Photo by washingtonydc
The District’s Office of Planning announced today an initiative to get pop-up art projects planted throughout the city. The program, dubbed Crossing the Street: Building DC’s Inclusive Future through Creative Placemaking, “will promote community-building in neighborhoods that are experiencing rapid demographic and social change,” according to a release.
Creative placemaking, a term commonly used by city planners, refers to placing temporary art installations and hosting cultural events in spaces that are often abandoned or unused. In 2014, Kimberly Driggins of OP described it as a movement that thinks “about arts and culture as the driver for neighborhood revitalization.” At its best, she said, it “brings out the uniqueness of neighborhood and place and does it in an authentic way.”
Over the next year, OP will spearhead 15 of these projects in all 8 wards. The first will kick off this weekend at the Funk Parade, which is shutting down part of U Street for the second year. The launch will include “a program of fun and thought-provoking” activities, according to the release. The initiative is supported by the private Kresge Foundation.
At the helm of the projects will be curators who “represent a blend of deep, grassroots experience and global expertise,” according to the release. Among the winners of an international contest for the project are The Pink Line Project, run by Philippa Hughes who is also involved in Dupont Underground’s sold-out Raise/Raze exhibit, the Ward 8 Arts & Culture Council, which drew thousand of people to Congress Heights for Art All Night in 2014, and Pleasant Plains Workshop, an arts collective that began in Petworth and is now in Brookland.
“We think our initiative will push the boundaries in terms of engagement, innovation and placemaking and inject new creative energy into planning,” said OP Director Eric Shaw. “It will also allow us to test recommendations from various neighborhood plans that were developed with community input. We are now venturing into what data-driven art and art-driven planning look like in the District.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works is prepping a campaign against all the spray paint that wasn’t commissioned by the city. The “great graffiti wipeout” is planned for the week of May 16.
One of D.C.’s first signs of creative placemaking came in 2005 through the interim use of the 10.2 acre site that once housed the Washington Convention Center at 10th Street and New York Avenue NW. Most notable was the “art walk” that showcased works by local artists. The site was also used to host events like the Downtown Holiday Market in 2005 and Cirque du Soleil in 2006.
Crossing the Street falls under the second annual innoMAYtion, a series of events that Mayor Bowser says will “shine a light on the innovative ideas, policies, and programs that are improving our most underserved communities.” Earlier this week, Mayor Bowser also announced Project 500, a program to giving a helping hand to businesses serving neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River.
