How can arts administrators collaborate with health professionals to design creative placemaking projects?

1 Understand the context

Before you start planning a creative placemaking project, you need to understand the context of the place and the people you want to engage. What are the health challenges and opportunities in the area? What are the existing assets and resources, such as cultural organizations, local artists, health services, and community groups? How can you build on them and connect them? What are the goals and values of the stakeholders and the residents? How can you involve them in the process and ensure their voices are heard and respected?

2 Choose the right partners

Collaborating with health professionals can help you design creative placemaking projects that are evidence-based, culturally appropriate, and sustainable. But you need to choose the right partners who share your vision and are willing to work across disciplines and sectors. Look for health professionals who have experience or interest in arts and culture, who are open to innovation and experimentation, and who can provide expertise, resources, and networks. You also need to establish clear roles and expectations, communicate regularly, and respect each other's perspectives and contributions.

3 Co-create with the community

One of the key principles of creative placemaking is co-creation, which means involving the community in every stage of the project, from ideation to implementation to evaluation. Co-creation can help you create projects that are relevant, meaningful, and empowering for the community, as well as foster a sense of ownership and pride. To co-create with the community, you need to use participatory methods, such as workshops, surveys, interviews, focus groups, mapping, storytelling, and prototyping, that allow the community to express their needs, preferences, and aspirations, as well as their feedback and suggestions. You also need to be flexible, responsive, and adaptive to the changing needs and circumstances of the community.

4 Integrate arts and health

Creative placemaking projects can integrate arts and health in a variety of ways, depending on the objectives, context, and resources of the project. For example, utilizing art and culture to increase awareness and educate the public about health issues such as mental health, substance abuse, or chronic diseases. Art and culture can also provide opportunities for social interaction, emotional expression, and creative expression which can improve mental health and well-being. Additionally, using art and culture to activate and beautify public spaces can motivate physical activity, environmental stewardship, and civic engagement. Finally, art and culture can be used to celebrate the diversity and identity of the community which can cultivate social cohesion, inclusion, and belonging.

5 Evaluate the impact

Evaluating the impact of creative placemaking projects is important for demonstrating the value and benefits of arts and health collaboration, as well as for learning and improving the practice. Evaluation can help you measure the outcomes and impacts of the project on the health and well-being of the community, as well as on the quality and vitality of the public space. Evaluation can also help you identify the challenges and opportunities for improvement, as well as the best practices and lessons learned. To evaluate the impact of creative placemaking projects, you need to use mixed methods, such as quantitative and qualitative data, that capture the complexity and diversity of the project and the community. You also need to involve the community and the partners in the evaluation process, as well as share and disseminate the results and recommendations.

6 Learn from others

Creative placemaking is a growing and evolving field of practice that can offer many insights and inspirations for arts administrators who want to collaborate with health professionals. There are numerous successful creative placemaking projects that have integrated arts and health, such as the Art of Health initiative in Philadelphia, which uses arts-based interventions to address health disparities and social determinants of health in low-income neighborhoods, the Music on Prescription project in London, which uses music therapy to improve the mental health of those with dementia and their carers, the Park Rx America program in Washington DC, which connects patients with nature and outdoor recreation through park prescriptions, and the Creative City Network of Canada, which provides resources and support for creative placemaking practitioners.