June 7, 2016
The Detroit Future City (DFC) Implementation Office is a finalist for ArtPlace America’s 2016 National Creative Placemaking Fund. More than 1,300 applications were reviewed by Artplace. The applications were narrowed down to 80 projects that are being considered for a total of $10.5 million.
ArtPlace America’s National Creative Placemaking Fund is a highly competitive national program that invests money in communities across the country in which artists, arts organizations, and arts activity will help drive community development projects that are addressing challenges or opportunities related to agriculture and food; economic development; education and youth; environment and energy; health, housing; immigration; public safety; transportation; or workforce development.
The DFC Strategic Framework calls for the transformation of Detroit’s 24 square miles of vacant land into productive uses, such as renewable energy to turn a liability into an asset and stabilize neighborhoods which will help to fight blight, address a root cause of childhood asthma, stabilize energy costs, reduce the city’s carbon footprint, and attract and retain talent interested in clean energy that can power our city’s growth.
Through a hands-on design process in the Hope Village community, an artistic solar art installation will be constructed to provide clean electricity to the neighborhood. Working with the Focus:HOPE and Land Art Generator Initiative to design and install, this project will take a social practice approach that engages Detroit residence. A local artist will lead the design, working with 20–30 youth who will get an education in energy science, planning, policy, idea and form generation.
ArtPlace is a ten-year collaboration among 16 partners foundations, along with 8 federal agencies and 6 financial institutions, that works to position arts and culture as a core sector of comprehensive community planning and development in order to help strengthen the social, physical, and economic fabric of communities. ArtPlace focuses its work on creative placemaking, which describes projects in which art plays an intentional and integrated role in place-based community planning and development.