Week picks #5

artHERE

ArtHERE is an open-source project for crowd-sourced urban revitalization. ArtHERE facilitates community-driven urban revitalization through the connecting of spaces and art. Using this online platform, property owners and artists browse, "like", and match available properties and creative proposals in their communities, driving real, physical results.
Here’s how property owners, event curators and artists connect through ArtHERE to bring art to urban spaces:
1. Create an account.
2. Log in.
3. Navigate to your desired region (located above).
4. Submit an art proposal or space.
ART: Submit an open art proposal for property owners and event curators to consider, OR browse for a space you would like to submit your proposal to, and create a match for that space.
SPACES: Upload your space for artists and event curators to see, or browse for an art proposal  you would like to submit your space for and create a match for that proposal.
5. Like ♥ a match by clicking on the heart icon between a space and an art proposal. The more likes a match gets, the higher it shows up on the property owner’s space page, allowing them to be influenced by the communities voting results.
6. Make a match by clicking on the match icon of a space or art proposal, and pair it with an art proposal or space of your choice.

THE CENTER FOR URBAN PEDAGOGY

The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) is a nonprofit organization that uses design and art to improve civic engagement. CUP projects demystify the urban policy and planning issues that impact our communities, so that more individuals can better participate in shaping them.
CUP projects are collaborations of art and design professionals, community-based advocates and policymakers, and our staff. Together we take on complex issues—from the juvenile justice system to zoning law to food access—and break them down into simple, accessible, visual explanations.
The tools we create are used by organizers and educators all over New York City and beyond to help their constituents better advocate for their own community needs.
CUP takes two approaches to improving public engagement through civic education: youth education programs in which students work with teaching artists to investigate some aspect of how the city works and create final products that educate others about what they learned; andcommunity education programs that bring together designers and advocates to produce tools, workshops, and publications that explain complex policies or processes for specific audiences.

WE OWN THE CITY

How do bottom-up / citizens-initiatives contribute to our cities? How can we deal with them best? What makes an initiative successful?
The way that big institutions in the field of spatial development are working is coming to an end. Crisis has caused them to alter or cancel many of their plans, and in the meantime the number of bottom-up / citizens initiatives is increasing rapidly. A paradigm shift seems to be happening. CITIES has engaged in a research project that analysis this development. Where do bottom-up projects pop up? What characteristics do these locations share? What do the projects contribute to the city and what makes certain projects successful and other not?
Over the last couple of years Amsterdam and other cities have witnessed a rapid increase in the number of these initiatives, which is often linked to the global financial crisis. Governments and traditional institutions that had long been the motors of urban development have been confronted with financial problems, and are realizing that the way they function has to change. In the meanwhile, citizens see that transformation processes have stopped and want to make use of the vacant buildings or public spaces they see around them. The paradigm is shifting. Community gardens, temporary office spaces in vacant buildings and collectively commissioned architecture projects are popping up around cities, in which citizens themselves are taking ownership of their urban surroundings.
WeOwnTheCity portrays emerging urban initiatives in Amsterdam, connecting research with photography.
Three Amsterdam-based organizations (CITIES, GUP and ARCAM) work together for the first time to celebrate new urban development trends through an exhibition.
WeOwnTheCity maps the development of small-scale initiatives into new types of urban centers by exploring the potential disconnect between local government, public policy and local urban initiators. This exhibition intends to spark discussions and debates with the goal of understanding how to adapt to a changing urban development context. Questions to ask in pursuing this initiative are: What are the innovative characteristics of emerging urban development initiatives? Can we help decision makers to better understand this inexperienced trend?

PRETTY VACANT DUBLIN

We are PrettyvacanT Dublin. We repurpose vacant Dublin properties as temporary exhibition spaces.
We think the best advert for vacant buildings is activity. We use our network of artists to conceive and curate shows that respond directly to the vacant space.
PrettyvacanT Dublin allows artists to exhibit their work in a more visible environment, whilst bringing art to wider ‘everyday’ audience.
“In 2009, we returned from travelling to find Ireland in the grip of recession.
There were vacant properties everywhere: not only down side streets, but on main streets and in city centre locations.
Conceived as a response, PrettyvacanT Dublin wanted to repurpose these vacant properties as temporary exhibition spaces.“

Week picks series features every Friday some initiatives and projects I found or want to highlight on this blog. It will help me to track new findings from community groups, startups or local governments working and delivering solutions relevant to the issues of this blog. I often bookmark them or save them on Tumblr while I wait to use them. Maybe this a good way.