Arts & Culture

New York City, NY

A non-profit organization that engages neighborhood youth, the arts and cultural heritage in order to improve the entire community.

San Francisco, CA

A professional theater that actively seeks to educate youth from communities that have been historically under-represented in the theater industry.

Quarter Century of Service Award

For their role in transforming Richmond into a vibrant city with arts, culture, housing, nature, and historic offerings.

Entrepreneurial American Community Award

For their success in supporting local artists, youth education mentoring and neighborhood transformation through their groundbreaking mural program.

Neal Pierce reports on the role of the library as social gathering place and powerful resource for new immigrants looking to assimilate.

This report documents the San Diego Aging in Place Workshop that explored the the topic of lifelong learning. Click here to download the report.

This report documents Chicago Aging in Place Workshop which focused on connecting older adults to culture and the arts in Chicago and in other cities across America. Click here to download the report.

Tucson, Arizona

A cultural organization that fuses arts and heritage to bring community members of all ages together.

Founders Award for Civic Leadership

Senior Advisor at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, for furthering cultural heritage development and historic preservation for over 40 years.

Asheville, NC

Organizations team up to provide unique, affordable housing and revitalize a struggling community.

Chicago, IL

A lively art studio transformed from a previously vacant, three-acre lot into a wonderful cultural resource and an educational tool for youth around Chicago.

Written by Tom Borrup with Partners for Livable Communities, this book features best practices and technical assistance how-to's on using culture as a fundamental tool for transformative community development. The book is a tool of broad scope covering topics such as: Asset Mapping; Funding and Policy; Effective Partnerships; Assessment and Evaluation. The book follows up on Partners ground-breaking Culture Builds Communities work.

Borrup writes, “In 1993 PLC began an extensive developmental program called Culture Builds Community, which aims to systematically place cultural assets within the portfolio of community development efforts…Nationwide in scope, the program gave rise to a publication, Culture Builds Communities, that inspired this book.”

Published by Fieldstone Alliance, Saint Paul, MN, 2006, 261 pages ($25)

(This Report/Book is only available for purchase. Partners does not have an electronic version available)

By the Rand Corporation

The study argues that cultural institutions attempting to grow their audiences are increasingly challenged by changing social and demographic trends, intense competition, and tensions between art-oriented and market-oriented aspects of their missions. The report is available here>

Bridge Builders Award

Raymond R. Christman, President, Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta and M. Craig Pascal, Vice President, Community Development Specialist, Washington, DC branch of BB&T of NC, for their understanding of the value of culture-based community development and their dedication towards creating opportunities for them to exist and thrive in the Washington, DC region through the successful EDGE Program which has benefited such organizations as The Dance Institute of Washington and Joe’s Community Arts Organization in Mt Rainier, Maryland.

Founders Award for Civic Leadership

Former Secretary of State for the State of Florida, for enhancing the quality of life and culture across the state

Bridge Builders Award (Charlotte, NC)

Kenneth D. Lewis, President and CEO, Bank of America, Robert Cannon, Executive Director, Public Library of Charlotte/Mecklenburg County and Bruce LaRowe, Executive Director, Children’s Theater of Charlotte for their visionary leadership and initiative in creating ImaginOn-The Joe and Joan Martin Center a joint venture between a library, children’s theatre, and progressive chairman. Through innovative programs using the written, spoken and electronic word, ImaginOn will be an interactive learning environment for young people and their families in the greater Charlotte area.

Bridge Builders Award (St. Louis, MO)

Richard D. Baron, Co-Founder and CEO, McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc. and Stephanie Riven, Executive Director, Center for Contemporary Arts for their efforts towards creating The Center for Contemporary Arts, which has become an exemplary site for affordable arts and education programs for youth and family in the St. Louis community. Special recognition will be extended to Mr. Baron for his 30-year commitment towards using culture and heritage as a bridge for community improvement in residential and commercial development of mixed income neighborhoods.

Bridge Builders Award (Jamaica-Queens, NY)

Jacqueline Arrington, Vice President, Citibank Community Relations and F. Carlisle Towery, President, Greater Jamaica Development Corporation for their decade long commitment to putting culture to work as a community building strategy, especially for the banks efforts in using culture as a primary resource for reinvigorating the neighborhood of Jamaica, Queens and helping to transform it into a dynamic metropolitan area.

Bridge Builders Award (Memphis, TN)

Andrew F. Cates, President, Cates Company, Project Developer & Chairman, Soulsville and Deanie Parker, President and Executive Director, Soulsville for their commitment to reinvigorating the neighborhood of Soulsville, Memphis through the Soulsville non-profit organization that is in charge of building the Stax Museum of American Soul Music as well as the Stax Music Academy for inner city youth.

Bridge Builders Award (Prince George's County, MD)

Nick Francis, President, Gateway Community Development Corporation and The Honorable Jack B. Johnson,  County Executive, Prince George’s County, Maryland for their development and creation of the Prince George’s Gateway Arts District, the largest, single public/private arts and community revitalization effort in the nation. Gateway is an innovator on how to use arts-based development projects as a catalyst for commercial revitalization by exploring ways to support the artists living and working in its community.