Creative Placemaking

LISC Twin Cities has been engaged in arts-based community economic development work since the 1990s. Currently, the organization works using a cohort-style program to build the capacity of organizations holding the work of creative placemaking in their cultural and creative districts.

Some highlights from this work include the following:

• Since 2013, LISC Twin Cities has awarded over $1,276,000 in grants supporting organizations using arts and culture in their community and economic development strategies. 
• Provided early investments in affordable housing developments for local artists. 
• Created long-term relationships with community organizations that, within the last decade, have resulted in assisting over 500 entrepreneurs (mostly minority, immigrant and refugee) start and expand small businesses to create over 100 jobs employing mainly lower income people of color. 
• Since 2013, supported creative placemaking community events attracting over 94,000 attendees where physical spaces were transformed, diverse cultures highlighted, and opportunities for connecting across and within cultures were available.

Here are the key values of  our LISC Twin Cities Creative Placemaking program: 

• Enlist and support artists as leaders
• Pursue Racial Equity
• Affirm the distinctiveness of place
• Develop without Displacement
• Support approaches that are community driven, comprehensive, and collaborative
• Build enduring capacity

Our program operates with the following strategic goals: 

• Strategic Goal 1: Increase Economic Impact Across Sectors by Taking a Regional Approach to Regional Economic Problems 
• Strategic Goal 2: Increase Cultural Nonprofit and Minority Business Ownership of Physical Property within Their Communities to Build Wealth and Minimize Displacement 
• Strategic Goal 3: Transform Physical Spaces with Cultural Narratives to Create Physical, Social and Economic Impacts
  

Current Creative Placemaking Cohort Districts and Partners

West Broadway Business and Area Coalition
West Broadway Business and Area Coalition (WBC)
☛ westbroadway.org

East Franklin Avenue
Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI)
☛ nacdi.org

38th Street
The Cultural Wellness Center
☛ culturalwellnesscenter.org/

East Lake Street
Lake Street Council (LSC)
☛ visitlakestreet.com/

Little Mekong
Asian Economic Development Association (AEDA)
☛ littlemekong.com/

Rondo/Frogtown
Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation (ASANDC)
☛ aurorastanthony.org

East Seventh Street
Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center
☛ indigenous-roots.org/

Little Africa
African Economic Development Solutions (AEDS)
☛ aeds-mn.org

West Bank
West Bank Business Association
☛ thewestbank.org/

Many thanks to the following funders for your contributions to the Creative Placemaking Work:

• Allianz
• Bigelow
• Kresge
• Mardag
• McKnight Foundation
• The Nielsen Foundation
• St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation
• State Farm
• Synchrony
• US Bank
• Wells Fargo