ArtPlace America shows why culture matters to communities

By DREW LINDSAY of The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Chronicle of Philanthropy

For a decade ending last December, ArtPlace America sprinkled $150 million across the nation, backing a kaleidoscope of projects. The goal: prove that the arts and culture are critical to the social fabric, identity, and well-being of communities. Not all the work paid dividends, and the effort raised questions about whether art-based revitalization can fuel gentrification. But the ideas behind ArtPlace are so commonplace now that President Biden named one of their leading proponents, scholar Maria Rosario Jackson, to lead the National Endowment for the Humanities. At the local level, many cities embedded artists in government agencies, often searching for fresh ideas to old problems.