WASHINGTON, DC.- America’s Top Twelve ArtPlaces were announced today by
ArtPlace, a collaboration of leading national and regional foundations, banks, and federal agencies committed to accelerating “creative placemaking”—putting art at the heart of a portfolio of strategies designed to revitalize communities. America’s Top Twelve ArtPlaces were identified as having successfully combined the arts, artists, and venues for creativity and expression with independent businesses, restaurants, and a walkable lifestyle to make vibrant neighborhoods. The Top Twelve ArtPlaces for 2013, listed alphabetically by city, are:
• Brooklyn, NY / The intersection of Downtown, Fort Greene, Gowanus, Park Slope and Prospect Heights
• Dallas, TX / The Dallas Arts District, with parts of Deep Ellum and Exposition Park
• Los Angeles, CA / Central Hollywood
• Miami Beach, FL / South Beach
• Milwaukee, WI / East Town and a portion of the Lower East Side
• New York, NY / Manhattan Valley
• Oakland, CA / Downtown, including Chinatown, Old Oakland, and Jack London Square
• Philadelphia, PA / Old City
• Portland, OR / The Pearl District and a portion of Downtown
• San Francisco, CA / The Mission District
• Seattle, WA / The Pike-Pine Corridor
• Washington, DC / The intersection of Adams Morgan, U St., and Dupont Circle
America’s Top ArtPlaces is a new annual ArtPlace initiative recognizing neighborhoods in the largest 44 metropolitan areas in the country where the arts are central to creating the kinds of places where people want to be. The complete list is available for download at:http://www.artplaceamerica.org/AmericanArtPlaces
"The impact the arts have had on the vibrancy and economy of these communities is unmistakable,” noted ArtPlace director Carol Coletta. “This study shows how the arts can provide a foundation for a diversity of neighborhoods to thrive.”
ArtPlace’s selection of the top twelve neighborhoods was based on a set of six indicators identified by Impresa Inc., a Portland-based consulting firm specializing in the study of metropolitan economies. Four indicators measure ingredients of vibrancy: the number of retail and service businesses; the percentage of independent businesses; the neighborhood’s Walk Score; and the percentage of workers in creative occupations living in the neighborhood. Two arts-related indicators were also used: the number of arts-related non-profits and the number of arts-related businesses. Finally, neighborhood scores were normalized for family income so that neighborhoods with the highest concentration of income did not skew the results.
“The results are twelve exciting, and sometimes surprising, neighborhoods,” said Ms. Coletta. “They are all unique, all deeply local, and all have art at their heart.”
ArtPlace is an initiative of national and regional foundations, various federal agencies, and major banks to accelerate creative placemaking across the U.S. ArtPlace provides grants and loans, supports research, and conducts outreach and advocacy. To date, ArtPlace has awarded 80 grants totaling $26.9 million to 76 organizations in 46 U.S. communities.
Foundations participating in ArtPlace include Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The William Penn Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Surdna Foundation and two anonymous donors.
ArtPlace is also supported by a $12 million loan fund capitalized by six major financial institutions and managed by the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Participating institutions are Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Chase, MetLife and Morgan Stanley. Participating federal agencies include the National Endowment for the Arts, the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education and Transportation, along with leadership from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council.
ArtPlace is currently developing measures specific to smaller metropolitan areas and will release America’s Top Small Town ArtPlaceslater this year.
