The Creative Community Builder's Handbook

Book excerpt: Put the power of arts and culture to work in your community Part 1 of this unique guide distills research and emerging ideas behind culturally driven community development and explains key underlying principles. You'll understand the arts impact on community well-being and have the rationale for engaging others. Find inspiration and ideas from twenty case studies Part 2 gives you ten concrete strategies for building on the unique qualities of your own community. Each strategy is illustrated by two case studies taken from a variety of cities, small towns, and neighborhoods across the United States. You'll learn how people from all walks of life used culture and creativity as a glue to bind together people, ideas, enterprises, and institutions to make places more balanced and healthy. These examples are followed in Part 3 with six steps to assessing, planning, and implementing creative community building projects: 1. Assess Your Situation and Goals; 2. Identify and Recruit Effective Partners; 3. Map Values, Strengths, Assets, and History; 4. Focus on Your Key Asset, Vision, Identity, and Core Strategies; 5. Craft a Plan That Brings the Identity to Life; 6. Secure Funding, Policy Support, and Media Coverage. Detailed guidance, hands-on worksheets, and a hypothetical community sample walk you through the entire process. Each section includes additional resources as well as an appendix listing books, web sites, organizations, and research studies. By understanding the theoretical context (Part 1), learning from case studies (Part 2), and following the six steps (Part 3), you'll be able to build a more vibrant, creative, and equitable community.