Author Archive
ACT Fellows learn from local leaders in the Twin Cities
Transportation for America believes in hands-on learning from experienced practitioners. We put that belief into practice through programs like our Arts, Culture and Transportation (ACT) Fellowship, supported by the Kresge Foundation, where we have been able to take our fellows to different communities to experience first-hand the power of arts and culture to produce better transportation systems.
Get to know Minnesota’s new Community Vitality Fellow Marcus Young
As announced earlier this week, Marcus Young, a behavioral artist, will be embedded within the Minnesota Department of Transportation for a year serving as an artist-in-residence in a program created by Smart Growth America. Marcus will be taking a fresh look at the agency’s goals to promote economic vitality, improve safety, support multimodal transportation systems, and create healthier communities.
Irrigate: Turning a huge Twin Cities construction project into an opportunity
Though the new Green Line light rail line would finally connect the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul with rail transit, business owners, local leaders, and advocates raised red flags about construction disrupting the corridor’s businesses as well as immigrant and communities of color. To mitigate the negative effects, Springboard for the Arts and other local organizations created a series of artistic interventions that did more than merely prevent painful disruptions; they helped the corridor thrive during a period of vulnerability.
Engaging east Portland to plan a more inclusive bus rapid transit line
When roughly 14 miles of a bus rapid transit line was proposed along Division street in East Portland, the effort was greeted with interest in an often-neglected area of the city, but also concern about the possibilities of displacement and development disengaged from the unique local culture. To address those concerns, community members throughout the Jade and Division Midway districts were engaged through arts and culture projects to recalibrate the plan to better serve community needs.
El Paso’s Transnational Trolley: How art can help imagine creative transportation solutions
What begun as a sort of arts-driven guerilla marketing campaign for the fictional return of a historic streetcar in the border communities of El Paso, TX and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, is becoming a reality, a demonstration of the power of art to capture the imagination of a community and help them look at old problems in different ways and imagine creative solutions.
Webinar wrap: Creative placemaking grants informational session
Earlier this month we hosted an informational webinar detailing our expectations and tips for our Cultural Corridor Consortium (3C) grants. Transportation for America is accepting applications to support creative placemaking projects addressing transportation challenges or opportunities in three U.S. cities.
Bolstering creative community engagement in the Nashville region
Considering the enduring creative energy in Tennessee’s principal city, it’s no surprise that Nashville is deepening its commitment to engaging the community in creative ways, and integrating artists into community development and transportation projects.
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