MutualOne Bank hosted a daylong session for members of the public to work on a Creative Placemaking Strategy and Plan. The event was organized by The Town of Natick and Natick Center Associates – managers of the Natick Center Cultural District. The project aims to engage Natick residents, business owners, and town staff in an ongoing public discussion about how spaces and landmarks in Natick Center can be activated through arts, culture, and design in culturally inclusive and accessible ways.
A collaboration between the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), Natick’s Department of Community and Economic Development, and Natick Center Associates, the partners are holding a series of workshops and will be popping up at other Natick events throughout the spring and summer in order to engage the public in developing and executing a Natick Center Creative Placemaking demonstration project. At the completion of the project, the town will receive an action plan outlining actions for streamlining municipal policies and procedures pertaining to arts and culture in public places and spaces and recommendations of priority locations for continued Creative Placemaking activities through an enhanced schedule of installations, events and programs.
Building on a number of recently completed and ongoing planning projects, the Natick Center Creative Placemaking Initiative is supported and partially funded by the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Placemaking knowledge building program, the American Planning Association, and Americans for the Arts.
