The Cambridge Community Foundation has been selected among 1,400 applicants from
across the country to be a finalist in a major grant program that aims to increase the role of arts
and culture in community planning and development. On June 7, 2016, ArtPlace America
announced that the Cambridge Community Foundation’s Central Square: Preserving Equity in
a boom town project, is one of 80 projects that will be considered for its 2016 National Creative
Placemaking Fund.
ArtPlace America (ArtPlace), a New York City-based organization, is a ten-year collaboration
among 16 partner 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. This brings artists, arts organizations, and artistic activity into the suite of
placemaking strategies pioneered by Jane Jacobs and her colleagues, who believed that
community development must be locally informed, human-centric, and holistic.
“This is wonderful news,” said Geeta Pradhan, president and CEO of the Foundation. “As
Cambridge develops and grows, these rich cultural assets will require sustained public focus and
attention to ensure that Central Square, one of four designated cultural districts in Greater
Boston, can thrive as a destination for the region. It is an honor to be selected for this
competitive process.”
The Cambridge Community Foundation is proposing to work alongside the City, several arts
anchors, neighborhood partners, local businesses and the innovation industry that has brought
great prosperity to the region, to ensure that the City’s cultural assets are not casualties to the
rapid growth in the region. Through a series of public programs
and proto-typing interventions
the Foundation will support local stakeholders in developing a more cohesive visual identity and
a collaborative infrastructure to drive more sustained investment in Central Square’s diverse
cultural assets.
The full application process is expected to begin later this month.
Cambridge Community Foundation was established in 1916. The only foundation with the whole
city of Cambridge in its purview, it is a key supporter of nonprofit organizations, distributing
$1.2 million in grants in 2015 to meet local needs and support the aspirations of Cambridge
residents. The Foundation provides advocacy and leadership support to deal with urgent local
challenges and partners with donors to provide a permanent source of charitable funds for the
community.
Media contact:
David Trueblood, Vice President Civic Connection and Communications at
[email protected] or by calling 617 576 9966
