Building Blocks: Activating the Creative Economy in Downtown Bridgeport

    iQuilt Phase 3: Urban Design for Bushnell Park North, Hartford

    Art Meets Science, New Haven

    Riverside Heights, New London

 

 

 

 

Building Blocks: Activating the Creative Economy in Downtown Bridgeport

Grantee:  Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County
Project:   Building Blocks: Activating the Creative Economy in Downtown Bridgeport
Amount:   $150,000
Grant Period:  March 6, 2012 - March 6, 2013
Partners:  Downtown Special Services District, City of Bridgeport, Bridgeport Arts and Culture Council, Read's ArtSpace USA

 

The Building Blocks project is intended to activate the creative economy in Downtown Bridgeport.  The project consists of the following components:

I. Creative Retail/Office Program (CROP): Sstimulate interest in rental of empty storefronts and attract creative entrepreneurs by making visual improvements and establishing a new business incentive program designed specifically to attract creative businesses. 

Grantee:  iQuilt Partnership, Inc.
Project:   iQuilt Phase 3: Urban Design for Bushnell Park North, 2012
Amount:  $150,000
Grant Period:  March 6, 2012 - March 6, 2013
Partners:  City of Hartford, MetroHartford Alliance, Greater Hartford Arts Council, Bushnell Park Foundation, Business Improvement District and arts organizations including the Wadsworth Atheneum and the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts.

The Bushnell and the Greater Hartford Arts Council initiated the iQuilt project to develop a network of downtown cultural pathways to link and leverage over 45 of the City’s cultural assets to achieve targeted economic and social goals.  After a year of public dialogue and input of over 2,000 citizens, a plan was produced that calls for a grid of pedestrian routes weaving together Hartford’s key cultural sites and institutions around a theme of innovation in science, art, and human affairs. The plan proposes the development of new public spaces and updates to existing ones, an identity-branding program, interpreted trails, interactive street furniture, green arts features, public art and active art programming.

 

Grantee:  Arts Council of Greater New Haven
Project:  Art Meets Science
Amount:  $150,000
Grant Period:   March 6, 2012 - March 6, 2013
Partners:   Economic Development Corporation and Haskins Laboratory

The Art Meets Science project is intended to enhance economic development and to celebrate the creativity of greater New Haven’s artists and scientists, providing a platform for them to interact, explore common ground and work collaboratively. The project consists of multiple components:

I. Symposia: In the fall of 2012, there will be an arts/science symposia to launch the project. The symposia is intended to attract scientists and artists who are interested in the arts/science connection.

II. Matchmaking artists and scientists:  To facilitate meetings and conversations among artists and scientists, the Arts Council will use a "speed dating" format giving pairs of artists and scientists brief 10 minute time periods in which to share their work, describing the concepts, theories or problems they explore through their work.

III. Team Projects: The central component of Art Meets Science is a collaboration between artists and scientists. They will be invited to form artist/scientist teams to develop an idea for a project.  Projects must culminate with some tangible way of sharing the project with the public.

IV. Documentation of Projects: During the course of the Team Project Phase, college video students will be enlisted to document the process, interviewing the team members. Short video clips will be posted on an Art Meets Science blog on the Arts Council website, social media, and other related sites.

V. Project Culmination and Community Sharing: At the conclusion of the Team Project Phase, teams will share their projects with the community. Community members will be asked to comment on the projects via the Art Meets Science blogs, Facebook and other social media; and be encouraged to express their opinion through a People’s Choice type vote.

 

 

Grantee:  New London Landmarks, Inc.

Project:   Riverside Heights, New London
Amount:  $100,000
Grant Period:   March 6, 2012 - March 6, 2013
Partners:   City of New London/Office of Development and Planning; Friends of Riverside Park Conservatory; New London Neighborhood Alliance/Northeast New London Group; New London Council; New London Education Department; Kent Frost Landscape Architecture; New London Department of Parks and Recreation; Flock Theatre/HOT School artist, Derron Wood; HOT School artists, Mark Patnode; HOT School artist, L'Ana Burton; Artist/Engineer, Dr. Roger J. Tremblay; New London City Council; Lyman Allyn Art Museum; and expressions, a non-profit cultural center that promotes Latin American cultural in all its manifestations.

The area known as Riverside Heights was cut off from New London during construction in the late 1960s.  The neighborhood’s assets include Riverside Park, the historic Northeast New London neighborhood, Winthrop Elementary Magnet STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) School, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Connecticut College, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, and the Hodges Square commercial district.  

• To connect with the people who live and work in Riverside Heights district and help them to view their homes and streetscapes with new eyes through a coordinated program of arts-integrated projects.
  
• Create a strong new identity celebrating the diversity, history, environment and economic vitality of the district and jump-start renewal programs.
  
• Inspire the Hodges Square business community to explore creative options to improve their economic outlook.
  
• Incorporate meaningful, place-based art into the master planning of streetscapes, plazas, parks and building facades.

For updated information on the Riverside Heights project, visit www.newlondoncreativeplacemaking.wordpress.com