Committed to Creative Placemaking in Spartanburg
Written by Melissa Earley, Community Impact and Outreach Director
"Culture is not only beneficial to cities; in a deeper sense, it’s what cities are for. A city without poets, painters and photographers is sterile."
- Rebecca Solnit
One of Chapman Cultural Center’s primary goals is to help create and support a culturally vibrant community.
This means working with local businesses, government agencies, nonprofits, artists, and individuals to bring festivals, museums, restaurants, performances, concerts, public art, and much, much more to life all across Spartanburg County. The term coined for this purposeful, collaborative effort is “Creative Placemaking”, and here at CCC, we’re experts at it.
Creative Placemaking is where public, private, not-for-profit, and community sectors partner to strategically shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood or town around arts and culture.
Most good creative placemaking grounds itself on distinctive features and capabilities of the community, therefore, it is critical to identify and engage your existing creative assets and creative people.
Here are a few of the Creative Placemaking projects and events you might recognize:
Spartanburg Downtown Cultural District
Live music, public art, mini putt, live performances, murals, film festivals, art walk…and more.
When we embarked upon a mission to inventory our cultural assets* in 2013, we knew we’d be able to report a wealth of opportunity and artistic accomplishment in Spartanburg. If you’ve noticed that all the live music, the energy, and the general vibe of downtown Spartanburg has really amped up lately you’re not alone. There’s a LOT going on these days (and nights) in Spartanburg's Downtown Cultural District.
Artists in Residence
Two young artists will soon be here living, working, conducting workshops…and more.
The HUB-BUB A.i.R. program is alive and well and come August, we’ll be welcoming two exciting new visual artists to our Spartanburg community. This program has brought dozens of talented, bright, young minds into our community, and many of them, including our own Eric Kocher, are still adding to the cultural vibrancy in Spartanburg.
Neighborhood Projects
The Artlets, STEAM Garden, a brand new arts center…and more.
We’re all over the city! We’re on the Northside (The Artlets and the Northside Cultural Plan), and we’re on the Southside (S.T.E.A.M. Garden) too. Seeing Spartanburg in a New Light was in 10 different neighborhoods across the city.
And very soon we’ll be on the Westside, with a new art center in the old Mayfair Mill building, in Arcadia!