RAC Hosts “Rustbelt to Artist Belt: At the Crossroads”

The Community Arts Training (CAT) Institute of the (RAC) along with the Cleveland Community Partnership for Arts & Culture (CPAC) present “Rustbelt to Artist Belt: At the Crossroads Arts-Based Community Development,” a national convening to be held from April 12 through 14 at the Chase Hotel and Conference Center in St. Louis.

For complete information visit www.rustbelttoartistbelt.com.

This event unites two separate conferences for the first time:

• “Rustbelt to Artist Belt,” which has been held previously in Cleveland and Detroit, focuses on how to revitalize industrial cities by integrating the efforts of artists and community developers. 
• “At the Crossroads: A Community Arts and Development Convening,” was created by RAC in 2010 as the first national conference on community arts, which describes a wide range of initiatives by artists/art organizations  in partnership with human service agencies, community organizers and community developers designed to affect positive social change.

“We are excited to continue exploring the role of creative placemaking in revitalizing our cities," Jill McGuire, executive director of RAC, said. "RAC is looking forward to welcoming artists, architects, planners, community leaders, creatives and policy makers for a lively exchange of ideas and to learn about successful initiatives in different communities.”

Roseann Weiss, RAC’s Director of Community Art Programs & Public Art Initiatives, who runs the CAT Institute, added, ”Our colleagues from the ‘Rust Belt’ — cities such as Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia — will join community arts activists  from all over the United States and Ireland to examine how we can regenerate our neighborhoods in the most creative, dynamic ways.”

One example in St. Louis of the Rustbelt to Artist Belt movement is in north St. Louis.  The Old North Restoration Group, lead by executive director Sean Thomas, is working to transform an underserved neighborhood into a lively, sustainable community. It has used public arts projects to energize the area, including a public poetry trail of 11 banners with poems by Langston Hughes, painted murals in windows of abandoned building, sculptures in the butterfly garden, exhibits in the Gallery and outdoor film screenings for children.

A new project in the area is the Northside Workshop, created by award-winning artist and cultural activist Juan William Chavez. The community art center, which opens this spring, is housed in a renovated historic brick building and will be used for a diverse range of events, engaging residents and inviting visitors to participate in arts production, art exhibits, concerts and classes.

Arts and culture have a strong impact in community development and regeneration. Theaters, galleries, concert venues and public arts projects put “feet on the street” which improves public safety and energizes urban areas. They also pave the way for other businesses to take root (such as restaurants, coffee shops and boutiques), resulting in economic development for the area.

“Rustbelt to Artist Belt” will focus on many of these success stories and featured speakers include some of the most respected experts in the field, including Bill Cleveland of the Center for the Study of Art and Community in Seattle, WA; Arlene Goldbard, author of New Creative Community; and Barbara Schaffer Bacon and Pam Korza, co-directors of Animating Democracy, a national program sponsored by Americans for the Arts (AFTA).

Among the participants will be a group from the National Arts Council in Singapore and also a group from Dublin, led by Senator Marie-Louise O’Donnell, who is a supporter of Blue Drum, an Irish community arts and social service organization.

The closing party on Saturday, April 14 – “Cherokee Street Saturday Night” – celebrates how the arts have helped revitalize this St. Louis neighborhood. It is free and open to the public from 6 to 8 p.m.

Stores on Cherokee Street will be open from Indiana Ave. to Virginia Ave., with food trucks and street entertainment. At 8 p.m. the party moves to Art Dimensions, 2720 Cherokee St. and the public is invited.

Registration for the conference is $125.      

Regional Arts Commission

The Regional Arts Commission (RAC) is a cultural catalyst in the St. Louis area, providing financial, technical, promotional and other support for arts organizations. Since 1985, RAC has awarded more than 5,600 grants totaling more than $73 million, funded by a portion of the hotel/motel room sales tax. In May 2011, 189 of the area’s arts organizations, consortiums and cultural programs, large and small, received grant awards totaling more than $2.7 million.

Community Arts (CAT) Training Institute

Created in 1997, the CAT Institute is an innovative program based on the idea that art can be used as an agent of positive social change. The CAT Institute provides a professional level, comprehensive training program for artists, social service providers and community activists working in community settings such as neighborhood organizations, social service agencies and after-school programs. 

The fellows grapple with program planning and adaptability, partnership development, hands-on projects, teaching and situational strategies, and assessment tools. To date 200 fellows have graduated and are working in the community on a variety of projects, many of which were designed during their fellowships. 

Recently the Kresge Foundation awarded a grant to expand the CAT Institute to include graduate-level curriculum and to develop a new model for community arts training.  

Cleveland Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC)

CPAC is a nonprofit arts and culture service organization dedicated to strengthening and unifying greater Cleveland’s arts and culture sector. Since its founding in 1997, the organization has accomplished this through a range of programs and services within its core competencies of capacity building, public policy and research. For more information,  visit www.cpacbiz.org.