Coney Island USA and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics present a roundtable discussion focusing on how artists and art organizations have taken lead roles in the economic redevelopment of New York City and other urban centers. Leaders of local arts organizations from the Bronx, Coney Island, Gowanus, and the Lower East Side discuss how small business creation and community outreach contribute to economic development.
Arts organizations have long been identified as ideal partners for redeveloping neighborhoods seeking interim plans, due to their ability to draw crowds, activate storefronts, and launch activities in a relatively fast-paced manner. Concerned community leaders and local arts organizers consider how the arts have transformed their communities, and how these transformations yield new types of government and arts organization partnerships for economic redevelopment and neighborhood preservation in New York City and nationwide.
Moderator
Kevin McQueen, Assistant Director, Community Development Finance Lab, Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy.
Participants
Aaron Beebe, Museum Director/Associate Director, Coney Island USA
Candace P. Damon, Vice Chairman, HR&A Advisors
Tamara Greenfield, Executive Director, Fourth Arts Block, Lower East Side
Wythe Marshall, Observatory, Gowanus
Gail Nathan, Executive Director, Bronx River Art Center