News

Site Sought for Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit & Knowledge Exchange

By Mollie Quinlan-Hayes, Deputy Director and Accessibility Coordinator, ArtsReady Director, South Arts –

South Arts and The National Consortium for Creative Placemaking seek a partner site to present the Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit & Knowledge Exchange, a two-day convening in South Arts’ region in March 2018. This regional convening will be promoted as Beyond Big Cities: Creative Placemaking in Southern Small Towns and Rural Communities. Proposals will be welcomed from individual organizations, or partnerships between local organizations, such as arts organizations, local arts agencies, cultural/historic institutions, colleges/universities, city planners, economic development offices, cultural districts, Mayoral offices, Main Street programs, chambers of commerce, tourism entities, and other interested parties.

The deadline to submit proposals is September 1, 2017.

Scope of Project

The partner site will be selected based upon these requirements:

  • Within South Arts’ service region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee
  •  Can host the two-day event during the week of March 12 or March 19, 2018
  •   Location is a mid-sized city with these characteristics:
    – Population (generally) of 90,000-400,000
    – Contains a creative placemaking project/policy to be incorporated into the agenda
    – Contains an airport with flights from major cities
    – Has taxi/ride-sharing access between the airport, hotel and program site
  •   Offers a discount rate for a conference hotel to house up to 200 guests for 2-3 nights
  •   Offers a meeting venue with no or a heavily discounted rental fee with:
    – Plenary space for at least 200 people
    – Five breakout rooms that house at least 40 people per room
    – Offers competitive catering and A/V rates
    – Full ADA compliance
    Within walking distance (1/2 mile or less) of conference hotel

The host organization will also agree to work with South Arts and NCCP to:

  •  Convene a host committee to plan experiences (such as visits/presentations of the local creative placemaking project(s), receptions, walking tours, etc.)   Identify and engage location foundations, corporations or other financial sponsors of the event
  •  Convene a host committee to plan experiences (such as visits/presentations of the local creative placemaking project(s), receptions, walking tours, etc.)
  •   Identify and engage location foundations, corporations or other financial sponsors of the event   Liaise with other local entities to make the conference highly impactful for both the local
  •   Liaise with other local entities to make the conference highly impactful for both the local community and the visiting participants

South Arts and NCCP will provide: 

  •  Funding for convening expenses of speakers and speaker travel; marketing; online and print materials; in-event meals/catering; any hard costs for facility use.
  •   Funding for convening expenses of speakers and speaker travel; marketing; online and print materials; in-event meals/catering; any hard costs for facility use.
  •   Design of the convening content and recruitment of speakers/panelist