Pilar Conesa’s Post

An interesting article from Ruth Bloomfield in the Evening Standard this week spotlighting Peckham and the impact that growing popularity and rising rents is having on the local community.     Turner.Works project Peckham Levels is mentioned in the article as an example of positive development in the area. Peckham Levels embodies our approach to delivering places that are both commercially successful and able to meet genuine community needs. Following close collaboration and consultation with the local community, we transformed a derelict car park into a vibrant social and arts space, which provides employment and affordable creative workspace (prioritised for local people), and injects profits back into supporting the community.   We applied the same way of thinking when designing Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in Peckham. At its core, Mountview is designed to break down barriers to entry into an historically hard-to-access industry for young people from all backgrounds, also offering affordable spaces for local community arts groups and revenue-driving cafés and bar.    As we move forward, let's prioritise projects that seamlessly integrate with the unique character of a place, avoiding the creation of buildings that feel out of place and, inadvertently, displace the very people and businesses that define the community.   https://lnkd.in/eqzRiEVm

Local Citizen Assemblies To Start In The Fall: https://lnkd.in/gm_9S59T To learn more about Citizen Assemblies, watch our forum from April: https://lnkd.in/gm_9S59T

**NEWS FROM THE FIELD** Join the Creative Justice Initiative, the afrolatin@ forum Forum and the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in Chicago for a discussion titled “The Intentionality of Building and Sustaining Afro-Latino/a/x and Latinx Institutions“. This insightful event will take place at the THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF PUERTO RICAN ARTS AND CULTURE on Thursday, May 9, 2024, at 6:30 PM Central Time. Despite their vital role in anti-racism and community building, AfroLatinx organizations struggle with chronic underfunding. Limited resources hinder initiatives slowing the movement’s progress. Despite that, many AfroLatinx organizations and institutions have continued to educate, empower and enlighten the Latinx community. Join us for a crucial discussion on empowering AfroLatinx and Latinx institutions and why we need to support the building and sustainability of these institutions. Learn why intentional investment is essential and gain actionable strategies to break down funding barriers. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gh8D8hrR

I had the honour of being a guest speaker for the final panel of CROSSROADS Vitural event, focusing on intergenerational perspectives. The final panel, which I was thrilled to be a part of, delved into intergenerational perspectives on infrastructure. We explored how different generations view infrastructure priorities, preferences, and the importance of planning for the future. I spoke about the need to consider how we interact with our surroundings, sharing a story of a mokopuna (grandchild) wanting to visit their grandparents. Whether the journey is just up the road or across the city, what is their experience? Why is it that way? What can we change? Now, more than ever, we need to understand how our decisions will impact future generations we will never meet. CROSSROADS provides a fascinating snapshot of community sentiment, capturing multi-generational preferences, priorities, and perspectives through an infrastructure lens.

My latest for Smart Cities Dive:

In one of my last projects at STEPS, I learned so much about accessible art & placemaking - not only in our physical spaces - but in this toolkit, by formatting & designing with accessibility in mind.

The latest Western City issue highlights the City-led regional collaborative program Far South/Border North, where artists actively support our communities. Through their creative problem-solving and imagination, artists are increasingly playing a pivotal role in cross-sector work. They are creating deployable tools for communities to tackle challenges, thereby significantly impacting our society. https://lnkd.in/gn4FKaBw

Interesting reflection on the role of arts and culture in driving transformational change in cities:  "Arts, culture and design play an important, generative role in advancing social outcomes including belonging, civic infrastructure and community participation. There is deep, accepted value in the ways artists and culture bearers lead that type of work; it’s not transactional, its transformational and relationship oriented." Worth holding up as Vancouver reflects on its budget priorities, and the transformative role its Culture/Shift plan can continue to make: https://lnkd.in/gTB7YzyZ

Public spaces are vital for creating vibrant and livable cities. They build community, spark civic engagement, and foster a sense of belonging. When we reclaim urban spaces for public use through events, protests, and creative activities, we transform them into places of shared ownership and interaction. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gGyK49u9 #UrbanPlanning #PublicSpaces #CommunityEngagement

A really well done study. One major takeaway for any of us involved in evaluating grants or distributing grant money is the disproportionately high number of large budget organizations receiving the bulk of grants funding. This seems to be a recurring theme in other studies and we need to do better in getting to smaller and BIPOC organizations that are in need. #artsfunding #grants