Creative Placemaking and the Politics of Belonging and Dis-Belonging
Submitted by Steve on September 3, 2012
A blog post from Roberto Bedoya, Executive Director of the Tucson Pima Arts Council, for Arts in a Changing America:
A favorite song of mine is “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered…” the Ella version that is warm, radiant, where your feel each word in pure tones. Ella sings about love; a blind love and the escape from that bewitchment. This is the song that plays for me in the background when I think about the practices of “Creative Placemaking”, which as an arts manager and policy maker, I define as those cultural activities that shape the physical and social characteristics of a place. I embrace Creative Placemaking and its aspiration as is manifests in a variety of methods – from city planning to art practices with a goal of advancing humanity. But I am bothered by what I consider a significant blind spot – a blind love of sorts – in the Creative Placemaking discourse and practices.
I am referring to a lack of awareness about the politics of belonging and dis-belonging that operate in civil society.