Et Al...

Belated thanks again to the organizers of the Creative Cities Summit for providing so much food for thought during the conference last week. I haven't yet had the chance to mention, let alone digest, all of the things, both local to Detroit and global for the rest of us, that provided much-needed inspiration to me and the others in attendance.

Of particular note, in addition to that which I wrote about last week, was the keynote talk Bill Strickland gave on Monday night. Strickland is the president and chairman of the Manchester Bidwell Corporation, in Pittsburgh, and its subsidiaries, the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild and the Bidwell Training Center. Manchester and Bidwell are non-profit entities; Manchester provide a diverse arts education while Bidwell offers vocational training in a number of different disciplines. Strickland's experience in building the two over the course of his life gives a powerful example of the central role educational opportunity plays in the construction of a city. The richness of a place depends directly on the experience it offers its residents; in Strickland's case, the kinds of professional opportunities usually found lacking in inner-city neighborhoods. Now, Strickland is taking the framework of his centers global, opening similar facilities in other cities throughout the US and abroad.

I'm digging into Charles Landry's The Art of City Making right now, and there is a sentiment early on that resonates here, one that reinforces the notion that social "architecture" is equal, if not greater, than the importance of its physical counterpart:

"The compound city-making is preferred to city-building, since the latter implies that the city is only that which the built environment professions have physically constructed. Yet what gives a city life, meaning, and purpose are the acts people perform on the physical stage. The stage set is not the play. The physical things are only the accoutrements, helpful instruments and devices. But the aim here is to shift the balance, to increase the credibility and status of the scriptwriters, the directors and performers. Countless skills come to mind."

(Above, the exterior of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit at night, with neon piece by Martin Creed over mural by Barry McGee. via)

One other outstanding talk was the panel centering on "marketing the Creative City" featuring Paul Schutt of Detroit's Issue Media Group, publisher of modeldmedia, which I've mentioned here before; Shawn Micallef of Toronto's superb Spacing Magazine, a paper copy of which I'm currently treasuring; and Jim Townsend, of the Detroit Convention and Visitors' Bureau, and the lead in developing the city's new "D" brand.

One of the more salient points made was Schutt's observation that traditional media sources tend to lack the ability to promote place in a modern way. In a city defined in popular culture by loss (crime, unemployment, flight), the local papers were well-acquainted with how to cover those things, sounding a steady drumbeat of doom and gloom, but little else. What was missing was any discussion about grass-roots, small-scale, positive development. Enter modeldmedia, centered on the myriad unique details, ventures, and changes that aim to paint a more authentic picture of one of America's most storied cities. A task noble, vital, and interesting.

Micallef explained that Spacing filled a similar role in Toronto, originally leaning on freelance artists, photographers, and writers to tell the story of the city that he and his friends cared about--transportation, urban exploration, urban design, and politics, among other topics. What began as a spare-time pursuit for Micallef and his friends has since been celebrated as a critically important new voice in city-building and city-making issues. It's a thing of beauty and inspiration: its "subway buttons" as a wry, affectionate expression of place caught my eye while vacationing there in 2005, and I read its website often. You don't have to be a Toronto resident to glean the significance of Spacing's approach to placemaking; the experience of the publication reflects the experience of the city in such fine-grained detail that one is able to see one's own surroundings with fresh, optimistic eyes.

Comments

[Taylor Davidson]

I had the pleasure of hearing Bill Strickland talk about 5 years ago about his efforts in Pittsburgh with Manchester and the Bidwell Training Center. It's amazing what he's been able to do in Pittsburgh; being able to change many people's minds and create something that few people could even imagine.

[Vincent Hopwood]

Personally, I'm wondering about Martin Creed's neon piece "Everything is going to be alright" featured in this article. This phrase plays a key role in the beginning of the Max Brooks novel "World War Z". Is this a coincidence, or was the artist making a social comment using by contracting the narrative of the novel with the audience for his work?

[Chris]

Vincent, that's really interesting; I don't have the answer. Anyone else know more about this?