Neighborhood Stories: Creative Placemaking for Multicultural Communities

Abstract

85% of people in America live in urban areas often comprised of culturally insular pockets within a larger, more diverse, densely populated geographic footprint. As a result, people may not what they have in common with others and be hesitant to engage with their neighbors. Neighborhood Stories is a program that uses creative placemaking, community engagement, art, and open expression to explore what it means to be neighbors. Using theater as a bridge, the Neighborhood Stories program will help the diverse residents of multicultural neighborhoods build a new sense of community, and connect the diverse fibers of the individual populations into a stronger whole.