Roeland Park Public Art Master Plan
Roeland Park, Kansas
WHY
Roeland Park’s Public Art Master Plan is a guide to assist the City in expanding and implementing a thriving public art program. The City sought a sound policy framework to best steward its existing and future collection, in addition to specific project recommendations that met the unique needs of the community.
HOW
The plan was shaped by Roeland Park community members and stakeholders through individual conversations, focus groups and community workshops. Its objectives and ideas were informed by their biggest and boldest aspirations for public art, as well as Designing Local’s lens of national best practices. As Roeland Park seeks to build a collection that is as reflective of its community as possible, the planning process provided an opportunity to assess the context and condition of the current collection as it related to the goals outlined in the plan.
WHAT
The Public Art Master Plan will serve Roeland Park as a living document that aims to achieve a number of goals pertaining to placemaking, belonging, and connectivity through public art. Functioning as both a reference and a roadmap for Roeland Park’s future public art, the Public Art Master Plan provides unique recommendations for projects that will enliven the city and reveal its character. These recommendations address the foundational needs for public art in Roeland Park, and detail comprehensive policies for public art. The Plan also outlines clear workflows for the collection and its implementation, creative strategies for maximizing space and leveraging unconventional canvases for public art, as well as addressing community desires for dynamic future public art.
Greater Lafayette Regional Arts & Culture Strategy
Benton, Carroll, Fountain, Montgomery, Tippecanoe, Warren, and White counties
WHY
The Greater Lafayette READI Region is home to a vibrant, accessible, and inclusive arts and culture ecosystem. In all corners of the region, the arts economically enrich communities while strengthening relationships and enhancing personal well-being. The goals of this plan aim to increase the visibility of arts and culture resources and opportunities; connect communities through arts and culture; develop arts and culture programs that are accessible and inclusive to all; and foster and leverage local arts and culture amenities.
The Greater Lafayette READI Region is made up of seven counties in West Central Indiana: Benton, Carroll, Fountain, Montgomery, Tippecanoe, Warren, and White. The Wabash River cuts through the middle of the region, creating many opportunities for dynamic waterfront developments. The region varies dramatically in population, containing both one of the largest counties by population in Indiana (Tippecanoe) and two of the smallest (Benton and Warren). Much of the region is rural with an agricultural landscape, with the exception of the cities of Lafayette and West Lafayette, though other small towns and communities provide more localized centers for arts and culture for residents.
HOW
Throughout the planning process, engagement was conducted to help identify and assess existing resources and gaps and provide a foundation for transformative projects. Methods of engagement were used to glean information from stakeholders and the general public included community workshops, stakeholder conversations and digital surveys.
WHAT
This Arts and Culture plan tenders a flexible framework, thus creating opportunities for decision-makers to pursue diverse funding sources and pivot implementation priorities to take advantage of changes and growth in the local cultural ecosystem. It also allows the community to continue to dream big, yet places emphasis on actionable, momentum-building steps for growing local arts and culture assets and tackle them as additional funding and capacity becomes available. Each objective outlined is accompanied by strategies to support the objective, timing, personnel requirements, impact, and relative impact, when appropriate. These strategies are expanded upon for each of the regional, county and facility levels.
South Bend - Elkhart Regional Partnership Arts Plan
Elkhart, Marshall, and St. Joseph counties
WHY
Our planning team developed a suite of recommendations that will take the South Bend - Elkhart region’s current arts and culture landscape forward, from great to exceptional. Any region, county, or city can provide well-designed public spaces, or purposeful facilities, but a region that is seeking uncompromising, world-class experiences must also consider how these spaces will elevate its ways of thinking, working, and engaging in order to enrich the larger community’s cultural fabric. The region has all of the right ingredients to sustain its current arts and culture landscape, but this plan will enable the region to thrive.
With so many resources and so much functioning smoothly in the region, funders might overlook the South Bend - Elkhart region and instead distribute support to regions whose arts and culture landscape is not as well-stewarded. But with the region at the precipice of greatness, after decades of rebuilding and reconnecting with its heart and soul, this place is steps away from fully realizing its journey to become a thriving destination to live, work, play and grow.
HOW
The South Bend - Elkhart region is made up of Elkhart, Marshall, and St. Joseph counties, all of which have similar land areas, though their populations vary significantly. While much of the rural landscape is agricultural, many downtown areas provide hubs of arts and culture for residents in and around those areas. This plan was shaped by many communities and reveals a collective vision for regional growth through arts and culture experiences and economic activity. In order to fully execute the vision and goals of this plan, many organizations will need to work together across the region in various capacities. This plan provides a comprehensive guide to how regional, county, and local agencies and organizations will support the full potential of the South Bend - Elkhart regional arts and culture plan.
WHAT
The South Bend - Elkhart Regional Arts and Culture Plan goes beyond the surface to showcase the region’s capacity to be a national leader in the arts and culture landscape. This plan provides ample information about the region’s prime geographic location, its world-class arts and culture organizations, and its remarkable physical assets and facilities; beyond that, many individual organizations can provide ample data about its respective economic impact, outreach, visitor ship, engagement, and beyond.
While this plan primarily reflects a unique set of technical recommendations and strategies for the region to act upon, it does so with a tailored understanding of the region’s tenacious character, commitment to excellence every day, and attitude that nothing is impossible when the community comes together.
Wabash River Region Arts & Culture Plan
Clay, Parks, Sullivan, Vermillion, and Vigo Counties, Indiana
WHY
The Wabash River region is made up of five counties in western Indiana on its Illinois border: Clay, Parks, Sullivan, Vermillion, and Vigo. The Wabash River cuts through the region from north to the south, providing dynamic and thriving waterfronts across both rural and urban areas, with many opportunities for investment and expansion. While much of the rural landscape is agricultural and forested, many downtown areas provide hubs of arts and culture for residents in and around those areas. The region is home to an exciting and deeply collaborative arts community. Together, they will cultivate compelling destinations for public art and diverse cultural experiences, making the region a vibrant and engaging hub for arts and culture. The main goals of this plan are beautification and placemaking, community pride, health and wellness, and local investment. Targeted goals of the Regional Arts & Culture Plan include beautification and placemaking, boosting community pride, encouraging health and wellness, and investing in the community by preserving historic assets and supporting local organizations, facilities and programs.
HOW
Engagement for this process was conducted to help identify and assess existing resources and gaps and provide a foundation for transformative projects. Engagement was promoted through RDA social media and through stakeholder networks. Engagement took the form of community surveys, stakeholder conversations, and public engagement such as a focus group held at Arts Illiana with members of the 41|40 Arts & Cultural District Advisory Group, as well as two public meetings. The primary concerns gleaned from public engagement included lack of funding for arts organizations, limited performance space and opportunities to experience local cultures in community settings.
WHAT
The Wabash River Regional Arts & Culture Plan provides a flexible, proactive framework that creates opportunities for decision-makers to pursue diverse funding sources and pivot implementation priorities to take advantage of changes and growth in the local cultural ecosystem. It also allows the community to continue to dream big, yet places emphasis on actionable, momentum-building steps for growing local arts and culture assets and tackle them as additional funding and capacity becomes available. The plan details the three priority regional objectives as well as actionable steps to reach them. These objectives include strengthening the Wabash River Region arts and culture community, promote regional arts development and tourism with a focus on the 41|40 Arts & Cultural District, and increasing the visibility of arts and culture in community spaces and downtowns.
New Braunfels Arts & Culture Strategic Master Plan
New Braunfels, Texas
WHY
New Braunfels is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, and its cultural foundation — more than 250 years of Indigenous, German, Hispanic, and Texan heritage — is both its greatest asset and its greatest opportunity. Yet despite a rich history and genuine creative energy, the arts community has operated in fragments: organizations working in silos, artists without adequate space and resources to reach the broader community, and a cultural tourism economy that hasn’t reached far beyond river recreation and German-based heritage experiences. This plan exists because New Braunfels deserves a cultural future as distinctive as its past.
HOW
Through more than 1,200 community connection points, including public workshops, stakeholder conversations, pop-up events, and a digital survey, the planning team engaged with residents, artists, historians, educators, and city leaders to define what arts and culture mean to New Braunfels and what it would take to unlock the creative potential. That process surfaced six shared pillars for the plan: expanding creative spaces, strengthening visibility, connecting culture and tourism, encouraging collaboration, investing in belonging, and telling a cohesive story.
WHAT
This project serves as a comprehensive ten-year roadmap to bringing forth the cultural undercurrent of the community and unleashing the economic and social benefits of sustained cultural investment. This framework leverages strategic financial tools available to the City, establishes a governance framework for dedicated arts leadership, and provides policy and process guidance to support and empower cultural creators, non-profits, and creative entrepreneurs across the community.
Organized around four priority areas — Programming and Community Experiences, Places and Spaces, Visibility and Tourism, and Organizational Capacity — the plan charts short-, medium-, and long-term strategies to grow the cultural ecosystem, support the artists and organizations already doing the work, and position New Braunfels as a cultural anchor for the Texas Hill Country and a leader in arts investment.
Reimagining Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
WHY
In the turbulent summer of 2020, when protests erupted over police brutality against people of color and controversial statues were being toppled and defaced nationwide, the City of Columbus preemptively removed its Christopher Columbus statue from the steps of City Hall. With the statue in storage, the City of Columbus partnered with Designing Local in 2023 to seek funding from the Mellon Foundation for “Reimagining Columbus,” a 2-year research, community engagement, and design process to reckon with the statue and imagine a future in which truths about its subject are more accurately conveyed. The proposal was awarded $2 million and Designing Local was tasked with managing the project.
HOW
Designing Local managed a multi-disciplinary team to undertake the following:
RESEARCH & LEARNING. In order to confidently recommend a course of action regarding the City of Columbus’ Christopher Columbus statue, the Reimagining Columbus project team felt it was important to be grounded in truths about the explorer and his legacies, particularly those within Columbus, Ohio. Learnings from subject matter experts, museums and site tours, original research, community conversations, and arts and culture colleagues nationwide were used to educate the public and inform project deliverables.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. In recognition that conversations about the Columbus statue would challenge participants — particularly those from the city’s Indigenous, Italian-American, and Black communities — the Reimagining Columbus engagement team planned a process that would accommodate their emotions about it but also forge a collective path forward. The team’s approach to this conversation utilized a customized, emotional safety–oriented methodology centered on Sankofa, the Ghanan idea that progress requires applying lessons from the past, to encourage more courageous sharing and evoke personal histories that could be influencing present-day perceptions. Large group and affinity group conversations, community events, and written feedback were employed in various ways throughout the process.
DESIGN. The project’s design team worked to translate the learnings from research and community engagement into a design concept for a possible new Christopher Columbus statue placement. The team relied on Indigenous design principles to guide their vision for an immersive experience of nature and community togetherness at which visitors could experience the statue (or not), but also learn, play, restore themselves, and heal.
WHAT
Designing Local delivered the following Reimagining Columbus project outcomes:
A website and StoryMap timeline, 2 research papers, 35 videos with more than 20 hours of educational content, and several in-person community learning exchanges provided context regarding Christopher Columbus, the statue of his likeness and public perceptions of it, and the city’s relationship with its namesake.
More than 20 community events and affinity group conversations elicited rich, layered feedback to help inform the design process.
Conceptual designs of a new space in which to display and contextualize the statue, based on Indigenous design principles, translated research and community feedback into physical elements that could tell the story of Columbus — the city and the man — and help all visitors experience emotional safety in the space. So expansive did this vision become that the city, the Reimagining Columbus project team, and community members were inspired to embrace it as a generational vision for an altogether new type of public space in the city.
An art plan for City Hall campus suggested how new art could refresh and enliven this uninspiring civic space and ensure that it celebrates all city residents.
View the Project Outcomes Here
NCIRPC Strategic Arts Plan
Cass, Clinton, Fulton, Howard, Miami, and Tipton Counties, Indiana
WHY
The North Central Indiana Regional Planning Council (NCIRPC), together with its partners, has developed a comprehensive, collaborative, and strategic plan to support and expand arts and cultural initiatives across the six-county region. With a strong focus on building community and fostering a thriving creative economy, the plan seeks to improve accessibility to the arts, retain and attract artists and creatives, and strengthen cultural amenities. With more than 226,000 people living across 2,100 square miles and significant development along regional corridors including Route 31, US 24, and 165, there are many opportunities for increased investment in arts and culture to enhance quality of life for residents and expand recreational tourism. The NCIRPC region is a vibrant destination for arts and culture that encourages community building and inclusivity, with a diverse artistic landscape that attracts creatives and cultural consumers to visit and invest in local communities. The goals of this plan include increasing accessibility and visibility of the arts, fostering and leveraging existing resources and amenities, invigorating local economies, and creating a stronger sense of pride in local experiences. Its objectives include developing state-of-the-art arts and culture facilities that engage residents and create new tourism opportunities, expanding engaging public art throughout the region, and encouraging programming in North Central Indiana communities that improves quality of life through increased access to arts experiences.
HOW
Engagement with local professionals and stakeholders was vital to the success of this process, with participation facilitated through a digital community survey and virtual conversations with the planning team. Business owners, arts organizations, elected officials, and community members contributed through a series of focus groups and one-on-one discussions, helping to identify priorities that shaped a shared vision, established project goals, and guided the prioritization of future efforts. Regional priorities played a significant role, and the flexibility of the long-term cultural planning framework allows decision-makers to pursue diverse funding sources while adapting implementation strategies to reflect changes and growth within the local cultural ecosystem. This nimble approach encourages the community to continue thinking ambitiously while emphasizing practical, momentum-building steps to strengthen local arts and cultural assets as funding and capacity evolve.
WHAT
Key priorities outlined in the plan include increasing the visibility of arts in downtown areas, improving accessibility to the arts, providing meaningful local experiences, fostering a sense of community pride, capitalizing on tourism opportunities, and attracting artists and creatives. NCI identified a variety of arts and culture projects through county- and regional-level public input meetings, one-on-one interviews, and an online survey. These projects were reviewed and selected for inclusion in the plan based on their level of readiness, regional impact, and alignment with overall objectives. Together, they support and expand arts and culture initiatives across the six-county North Central Region. Planned efforts encompass implementing public art—such as Arts and Heritage public pedestrian and bike paths, enhancing downtown placemaking, expanding arts education programs, and developing community spaces for artists and arts programming.
Tempe Public Art Plan
Tempe, Arizona
WHY
Tempe Public Art has grown significantly over nearly four decades, especially during a recent period of rapid city and regional development. Increased growth has brought more funding, expanded staff, and renewed public interest in integrating art into urban design and everyday life. As a result of this momentum, the City of Tempe is now poised to articulate a forward-looking vision for its public art program. A planning process was launched to engage the community, shape an aspirational vision for the program’s future, guide project decision-making and prioritization, and formalize policies and procedures.
HOW
Working alongside the Tempe Public Art team, Designing Local conducted an extensive public engagement process, offering more than 30 opportunities for involvement and engaging over 1,000 community members through both virtual and in-person methods such as surveys, meetings, focus groups, and public events. Community feedback emphasized creating a collection that reflects Tempe’s identity, supports local artists, promotes equitable access to resources and artwork, and incorporates interactive, diverse, and engaging art into everyday life.
WHAT
As Tempe Public Art enters a new phase of growth, its future vision builds on the program’s existing strengths while charting an inspirational path forward, shaped by input from community members, stakeholders, and staff. This plan will help to ensure long-term sustainability, increase innovation and impact, and maintain high-quality art citywide. Critical strategies include strengthening Tempe’s sense of place through public art in civic spaces and facilities, ensuring equitable geographic distribution, advancing signature projects, formalizing procedures, improving the Art in Private Development (AIPD) program, and enhancing collection management to maintain a robust, lasting public art collection.
Downtown Warsaw Cultural Arts District Plan
Warsaw, Indiana
WHY
The Downtown Warsaw Cultural Arts District Plan serves as a comprehensive guide for leveraging the city’s cultural assets for sustained economic growth, with the ultimate goal of creating an Indiana Arts Commission-designated Indiana Cultural District. This plan is the necessary next step in a series of strategic efforts. It is built upon a solid foundation of recent, extensive strategic work that has consistently identified arts and culture as essential to Warsaw’s future economic vitality. Key previous planning efforts, including the Downtown Warsaw 2030 Strategic Plan, the Hyatt Palma 2023 Downtown Action Agenda, and the Brookings Institute/ LISC Critical Corridor Connections Plan, all established a clear mandate for a “vibrant and growing, culturally focused downtown”. These plans specifically called for achieving an official state cultural district, designation and solidifying downtown as the city’s “corporate, civic, and cultural center.”
HOW
The strategic heart of this plan is built from the ground up, developed through a multi-phased process of research, and rooted in extensive community engagement, to ensure authenticity. This was supported by detailed driveshed analysis to define the district’s economic potential and regional audience. This input was synthesized into a powerful vision for a culturally focused downtown that serves as an economic engine for the entire community, and will transform it into a vibrant, well-recognized, and labeled mixed-use cultural center. It features unique, authentic art and a cultural identity that makes the district memorable to visitors, residents and investors alike.
To bring this vision to life, this plan posits a strategic framework based on three core principles- Activate, Beautify, and Connect-thus providing methodology for every project proposed in this plan.
WHAT
Through strategy placemaking, downtown Warsaw’s Cultural Arts District will become a premier destination where a culturally rich and diverse scene serves as an economic engine-attracting investment, retaining top talent, and enriching the quality of life for the entire community.
Implementation of this plan is the critical step to leverage previous efforts and use the arts for economic growth. It provides detailed strategies for enhancing public spaces and creating the dynamic downtown experience envisioned by the community- a vision that aligns perfectly with the state’s focus on talent attraction as championed by the Indiana READI program. This document provides the needs-based strategies and placemaking recommendations required to make Warsaw a place where creative professionals want to live and work, where businesses want to invest, and where the entire community can experience a richer quality of life.
Burleson Public Art Plan
Burleson, Texas
WHY
This plan envisions Public Art as a transformative force that will enrich the city of Burleson, Texas, serving as a constant source of discovery, beautification, fostering civic pride, inviting dialogue, and transforming locales into inspiring places that tell the community’s story- past, present, and aspirations. By integrating art into public spaces, the city aims to spark curiosity, strengthen connection, and create memorable landmarks that reflect the city’s unique character and celebrate community spirit.
The vision for Public Art in Burleson centers on celebrating the city’s unique identity, history, agricultural roots, and evolving culture. It aims to create accessible, educational, and interactive art that encourages outdoor engagement and reflects the community’s diversity across generations and backgrounds. The plan seeks to tell Burleson’s story through poignant, impactful works that honor people and history whilst also positioning the city as an arts destination.
Public Art is a critical factor to building a unique sense of place, as well as yielding extensive social, cultural and economic benefits for a community. The vision outlined in this plan aligns with broader priorities of Burleson, including public art policy development, donation procedures, governance structure, and the identification of success metrics to support program development.
HOW
Throughout the Public Art Plan process, and with our curation and coordination services, a team of local artists created a series of artworks in partnership with Russell Art Farm that honor the timeless tradition of quilting in the US. These artworks include a series of eight Barn Quilts, slated for temporary rotating display in schools across Burleson as the city’s first temporary public art exhibition. In conjunction with the barn quilts, a traditional quilt was crafted that reflects icons and landmarks of the Burleson community. This quilt is now on display in the City of Burleson’s interior collection at City Hall.
The City of Burleson is also committed to regularly evaluating progress toward its public art, economic development, and community vitality goals. Through continuous review and community engagement, the City will remain responsive, innovative, and dedicated to maintaining Burleson as a vibrant, safe, and inclusive place for all.
WHAT
The Plan champions for Burleson to become a community where Public Art is innovative, diverse, and accessible to create vibrant public spaces and meaningful connections. Through community engagement and survey results, respondents frequently identified sculptural art, functional art, and murals as their preferred art typologies. There was also a clear desire for public art to positively impact and enhance the beauty of surrounding public spaces and streets. The successful implementation of this Plan will harness Public Art to build Burleson’s collective identity, establish community values, transform their public spaces to be more engaging and accessible, connecting people, ideas, and places, thus drawing more people to the city and subsequently boosting the local economy.
Park City // Summit County Arts & Culture Master Plan
Park City // Summit County, Utah
WHY
The foundations of this Arts & Culture Master Plan emerge from a deep understanding of Summit County’s creative landscape—its history, its current conditions, and the aspirations voiced by residents, artists, and cultural leaders. Through comprehensive planning assessment, data analysis and asset mapping, peer benchmarking, and community engagement, a clear picture comes into focus: Summit County is a community rich in cultural assets yet marked by uneven access, constrained capacity, and untapped potential. These foundational insights ground the plan’s vision and directly shape the strategies and key priorities that chart a roadmap toward a more connected, equitable, and resilient cultural ecosystem for all.
HOW
The Park City // Summit County Arts & Culture Master Plan is grounded in a comprehensive assessment of the county’s cultural ecosystem, combining asset mapping, benchmarking, data analysis, and targeted community engagement to understand both strengths and structural gaps. The planning process revealed a region rich in cultural legacy and economic impact, yet constrained by uneven geographic access, fragmented leadership, limited infrastructure, and a lack of coordinated funding and implementation capacity. These findings shaped a clear, evidence-based framework for action rather than a purely aspirational vision.
WHAT
Building on prior efforts such as Project ABC (Arts, Beauty, Culture) and the Sustainable Tourism Plan, the Master Plan establishes a strategic roadmap to strengthen arts and culture countywide through coordinated leadership, diversified funding, equitable distribution of facilities and programming, and long-term cultural infrastructure investment. The plan emphasizes practical mechanisms—such as expanded public art planning, artist housing and workspace strategies, cultural district development, and cross-sector partnerships—to support sustainable growth and community identity. By aligning cultural planning with tourism, economic development, and placemaking, the plan provides a phased, implementable guide to ensure arts and culture remain integral to Summit County’s social, economic, and physical vitality.
The Point Public Art Plan
Salt Lake City, Utah
WHY
Creating a public art master plan is a deeply meaningful opportunity to reveal a place’s unique traits, treasures, and values. The Point, a once-in-a-century, 600-acre development project in Draper, Utah, is well on its way to becoming a place that defines the future for generations of Utahns to come. During the planning process, we continued to be inspired by The Point’s dedication to encouraging strategic growth, high quality of life, and opportunities for all Utahans, and we are honored to uplift the power of public art in creating a sense of place, fostering cultural connections, and igniting wonder and joy in achieving this vision.
HOW
The Designing Local team integrated public feedback into a master public art plan that creates a vibrant community experience throughout the site. The plan includes policies and procedures for the curation, placement, and installation of public art at The Point guided by the feedback and requests of Utahns. The Public Art Plan will bring unique character to The Point, attract and inspire residents and visitors, and advance the goals outlined in the overall development plan for the community.
WHAT
We believe that public art is a catalyst for finding common ground, understanding who Utahns are today, and reflecting on where Utah has been. Through this Public Art Master Plan, we can begin to envision how The Point will reflect the very best of Utah—its natural wonders, its authenticity, its untold stories, and yes, even its quirks (Jello salad, anyone?). Public art at The Point will not only enhance the experience of all The Point has to offer, but more importantly, it will reveal it.
Watsonville Arts Plan
Watsonville, California
WHY
This Plan supports and furthers the City's commitment to supporting and fostering community arts and culture, as outlined in the City's Public Art/Percent for the Arts Program and the Downtown Watsonville Specific Plan, as well as capital improvement projects, such as the City Plaza Revitalization Project.
HOW
This plan establishes a strategic framework for strengthening arts and culture as a driver of community well-being and economic opportunity, grounded in the city’s cultural heritage and locally led creative activity. Central to the plan is the creation of a formal Cultural District and the strategic use of the City’s Percent for the Arts program to support coordinated investment, long-term planning, and increased visibility for local artists and cultural organizations.
WHAT
The plan prioritizes cross-sector partnerships with organizations such as the Arts Council of Santa Cruz County, Arts de Watsonville, Watsonville Film Festival, Cabrillo College, and Watsonville Brillante to better connect local creative talent to professional and economic opportunities. To support this ecosystem, the plan emphasizes organizational capacity-building, strategic staffing, and the exploration of expanded funding streams and targeted support programs that strengthen the sustainability of arts organizations and creative workers.
To translate strategy into on-the-ground impact, the plan focuses on physical and professional infrastructure that supports artists where they live and work. Recommendations include performance-ready infrastructure, permanent public art, and arts-led revitalization efforts that position culture as the heart of the community. These physical investments are paired with a unified Watsonville Arts identity, improved marketing and storytelling, and a more streamlined permitting process—ensuring local artists have the tools, visibility, and support needed to shape Watsonville’s identity and long-term prosperity.
Riviera Beach Art in Public Places Plan
Riviera Beach, Florida
WHY
The Riviera Beach Art in Public Places Master Plan stemmed from a desire to move beyond mere beautification toward a unified civic identity through strategic public art investment. Recognizing that public art is a powerful catalyst, city leaders embraced the plan as a roadmap to express core community values, celebrate the rich culture of its neighborhoods, and invigorate the local experience for both long-term residents and incoming visitors. The underlying goal was to integrate the arts into the "Reimagining Riviera Beach" initiative—a comprehensive push for renewal that seeks to overcome systemic obstacles, strengthen community engagement, and leverage the city’s abundant natural amenities and history for future, equitable economic growth. The Art in Public Places program was created to be an essential element for establishing a distinct cultural presence and enhancing the city’s quality of life.
HOW
Developing the comprehensive recommendations for the Art in Public Places Master Plan relied on robust community input. The planning process was organized around several key milestones, including a formal discovery visit, followed by a community survey, stakeholder interviews, and targeted focus groups. This collaborative approach ensured that the resulting recommendations—which included establishing selection criteria, defining key opportunity sites, proposing updates to the City’s existing percent for art ordinance, and recommending a solid set of public art policies —accurately reflected the needs and aspirations of the diverse population. Furthermore, the plan works within the framework of the established Public Art Advisory Board, which provides ongoing, professional governance by reviewing applications, advising the City Council on maintenance policies, and ensuring that all proposed artwork aligns with the city's broader vision.
WHAT
Ultimately, the successful implementation of the Art in Public Places Master Plan promises to deliver significant social, cultural, and economic outcomes for Riviera Beach. Socially, the resulting artwork is expected to foster a greater sense of attachment and ownership among residents, creating creative gathering spaces and inspiring contemplation. Culturally, the art will reflect local history and unique identity, serving as a platform for open discourse and inclusive community connection. Most critically, the plan is designed to realize tangible economic value by enhancing the city’s brand, attracting cultural tourism, and directly supporting the economic development strategy. The vision is for Riviera Beach’s commitment to art to become a distinguishing feature of the region, ensuring that creativity breathes life into public spaces and contributes to a vibrant, prosperous future for all.
Vacaville Arts & Culture Master Plan
Vacaville, California
WHY
The Vacaville Arts & Culture Master Plan was developed through a comprehensive and highly collaborative process led by Designing Local, structured around four key phases: Discovery, Community Engagement, Synthesis, and Plan creation.
HOW
The success of the plan was the extensive outreach that was completed, which actively involved residents, local creatives, and arts organizations from every corner of the city. A major component of this phase was the “Weaving Our Future” art project, featuring workshops held in each of Vacaville’s districts, where community members shared their aspirations for public art and cultural engagement through words, drawings, and shapes. This hands-on, community-driven approach was critical to building consensus and ensuring the final plan reflected the diverse voices and visions of Vacaville’s population.
WHAT
The final Plan provides a focused, five-year strategic roadmap for the City’s commitment to arts and culture, establishing foundational policies, a clear vision for cultural growth, and a streamlined approach to public art integration. Key tangible outcomes include the comprehensive Arts and Culture Master Plan document, accompanied by a Draft Public Art Program Policy and a Draft Arts Advisory Committee Policy. Together, these deliverables define the infrastructure for the City to enhance quality of life, strengthen local economic development, and cultivate a truly culturally rich and attractive community for both residents and visitors alike.
Downtown Ormond Beach Master Arts Plan
Ormond Beach, Florida
WHY
The Ormond Beach Downtown Master Arts Plan is a comprehensive plan that outlines strategies to integrate public art into key areas in its historic downtown, including parks, sidewalks, gateways, and the iconic Granada Bridge, enhancing the city's identity and elevating its appeal for residents and visitors alike. With input from community members, stakeholders, and experts, the plan emphasizes art that reflects Ormond Beach's coastal beauty, rich history, and small-town charm, while fostering inclusivity and accessibility for all.
HOW
Through detailed recommendations based on extensive community input, the plan introduces innovative public art typologies such as mosaics, sculptures, light installations, and environmental art, alongside functional art like artist-designed benches and planters. It also provides actionable steps for implementation, including funding strategies, artist selection processes, and maintenance guidelines to ensure the longevity of the projects. Special focus is given to the Granada Bridge, with proposals for transformative art installations that symbolize the city's character and connect its downtown and beachside districts. Designing Local collaborated closely with the Florida Department of Transportation to understand opportunities and key regulations surrounding public art implementation on the state-owned Granada Bridge.
WHAT
The Downtown Master Arts Plan is a call to action for Ormond Beach to embrace its cultural assets and create lasting experiences that inspire pride and spark conversation. By leveraging community input, strategic partnerships, and sustainable funding mechanisms, the plan positions Downtown Ormond Beach, a Community Redevelopment Area established in 1984, as a destination for art, culture, and innovation, ensuring its legacy as a vibrant and welcoming city for generations to come.
Milpitas Public Art Plan
Milpitas, California
WHY
The Milpitas Public Art Master Plan outlines a 10 year vision for public art as a dynamic and inclusive force that fosters belonging, reflects the city’s diversity, and enhances residents’ quality of life. Strategic recommendations emphasize community-centric, accessible art that resonates with Milpitas’ diverse population, including bilingual signage, and a Public Art Field Guide. As Milpitas looks to the future, Milpitas is also in a distinct moment in its history. The City’s population has become increasingly diverse with each generation, and will continue to embrace neighbors from around the world. Public art is not only a powerful mechanism for bridging the past and the future, but also it is an essential part of connecting residents with each other across language or cultural divides. Through its beloved parks, civic amenities, and other public spaces, Milpitas’ public art will convey that all are welcome—and belong.
HOW
In addition to Designing Local’s community-oriented approach to gathering public input for the plan, Designing Local hosted two artist-led engagement events. Edi Hsu and Saranya Chandrasekaran each lead community art making projects that yielded productive conversation with the community during the City’s Lantern Festival in September 2024 and the Holi Festival in March 2025. Additionally, Designing Local worked with ACT Art Conservation to develop a collection assessment report on the overall condition of objects in Milpitas’ public art collection. An updated appraisal report, created by Roth Art Group, was included in the scope as well.
WHAT
The plan advocates balancing tradition and innovation to engage a STEM-focused community while maintaining relevance. Sustainable funding mechanisms are recommended, including increasing the developer fee from 0.5% to 1.5% or higher, alongside clear policies for collection care and maintenance. Additionally, the plan encourages community art-making projects, partnerships with public and private entities, and enhanced accessibility through consistent signage and online resources. Public art was strategically recommended to be placed in high-traffic and gathering areas to maximize impact, with collaboration between city departments, developers, artists, and cultural organizations to expand reach. The Plan also included a collection assessment report, which was the City’s first ever comprehensive condition report for objects in its collection, and an appraisal report.
Brunswick Parks & Recreation Master Plan
Brunswick, Ohio
WHY
When the City of Brunswick, Ohio emerged from a period of financial hardship to resume investing in community amenities, fiscally conservative city leaders wanted to ensure these investments would target their constituents' highest priorities. Their goal with the city's first-ever Parks & Recreation Master Plan was to understand what community members wanted from their parks system and develop a responsible, measured approach to delivering it.
HOW
To ascertain Brunswick residents' parks-related needs and preferences, Designing Local conducted 17 stakeholder interviews, held 2 open house events, and offered an online survey to which almost 1,400 responded. Zec Eight Insights was enlisted in the planning process to conduct a benchmarking analysis that compared Brunswick's parks system with others of a similar size nationwide; Envision Group prepared a fiscal analysis and implementation plan to facilitate each recommendation.
WHAT
Brunswick's City Council discussed the plan in early 2025; at the same meeting, they recommended dedicating $1.2 million from the city budget to implement its recommendations.
Acworth Public Art Master Plan
Acworth, Georgia
WHY
Acworth is a unique destination for work, play, and everything in between. With just over 22,000 residents and its proximity to metropolitan Atlanta, it is poised for continued growth in the next decade. As Acworth looks toward its future, the City believes in public art's ability to tell the story of Acworth, enliven public spaces, and reveal what makes this City special.
HOW
From large-scale, multi-year projects that define Acworth's gateways, to temporary, yet meaningful mural opportunities in Acworth's beloved greenspaces, this plan outlines a range of strategies for high-impact public art projects in Acworth.
WHAT
In addition to strategy recommendations, this plan provides guidelines for establishing the public art program in Acworth, administrative next steps and best practices, and strategies for effectively and efficiently implementing public art projects in Acworth.
Marsh Park Master Plan
Fairfield, Ohio
WHY
Fairfield, Ohio first leased a portion of the Martin Marietta/Dravo Quarry for the Thomas O. Marsh Park property in 1978; since then, the park has grown to be 146 acres, including a 60-acre lake. Marsh Park serves as a crucial recreational area for the community, offering both passive natural elements and outdoor activities. In 2016, the City completed its first Master Plan for the site, which laid the foundation for future development and improvements. Fairfield’s City Council has continued to prioritize Marsh Park as a significant asset for the city, highlighting the property’s intrinsic value, natural beauty, and potential for development.
HOW
Designing Local offered planning solutions and visualizations, grounded in community feedback and technical analysis, that cast a compelling vision for what this park could become — a regional trail hub with expanded uses and access for both community members and trail travelers.
WHAT
In early 2025, Designing Local finalized an updated Marsh Park Master Plan that will further enhance the park’s natural environment, promote connections between the park and its users, foster community through events and programming, and provide access to amenities that encourage recreation.
