Building & Sustaining Community Through the Arts


Building & Sustaining Community Through the Arts	.
Pamela W. Hawkes AIA, Zeren Earls, Ellen Kissman, and Leonard R. Voellinger, AICP	Author Info

Abstract

The ability of cultural resources to create and sustain communities are presented through three models for cultural resource planning: First Night Boston; the identification of traditional cultural properties through the National Environmental Policy; and the Cultural Resources Element of Seattle's Comprehensive Plan.

Introduction

In the decades since World War II, communities throughout the United States have experienced great population shifts as people move from rural areas to cities, from cities to suburbs and from foreign countries in search of new opportunities. This has often led to a loss of communal identity and the sense of common ownership which are vital to creating social fabric. The result has been fragmentation and conflict between ethnic or ideological groups in cities large and small.

The arts and culture transcend boundaries of race, age, gender, language and social status, providing a strong context for shared communal experience. Celebrations and festivals have traditionally provided opportunities to learn about diverse cultures or become re-acquainted with old traditions, to re-discover the community as well as socializing with family and friends. Historic sites have long been the means by which individuals make contact with the ideals and acheivements of earlier generations. In the past decade, museums throughout the U.S. have attracted more visitors than sporting events. For Boston, New Orleans, San Francisco and other major American cities, tourism fueled by heritage and culture have become the leading source of jobs and revenues.

It is clear that integrating cultural resources into the planning process offers unique opportunities to support important community institutions and initiatives, as well as broadening economic bases and improving the overall quality of life. This panel offers three very different perspectives on culture, community and cultural resource planning.

First Night

First Night was established in 1976 as a ritual to bring Boston's urban and suburban communities together on December 31st. Twenty years later, attendance has grown to over 1.5 million for this single day event. From the participatory procession at dusk to fireworks at midnight, music, theater and dance performances clustered along a "spine" transform the parks, streets, storefronts, and churches of the city into a spectacle of light, sound and carefully choreographed events. Local hotels provide First Night packages that appeal to tourists and suburbanites, restaurants schedule special seatings to meet the demand from participants and food and novelty vending rounds out the array of activities.

First Night, Inc., which created the concept and produces the event in cooperation with city officials, is a private, non-profit corporation. It receives the majority of its funding from the sale of event buttons, with the balance made up through corporate sponsorships and grants. It commissions local artists to create processional art and public installations as well as scheduled performances, offering them a major showcase for their work. As a result of its tremendous success in Boston, First Night Inc. has licensed the concept to 185 communities from Tampa to Honolulu and internationally.

Traditional Cultural Properties

The National Environmental Policy Act, passed in 1969, was intended "to preserve important historic, cultural and natural aspects of our national heritage and maintain, wherever possible, an environment which supports diversity and variety of individual choice." The principal means for accomplishing this objective, and those of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, have been requirements for evaluation and review of projects involving Federal funding. For the first decades after the passage of the law, the "historic and cultural" aspects of the environment considered in planning were generally limited to architectural and archeological sites. In 1990, however, the National Park Service expanded the definition to include places significant to a living community's historically rooted beliefs, customs and practices. Thus, objects, tails, pathways, physical features or plant gathering sites may be eligible for protection under the NHPA.

To date, specialists in history, architecture and archeology have been responsible for ensuring NHPA compliance. However, identifying the types and locations of these Traditional Cultural Properties (TCPs)--and developing programs to mitigate adverse impacts of proposed projects--calls on new methodologies and disciplines, including cultural geographers, anthropologists and sociologists. It requires consultation with affected communities, as well as an understanding of local cultures, their history and their uses of the built and natural environment. Projects to be presented in the session include:

a fountain and picnic area built between two rural communities by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's that became a focal point for community and social gatherings such as weddings and birthday parties;
urban and rural community whose buildings, structures and patterns of land use reflect the particular cultural traditions of its long-term residents; and
a location where a community has traditionally carried out economic, artistic and other cultural practices important to maintaining its historical identity.

Seattle's Comprehensive Plan

Seattle is the central city of over 500,000 people in one of the fastest growing regions in the country. City elected leaders and planners have been working with citizens throughout the 1990's to create and implement a comprehensive plan, "Toward a Sustainable Seattle," for growing gracefully. The Comprehensive Plan is intended to help Seattle's unique neighborhoods thrive, protect the area's spectacular natural environment as much as possible from growth pressures, and continue the city's tradition of celebrating cultural diversity.

One element of Seattle's growth management planning was establishing goals and policies for cultural resources, including those that support community, civic identity, learning and creative expression. Through a public process consisting of several iterations of consultation with the general public, planners and citizens identified the following themes that underlie the cultural resources element:

Celebrating diversity and strengthening a sense of belonging
Fostering a sense of place
Providing a sense of continuity and community through our historic legacy
Defining and advancing Seattle's place in the region and the world
Developing the economy
Increasing access and opportunities for learning
Encouraging individual expression and participation in community life.

Conclusion

Cultural activities, both formal and informal, temporary and permanent, offer ways of creating and renewing communities as they undergo inevitable change. Whether through federally-mandated review procedures, city-wide planning efforts or private initiatives, many opportunities exist for planners to create and strengthen the ties which bind the diverse ethnic, racial, economic and religious threads which make up America's diverse communities. The formal presentation of this panel at the 1998 APA Conference will further elaborate on these themes, as well as enabling audience members to engage in a dialogue with the author/presenters.

Pamela W. Hawkes AIA, Principal
Ann Beha Associates, Boston, MA

Zeren Earls, Director
First Night International

Ellen Kissman, Senior Planner
City of Seattle