Creative Santa Fe continued its “Santa Fe | Ground Up” dialogue with NEA Director of Design Jason Schupbach. Following a morning workshop on art and creativity spaces, Schupbach addressed the Santa Fe community on the topic of “Creative Placemaking: Santa Fe and the Nation.”
Who Took Part
Community Leaders: On the morning, July 21, Schupbach led a workshop of two dozen community leaders to discuss models and next steps for an arts and creativity center in Santa Fe. Participants included leaders from government, foundations, and higher education, as well as artists and students.
Broad Public Audience: On Saturday evening, a full house at the New Mexico History Museum heard Schupbach as he outlined current policy and examples of best practices from around the nation. Creative Santa Fe’s Program Director Cyndi Conn then led a discussion with questions submitted online and from the audience.
Broad Public Audience: On Saturday evening, a full house of 200 Santa Feans greeted Hood for his talk at the New Mexico History Museum. Hood then joined Creative Santa Fe’s Program Director Cyndi Conn for discussion and questions submitted online and from the floor.
What We Learned
In the morning workshop on affordable space for artists, Schupbach emphasized the importance of finding a financial and programmatic model that met the needs of the community. Participants focused on the transitional role of affordable space as young artists move from educational programs to the art market. They identified as the key next step a convening of groups one-by-one to understand their specific needs.
In the evening, Schupbach highlighted the role of creative clusters in a regional economy, and reviewed outstanding examples of communities who have created vibrant public spaces through the NEA Our Town grant program.
What Happens Next?
Over the coming months, Creative Santa Fe will partner with other organizations on a schedule of focused discussions with individual art sectors in Santa Fe to determine their market conditions and needs for affordable space. Creative Santa Fe will also investigate the cost and feasibility of a market survey.
Creative Santa Fe will also explore projects and partnerships for an Our Town grant proposal to the National Endowment for the Arts.
In 2013, “Santa Fe | Ground Up” will continue to explore the pathways, connections, and missing links in the physical, social, and cultural makeup of the city. “Santa Fe | Ground Up” will focus on the role of public art and public spaces, from the historic Plaza to the Railyard to the south side.
Future “Ground Up” presentations will address such topics as public art, site-specific art, land art and the re-purposing or multi-purposing of infrastructure to support a creative economy.
Support for “Creative Placemaking: Santa Fe and the Nation” was provided by the Santa Fe Community Foundation, Wade Wilson Gallery, and Las Palomas.