Special Features
Emerging Leaders of Color Connecting Communities with the Arts
Adrian Molina didn't get into the arts to work in politics. The Denver-based poet, emcee and educator, who raps and records prolifically as Molina Speaks, is motivated by a creative forces -- an…
Building Equity in the Arts in Denver
Suzi Q. Smith was excited to bring her daughter to her first opera. A prominent Denver poet and teaching artist, Smith grew up listening to classical opera; she trained as an opera singer for two…
Overheard in the StoryBooth: Chicago's Lake FX Summit + Expo
It’s Thanksgiving this week, and StoryCorps has launched a new project and app, with The Great Thanksgiving Listen Project. Earlier this year, Creative Exchange partnered with StoryCorps at the Lake…
Deepening Literary Lives: Homeless Writers Share Their Stories
Every Monday morning around 9 a.m., Denver VOICE vendors visit the nonprofit's Capitol Hill office to collect some of the 8,000 copies of the street paper that move across the city each month. From…
Event Recap: IdeaLab
About 200 attendees gathered for a day of collaboration at IdeaLab, and a chance to connect and network, hone ideas and get inspired. "I'm particularly excited, looking around the room, I don't know…
Artists can be the "connective tissue" of a neighborhood -- but first they need a place to live
On any given day, Quest Skinner may be transforming her latest conversation with a neighbor into a vibrant painting. “My art is an expression of the people I meet,” explains Skinner,…
Digital Placemaking Sparks Human Connections in Denver
Working in large-scale public art in Denver has changed the way Ivar Zeile experiences other cities. "Whenever I travel, I'm always looking for the LED screens," he says. "In places like Minneapolis,…
Get Inspired and Connected at the Denver IdeaLab
On November 6, plug in to the IdeaLab! Join creative leaders from Denver and nationally for a full day event featuring panel discussions and workshops on getting inspired,…
'Creating Community' Recap: Being open, being flexible, being principled
On a warm September evening that brought rainshowers, 45 people gathered in the open gallery space at Public Functionary in Northeast Minneapolis for ‘Creating Community,’ a conversation and…
Transforming the Kirkbride: Fergus Falls faces mental health issues & historic preservation with art
In Fergus Falls, Minnesota, one structure dominates the landscape more than any other. Spanning the length of eight football fields, the 700,000-square foot building with its red-tiled, turreted…
When the Place Is Already Made: Lessons from a Folklife Project
This is the fourth story about work coming from the PLACE (People, Land, Arts, Culture and Engagement) Initiative of the Tucson Pima Arts Council. Read Executive Director Roberto Bedoya’s…
The ROOTS of Transformation: A Place of Action Alongside Community
Alternate ROOTS is a 39-year-old Southern based arts organization that supports artists working at the intersection of arts and activism. The organization was founded at the Highlander Center in…
Finding Voice: How Art Empowers Civic Engagement in Refugee & Immigrant Youth
This is the first story about work coming from the PLACE (People, Land, Arts, Culture and Engagement) Initiative of the Tucson Pima Arts Council. Read Executive Director Roberto Bedoya’s introduction…
Photography & Participation: How Photovoice Engages and Rebuilds Communities
What is the role of photography in community engagement? How can increased engagement lead to effective community rebuilding and development? Photovoice, a participatory research process, provides…
No One Can Do It Alone: How Working with "Disability" Enabled a New Artistic Ability and Approach
This is the first story about work coming from the PLACE (People, Land, Arts, Culture and Engagement) Initiative of the Tucson Pima Arts Council. Read Executive Director Roberto Bedoya’s introduction…
From the Ground Up - Shaping the New Rural Narrative Through Arts and Community
Even if you have not spent a lot of time in a rural community, you’re probably familiar with at least one of the common narratives of small town America. One paints a bleak landscape of “brain…
Little Free Library has big ambitions for literacy & public art
If your neighborhood is home to a Little Free Library, you might be lulled into thinking that it’s been there forever — or for several decades, at least. The small sidewalk libraries’ “take a book,…
Belonging: A Cornerstone of Placemaking in the Region
It is precisely because artists recognize the vision that precedes the creation of a work that emerges from a place we cannot locate or name, a place of mystery, that we stand before creation in awe.…
Public Art and Preparedness: Lessons from Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most deadly, destructive, and costly natural disasters in the United States. This year commemorates the 10th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, providing opportunity…
Recovering the Story: How Arts Contribute to Emergency Recovery and Resilience
How does storytelling help individuals and communities overcome disaster? East Coast Hurricane Sandy survivors became storytellers through Sandy Storyline, a participatory documentary that collects…
Hunter Franks: Reflections on the 2014 Creative Interventions Tour
“My parents said if you have a boy he will wrestle; that is what he will do,” Lisa remarked, referring to her son Martaz. I had just met Martaz and Lisa a week before, as they participated in my…
How storytelling heals and strengthens communities
In April of 2014, Damian Woetzel and the Aspen Institute Arts Program convened a Strategy Group in Detroit. This convening brought together local and national experts: artists and leaders in arts,…
How public art builds safer, stronger neighborhoods
In April of 2014, Damian Woetzel and the Aspen Institute Arts Program convened a Strategy Group in Detroit. This convening brought together local and national experts: artists and leaders in arts,…
Inspiring quotes from Creative Exchange
Since Creative Exchange launched in March, we’ve published 28 different artist profiles, featuring people working in communities across the United States. These artists come from all kinds of…
How the arts inspire change in Detroit
In April of 2014, Damian Woetzel and the Aspen Institute Arts Program convened a Strategy Group in Detroit. This convening brought together local and national experts: artists and leaders in arts,…
Arts and culture: A superpower to help people and places prosper
On my business card it says: “Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) – Helping people and places prosper.” Community development organizations like LISC have learned that if we just help…
National Endowment for the Arts announces partnership with Creative Exchange
Creative Placemaking Before I jump into telling you about the stories, let me nerd-out a little bit and give you some background. The NEA has a new(ish) program called…