An upcoming forum from
Envision Minnesota, a sustainable land use nonprofit organization, will highlight cutting-edge public art initiatives underway in St. Paul.
The event, called, "Spotlight on Saint Paul: A Creative Placemaking Forum," is happening on Sept. 18 at the
Wilder Foundation in St. Paul.
For example, the city has an artist-in-residence program, something that
Public Art Saint Paul funds, according to Jill Mazullo, communications director for Envision Minnesota.
Through the program, an artist, in this case, Marcus Young, works alongside city officials. One project he's leading brings poetry to city sidewalks. (See The Line story
here.)
"It's a unique public-private partnership," she says.
Also, a city ordinance calls for artists to be members of planning teams related to development, while one percent of capital building budgets are to go to public art, she explains.
Separately, through a partnership with
Springboard for the Arts and
Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support Corporation (TC LISC, a sponsor of
The Line),
Irrigate Arts sets in motion short-term artist-led projects about “humanizing the
Central Corridor Light Rail Transit construction.”
“I’m struck by the insight of the Irrigate project,” she says. “I’m glad the corridor is becoming more connected, but this placemaking initiative is all about the full of the community.”
The programs bring together the “whimsy of art and bricks and mortar of construction,” she says.
The event’s speakers include Regina Flanagan from Public Art Saint Paul and Jun-Li Wang of Springboard for the Arts. They’ll talk about the city’s ongoing public art programs and offer how-tos for replicating them elsewhere. “Hopefully people go away with good ideas to take back to their own communities.”
Envision Minnesota’s new executive director, Lee Helgen, who helped author the city arts ordinance when he was a City Council member, will moderate the discussion.
Source: Jill Mazullo, communications director, Envision Minnesota
Writer: Anna Pratt