development. Supported by the Surdna Foundation, the pilot planted artists in community-invested organizations to contribute their creative skills to make change and strengthen vibrant places. This is a series of case studies of those AO partnerships. Get the Irrigate…

Play with Your Food! (And Other Ways Artists Help with Health)

In 2013, Springboard for the Arts launched the Artist Organizers (AOs) pilot program as part of Irrigate’s artist-led community development. Supported by the Surdna Foundation, the pilot planted artists in community-invested organizations to contribute their creative skills to make change and strengthen vibrant places. This is a series of case studies of those AO partnerships. Get the Irrigate…

Creating Moments of Personal Motivation in Education

In 2013, Springboard for the Arts launched the Artist Organizers (AOs) pilot program as part of Irrigate’s artist-led community development. Supported by the Surdna Foundation, the pilot planted artists in community-invested organizations to contribute their creative skills to make change and strengthen vibrant places. This is a series of case studies of those AO partnerships. Get the Irrigate…

Rapping in Vacant Lots, Repping the Neighborhood

In 2013, Springboard for the Arts launched the Artist Organizers (AOs) pilot program as part of Irrigate’s artist-led community development. Supported by the Surdna Foundation, the pilot planted artists in community-invested organizations to contribute their creative skills to make change and strengthen vibrant places. This is a series of case studies of those AO partnerships. Get the Irrigate…

Collaboration at the Heart of Real Estate and Community Development

In 2013, Springboard for the Arts launched the Artist Organizers (AOs) pilot program as part of Irrigate’s artist-led community development. Supported by the Surdna Foundation, the pilot planted artists in community-invested organizations to contribute their creative skills to make change and strengthen vibrant places.This is a series of case studies of those AO partnerships. Get the Irrigate…