Arts Council Announces Creative Placemaking Summit Fred Kent, CEO, Project for Public Spaces to Speak
LANSING, Mich., Oct. 2, 2015 –
The Arts Council of Greater Lansing is excited to announce the 2015 Creative Placemaking Summit hosted by the Arts Council and presented by the Greater Lansing Regional Prosperity Initiative. The event will take place on Oct. 8, 2015 at the Lansing Center on Michigan Ave. in downtown Lansing and will run from 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
This sold-out event will host more than 150 individuals from varying areas of the creative placemaking sector, and more than 20 guest speakers who will take the stage, including keynote speaker Fred Kent, founder and president of Project for Public Spaces and a leading authority on revitalizing city spaces. Kent has more than 35 years’ experience and has worked on hundreds of large-scale projects such as Rockefeller Center and New York’s Times Square, and the Arts Council is eager to introduce him to metro Lansing.
“We are so honored to have Fred Kent visit our city and speak at this event,” says Arts Council Executive Director Deborah E. Mikula. “He can provide a firsthand summation regarding which placemaking projects should be tackled and why. This will give metro Lansing a starting place from which to act on artistic and creative ideas that will benefit our community.”
Other guest speakers at the event include Beth McCann, deputy director, programs and external communications at the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo; Heidi Zimmer, vice president, property development at ArtSpace; E. Lansing Mayor Nathan Triplett; Dan Gilmartin, executive director and CEO, Michigan Municipal League; Bob Trezise, president and CEO, Lansing Economic Area Partnership; Erik Larson, executive director Impression 5 Museum and many more.
The day will include a networking continental breakfast, live entertainment, video presentation, morning and afternoon plenary and breakout sessions and a buffet luncheon. As the Summit closes, guests will head across Michigan Ave. for the grand unveiling of the Downtown Lansing Inc. mural at the Northeast corner of Michigan Ave. and Cedar Street.
“We believe that the arts should be the main driver in metro Lansing’s economic growth and development,” says Mikula. Statistics show that successful cities have art at their heart, drawing in community members and including them in placemaking decisions. As ambassadors of placemaking, the Arts Council is pleased to get these conversations started and bring a cross section of community leaders to the table to participate.”
Founded in 1965, the Arts Council of Greater Lansing exists to support, strengthen and promote arts, culture and creativity in the capital region. For more information, visit www.www.lansingarts.org.