By Norma M. Rantisi and M. Jason Blackman The City of Montreal recently drafted its first formal cultural policy. While the policy seeks to link culture with economic development, it uncritically embraces the role of business in the arts and fails to promote the value of art for art’s sake—for its inherent value. In the […]

By Caron Atlas What are the tough questions that public officials—mayors, planning commissioners and economic development experts—and private developers should address to incorporate issues of cultural planning in community development programs/projects? And what are the questions artists and arts organizations need to consider related to their roles in development? I work at the intersection of […]

By Jacqueline Leavitt We believe in a grassroots movement that puts into question the essential relationships on which the system is based. The focal point of these cultural campaigns is the evolution of political conviction into artistic actions and vice versa. We will present cultural performances as political actions because everyone is artist and activist […]

By Ann Markusen Artists have been under-appreciated as participants in community and neighborhood development in cities around the world. On the one hand, they have been lumped into a “creative class” whose hedonistic preferences for residing in lively, diverse cities are   credited with generating economic growth. On the other hand, artists are sometimes accused of […]