New Podcast for Creative Placemakers

Photo courtesy of Merri Sheh, Founder of En Masse Coworking

The National Consortium for Creative Placemaking proudly announces its new podcast for creative placemakers, called CreativePlace. Our first interviews captured the stories of two New Jersey practitioners; Kadie Dempsey, Co-founder of Core Creative Placemaking in Morristown, and Jeremy Moss, Executive Director of Valley Arts in Orange.

Our interview with Dempsey took a leisurely pace, as Dempsey reflected on a life path that took her from commune living during the Vietnam War era to arts administration to her current venture, a mom-and-pop creative placemaking business. She talked about how learning to meditate taught her patience and respect, attributes that have guided her through the more challenging moments in her work with the community.

Moss began his career as a fashion photographer and graphic designer. He is the

photographer who caught the moment when Naomi Campbell tripped on the fashion runway in Bryant Park, New York City. That moment led him to an epiphany on the value of maintaining the rights to one's own work and ultimately led him to Valley Arts, where he now administers a vast array of arts programming in the burgeoning arts district. The interview is faster-paced and an excellent overview of what's happening in the post-industrial North Jersey city. The story of Valley Arts in the Valley Arts District is good listening for anyone interested in an example of how one neighborhood leveraged its assets to enliven the area with arts programming and enterprises.

For people who learn through the auditory sense stripping away visual distractions and simply listening to a person's story helps bring it into sharp focus. That's how I felt editing these episodes of two fascinating people, and I hope you enjoy hearing them as much as I did.

"A key part of our mission is connecting creative placemakers to one another," said NCCP Executive Director Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP. "This is a great way for our peers to learn about, and learn from, creative placemakers who do interesting work and have interesting stories. I really like the 'origin stories' of our local heroes."

Please visit our web page to download episodes and for updates and additional content. And please reach out to program host and NCCP Community Director, Andrea Orlando at andrea@cpcommunities.org for episode ideas and comments. We are proud to offer this program as a resource and inspiration for the creative placemaking community.