Creative People Power: Lots of Little
Hip Hoppa Locka brings Muslim hip-hop culture to Northwest Miami
Miami Dade College is the largest educational institution in the country, spread out across eight campuses throughout Miami-Dade County. MDC's moniker is "democracy's college" because of its…
Toolkit Toolkit
Yes, this is what you think it is. Since the launch of Creative Exchange in 2014, over 6,000 toolkits have been downloaded from the site, facilitating artist-led projects, business skills…
Mariachi Femenil Detroit combats machismo and promotes female musicians
Maria Contreras-Cantu didn't necessarily set out to become a business owner or cultural organizer when her children began attending Detroit Public Schools. With a background in social justice,…
5 Questions with Creative Exchange: What we have learned from our artists
Since August 2016, Creative Exchange has been asking each of our Artists With Impact a series of five questions, which appear at the end of every profile. We did this to create a thread of continuity…
Tana Hargest's wide-ranging work addresses issues of surveillance, policing, and public policy
As a long-time arts organization leader and cultural producer based in the Twin Cities, Tana Hargest says now that she is "mid-career" she has made a shift to focus on three different, yet…
Public Transformation celebrates & contemplates art in rural America
Artifacts line the wall of Outpost Winona: handmade art and everyday objects, each labeled with the name of a place: railroad spikes from Lake City, South Carolina; a cookbook from Alliance,…
Art for healing the military-civilian divide
This is the first of a two-part feature on art and veterans. Read second story here. The challenges facing military service members, veterans, and their families and caregivers today are “more than…
Rosalia Torres-Weiner brings magic kites to children impacted by deportation
Rosalia Torres-Weiner is a multi-media artist, muralist, and activist, but she prefers to call herself an ARTivist. Through her Charlotte, North Carolina-based Red Calaca Studio, Torres-Weiner uses…
Connecting creative practice to healthcare through Ready Go tools at the People's Center Health Services
Amid all the uncertainty around health insurance, the fact remains that people need access to healthcare. Clinics and healthcare systems around the country have been seeking new and innovative ways…
ARROW Public Art welcomes one and all to Monroe...AND West Monroe
Brooke Foy is an artist and sculptor originally from West Monroe, Louisiana. She moved away from Louisiana for 10 years but came back when she got assistant professorship at the University of…
Tennessee Ukulele Lady Kelle Jolly continues the legacy of Affrilachian music
Kelle Jolly is a singer, musician, actor, TV and radio personality, and community organizer. She is also the Tennessee Ukulele Lady. "'Tennessee Ukulele Lady' is a song I made up for Ukesophere just…
Heidi Brandow documents definitions of "home" for Native peoples, refugees, and normalized residents
Santa Fe artist Heidi K. Brandow came by her creative practice somewhat naturally – on her mother's side, she comes from a long line of Native Hawaiian singers, musicians, and performers; and on her…
Chandler’s Downtown Crosswalk Beautification
This story is supported by a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Knowledge Building grant supporting a partnership between Springboard for the Arts and the International Downtown Association.…
The Arnaudville Experiment: Creative placemaking and economic development in rural Louisiana
George Marks moved back to his tiny hometown of Arnaudville in Louisiana prior to Katrina in 2005, after 15 years of living as a successful working artist in Baton Rouge. He left home in 1989, earned…
Busking in Memphis
This story is supported by a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Knowledge Building grant supporting a partnership between Springboard for the Arts and the International Downtown Association.…
Ori Alon spreads positivity through paperwork
Ori Alon's inspiration for the Center for Supportive Bureaucracy began ten years ago when he was an art student in West Jerusalem. He started a performance project by sitting in outdoor markets with…
Make it Rain Poems
This story is supported by a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Knowledge Building grant supporting a partnership between Springboard for the Arts and the International Downtown Association.…
Ian Trask transforms one man's trash into another's treasure
Ian Trask didn't study art in school. Instead, he studied science, with the intention of pursuing a career in research and being able to "pursue something novel and new every day for the rest of my…
Prairie Dreamers: Reflecting on Springboard’s 5 years in Fergus Falls
As a child growing up in Dundas, Minnesota, I learned more in school about the rainforest or the oceans than I did about the prairie and lakes that were in my backyard. I had t-shirts pleading to…
Free Music for Free People builds a community for youth musicians in Denver
When Mona Magno – aka "Monalicious" – first had the idea to form Free Music for Free People in Denver, it was because, as a musician with many musician friends, she wanted to be involved in the music…
Jaclyn Roessel is Grownup Navajo
For nearly a year now, members of the Standing Rock tribe located in North Dakota along with other supporters of environmental protection have protested the construction of the Dakota Access…
Artist Hassan Nor draws old world vision of Somalia for new generation
In a high-rise tower located on Portland Avenue lives Hassan Nor, a Somali immigrant. Most of the residents in the building, like Nor, are seniors. He lives in a one-bedroom apartment by himself and…
The Mexican Woman's Post Apocalyptic Survival Guide in the Southwest and other stories of life on the border from M. Jenea Sánchez
Photographer M. Jenea Sánchez grew up in Douglas, Arizona, a city that shares a border with Mexico. She remembers crossing the border to and from Agua Prieta multiple times every day as a child – to…
Warren Montoya has created something that Rezonates
Santa Ana Pueblo/Santa Clara Pueblo artist Warren Montoya knows a little something about resilience. Though he has been an artist since childhood, drawn to the art of comic books and surrealism – he…
Artist Chamindika Wanduragala takes on motherhood and race through puppets
I. Rebirth When Sri Lankan artist Chamindika Wanduragala returned to the Twin Cities arts scene after almost a decade away, it was a much needed rebirth. A visual artist by training (having earned a…
Philadelphia Poet Laureate Yolanda Wisher dreams while walking on the ground
Philadelphia might best be known as the City of Brotherly Love, but it could also be called the City of Poets for its dedication to supporting and promoting the literary form. With a citywide Poet…
Women-led Community Artists Leadership Initiative brings arts funding to the 99 percent
When Desdamona, Julia Nekessa Opoti, May Lee-Yang and Saymoukda Vongsay, co-founders of the Twin Cities-based Community Artists Leadership Initiative (CALI), are sitting at the same table, ideas fly…
New Creative Placemaking Toolkit for Business Districts
The International Downtown Association and Springboard for the Arts are delighted to share new resources and projects to support creative placemaking partnerships between artists and local business…
Guide for Business Districts to Work with Local Artists
The Guide for Business Districts to Work with Local Artists is a free guide for place managers to work with artists on creative placemaking projects. The Guide was created for International Downtown…
Public Transformation hits the road
Two months ago, I had no idea that I was going to buy a school bus and travel across the country interviewing rural-based artists - I had no idea that I would need to learn how to insure a converted…
