Creative Placemaking: Creative placemaking is the intentional use of arts and culture to shape the physical, social and economic future of communities.

Current Projects

The DC Office of Planning (DCOP) has received a grant from the Kresge Foundation to undertake creative placemaking and civic engagement activities in select neighborhoods throughout the District. OP’s grant, “Crossing the Street: Building DC’s Inclusive Future through Creative Placemaking” is designed to promote community-building in neighborhoods that are experiencing rapid demographic and social change; to engage residents in conversations on the future of the District as OP embarks on an update of DC’s Comprehensive Plan; and to demonstrate or test select placemaking recommendations articulated in OP’s neighborhood plans and District Department of Transportation (DDOT) transit corridor studies and livability studies.

OP issued a Request for Applications (RFA) in December 2015, seeking qualified curators/project managers to work closely with OP, District agencies, and community stakeholders in defining and implementing temporary creative placemaking projects. The application deadline was January 11, 2016. OP has selected curators and is planning for project implementation in target neighborhoods during 2016.

Past Initiatives

Temporiums

Temporiums transform vacant storefronts or spaces into a unique temporary retail shop for local entrepreneurs to exhibit and sell their work. The Office of Planning hosted a Temporium including an H street design shop and Wi-Fi lounge in the former R.L. Christian Library at 1300 H Street, NE. The H Street, NE Temporium welcomed nearly 1,600 visitors to the Corridor in July and August of 2010. The former RL Christian Library Kiosk was transformed into a cool pop-up shop using repurposed materials and lighting. Over twenty local, DC-based designers participated in the Temporium, and the project was featured in over a dozen major media, travel and leisure or neighborhood news outlets and sites.