Jacobs Center Announces their Grantees of the Creative Placemaking Partners Program

Creative Placemaking is a simple concept that can transform communities. It is a philosophy that revolves around connecting people to public spaces through creative projects, building a deeper, more meaningful relationship between individuals and places, and instilling pride in their community.

At the Jacobs Center, we are strongly committed to promoting and supporting creative placemaking projects so residents of Southeastern San Diego can experience arts and culture in their neighborhood and share the pride they feel for their home with others.

Last year we released a call for applications for our 2017 Creative Placemaking Partnership Grant, for which we accepted proposals from artists and arts organizations who have great ideas for creative placemaking projects that fulfill two or more elements of our 2016-2017 Arts Strategy. Those elements are:

• Activating Space: Using community spaces to bring people together in an innovative and interactive way.
• Creative Capital for Emerging Artists and Arts Enterprises: Tapping into talented artists, makers, and creatives from the community.
• Community Engagement Projects: Building a project and program that amplifies diverse voices and allows for dialogue surrounding issues.

We were excited to receive dozens of exciting, unique, and fascinating applications. After several rounds of evaluations and voting from our executive committee, we have chosen nine projects that represent the values we set forth in our Arts Strategy and we are sure will bring fresh and inventive arts to the Southeastern Community.

Here are the 2017 grantees:

• Brazilian Carnaval and Family Arts Nights – Presented by Arts 4 Learning: Free events taught by professional artists who use art as a tool for engaging families and encourages literacy. It kicked off with the Brazilian Carnaval on March 26 and will follow with four Family Arts Nights at Malcolm X Library. Dates to be announced. Families will receive a free book at events.
• The SOULcial – Presented by SOULcial Workers: A three-part reflective youth arts workshop series revolving around creative and performing arts to enhance self awareness and cultural competence. Participants will perform a live talk show that will present creative solutions to social issues.
• Shock ‘N the Park – Presented by Culture Shock Dance Troupe: A free, family-friendly dance event bringing hip-hop performances on June 4.
• Art Saves Lives: How Southeast Creates Artists – Presented by London Lane Productions: The project consists of a web series that will document short interviews featuring Southeastern San Diego artists, all shot in iconic locations in the community.
• Home – Presented by So Say We All: A community storytelling project that will engage residents from or living in Southeastern San Diego in writing and performance workshops, with final pieces performed on air at KPBS and will be added to an anthology book on the project.
• Art Cart – Presented by The Roots Factory: This mobile art project brings a cart equipped with screenprinting and audio equipment out into the community for pop up events that engage residents in art making.
• Food Truck Nights – Presented by Diamond Business Association (BID): A series of pop-up food truck nights held at the Chollas Creek park next to Writerz Blok. The events will feature live music and entertainment as well as information booths from local organizations.
• Poets & Painters Spoken Word and Graffiti Art Festival – Presented by the Jacobs Center: The annual festival highlights spoken word and graffiti artists and includes spoken word and graffiti competitions and performances from other dance and music artists.
• Prism – Presented by Jacobs Center and Writerz Blok: Quarterly arts events held at Writerz Blok that showcase diverse local artists and themes.

Congratulations to all the recipients of the Creative Placemaking Partners program! We look forward to sharing these events with the community and telling the stories behind each one throughout the year.