About The Arts & Culture Program

The animating principle of Kresge’s Arts & Culture Program is equitable Creative Placemaking, which elevates arts, culture and community-engaged design as central elements of community development and planning.

Creative Placemaking can involve many approaches. Its core function, however, is elevating the unique attributes of a place through the voices of its residents. If we involve artists and culture bearers to rethink the concept of community development, we are able to create a new perspective that embodies the culture and voices of the people who live there. This approach can contribute to enhanced pathways for people with low incomes to lead self-determined, healthy lives and to contribute to more just outcomes. However, it must take aim – in an explicit, nuanced and multifaceted way – at the structural inequalities of systems, policies and practices that are embedded in all dimensions of community life. Creative Placemaking provides an intentional way to advance toward equity and justice.