Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

The staff at the Dodge Foundation often challenges itself and our arts, environment and education grantees to think about the intersection of sustainability and creativity in our work. Leonardo Vazquez from Rutgers University’s Arts Build Communities makes this contemplation his daily work. He works to help community and cultural leaders make better choices in connecting the arts and community and economic development. ABC conducts practical research – most notably through the New Jersey Creative Vitality Index – provides technical assistance, and offers high quality continuing education. We hope you will share your ideas on how to better communicate the public value of the arts.

By Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP, Arts Build Communities

If you’re struggling to get more support in your community for arts, take a walk in the woods or go to your local farmer’s market.

Cultural organizations and their supporters throughout New Jersey work hard to show that art is more than decoration or entertainment for elites – it makes important contributions to the health and wealth of all communities. Environmental advocates have also worked hard to make their pitch for a greener planet – and have had the kind of success most politicians could only dream about. Over the past 15 years, the vast majority of efforts to support open space got passed by voters¹. In at least 218 of New Jersey’s 566 municipalities, residents passed bond or spending measures to preserve open space and farmland.

There are three keys to the success of the open space/farmland preservation movement: The movement connects to what many voters value most; people see and feel real benefits to themselves (think farmer’s markets); and there are a number of advocacy groups that work from the national to the community level to promote environmental protection.

You can tell what people value most by what they are willing to give up or spend more to get. In most of New Jersey, residents are willing to give up what large cities offer – a wide array of public transit, the ability to walk to shopping or entertainment – for more space in their homes and green space outside. For some residents, protecting farms feels like protecting your heritage – or at least the myth that their community could be a Norman Rockwell-type town nestled in Americana. Another desire is preserving and “protecting” a place from outsiders². (Consider that in New Jersey, open space initiatives tend to be more successful in places that are fast growing and have a high percentage of homeowners.)

One of the biggest challenges to getting support from community members is answering the question: “What’s in it for me?” The open space movement excels at this. When people see the green “Preserved Farmland” sign that seems to stop a subdivision in its tracks, walk through the woods, or buy a plump Jersey tomato at a farmer’s market, they can see, feel, and touch the benefits.

What can artists and leaders learn from the environmental movement?

1. Connect the arts to what your audiences value most. Watch and listen before you advocate. What do they spend money on, even in a tough economy? What do they worry about? What do they hope for themselves and their families? Arts Build Communities interviewed dozens of cultural professionals who were successful in their communities and what we found could help you. Please see “Building communities that support and nurture the arts: What works best?”

2. Show influential people how arts and artists help make their communities better places to live. Encourage them to go to your opening or show. Promote public art. Connect to and support the groups that leaders belong to. Lend a hand. Tell the story (or draw the picture) of how the arts connects to more vibrant and prosperous communities. To get more tips, please visit Arts Build Communities blog NJ-ArtiFacts or its sister publication, PDI Advisor

3. Connect to the advocacy organizations working from the national to the local levels. Americans for the Arts is perhaps the biggest arts advocacy group in the nation. ArtPride New Jersey works to promote the arts around the state, and has a number of resources to help you make your pitch. (Full disclosure: ArtPride is a partner in Arts Build Communities.) If your community has an arts council, get to know the people there. If not, think about collaborating with your neighbors and fellow artists to create your own group.

Above all else, remember that it takes time to change beliefs and behaviors. Even though the environmental movement is quite successful today, it took decades for it to bloom.

________________

¹ In their article, “Selection and Design of Local Referenda for Land Conservation,” Spencer Banzhaf and his colleagues say that between 1998 and 2006, more than 75% of 1,550 ballot initiatives supporting open space passed. The article was published online in Journal of Policy Analysis and Management this month.

² This idea was explored by Stephan Schmidt and Kurt Paulsen in their study of open space voting patterns in New Jersey. To find out more, please see “Is Open Space Zoning a Form of Exclusionary Zoning?” Urban Affairs Review, September 2009.

________________

Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP, is the Director of the Professional Development Institute and The Leading Institute at Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. He is an urban planner and leadership expert who specializes in cultural planning, community and local economic development, leadership and organizational development and strategic communications. He is a licensed planner in New Jersey and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. He is the author of Leading from the Middle: Strategic Thinking for Urban Planning and Community Development Professionals and edits two online publications, NJ-ArtiFacts and PDI Advisor. Recently, Arts Build Communities and the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program launched a Professional Certificate Program in Cultural Planning and Development. Learn more about the certificate program and Deep Learning courses.

Images:
Jersey tomatoes: Molly de Aguiar/Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
New Jersey Keep It Green campaign banner
Preserved farmland sign: Hillsborough Township, NJ
Gallery: Arts Build Communities
ArtPride NJ Logo

Wendy Liscow,  Program Officer

The conversation with Dodge Foundation grantees about our new guideline themes Creativity and Sustainability has stimulated a wonderful investigative journey, but the real satisfaction has come from experiencing the two concepts coming together in action. As my colleagues and I travel the state visiting current and potential grantees, we have the honor of witnessing passionate leaders making these connections. Recently, I met some board members of Teaneck Creek Conservancy, a group of environmentalists, artists, educators and community advocates who shared a vision to save 46 acres of land, but in a manner that utilized eco-art to strengthen the community’s connection to and experience of  the park.  This marriage of sustainability and creativity was brought to life during a January walk in the woods.

The hike into Teaneck Creek Park was not long, but the path was still covered with splotches of ice and snow and the air was brutally cold, so it felt like we would never reach our destination. Just as I was longing for my scarf  left back in the car, we turned the bend and five bright patches of color emerged from the bleak winter landscape to grab my attention. There sat five beautifully painted massive cement storm water pipes: spherical murals  in nature, telling the story of nature.

If you had ventured down the same path this past spring you would have been distraught to discover five graffiti-covered storm pipes that had been littering this otherwise pristine slice of nature since the 1960’s.

Strolling later in the buggy heat of summer you would have found lead artist Eduardo Alexander Rabel, students from a variety of Teaneck schools, and community volunteers sketching, then painting, the visual stories of the vibrant local flora and fauna, and the impact of humankind on nature over time.

The artistry took my breath away, but the depth of the community art process was what impressed me most, and it is all captured in this wonderful video that I urge you to take the time to watch.

This is not Teaneck Creek Conservancy’s first marriage of art and nature. In April 2009 members of the Puffin Photo club led by professional photographer Rachel Banai put together an unique outdoor art exhibition called “Windows on the Park” that utilized old sash windows to frame photographic works that told the story of the seven year transformation of this brownfields-to-greenfields track of land.

Many people would agree that nurturing creativity, supporting public art projects and protecting our environment are worthy endeavors, but they approach each task separately. But when they combine these laudable goals, something larger than the sum of the parts occurs, as Dodge Program Director Michelle Knapik noted in her recent post about The Voices From the Land project.

We are interested in knowing if you have participated in or seen creativity and sustainability in action, experienced the flow of these two forces coming together, and if so, what was it that made this connection meaningful?

photos courtesy of Eduardo Alexander Rabel

* * *
The Dodge Poetry Festival dates have been announced! We hope you join us for the Poetry Festival in Newark October 7 – 10, 2010. For more information, and to become a Friend of the Festival, please visit the Poetry website.

Follow the Dodge Poetry Festival on Twitter
Become a fan of the Dodge Poetry Festival on Facebook

Follow Dodge on Twitter
Become a fan of the Dodge Foundation on Facebook