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.
Loudoun County Comprehensive Arts Plan
Loudoun County, Virginia
WHY
The Loudoun County Comprehensive Arts Plan (CAP) presents a vision, goals, and strategies to develop and establish Loudoun County, Virginia as a thriving arts and culture destination within the state. The actionable strategies outlined in this plan include public art investments, strategic artist support; and diverse, arts-focused programming and facilities that enrich and contribute to the health and wellbeing of the community. With vital input gleaned from community members, stakeholders, and experts, the plan emphasizes art that reflects Loudoun County’s culturally rich heritage.
HOW
The proposals outlined in the CAP were developed directly from extensive community engagement that was conducted from Fall 2024 through Spring 2025. Engagement for the CAP was split into two phases: Setting the Baseline and Ideating on the Future.
Phase 1: Setting the Baseline - Designed to elicit a comprehensive understanding of the arts and culture amenities and resources available in Loudoun County, and the direction in which participants wanted to see it progress. It consisted of a public survey, which received over 1,100 responses, over 60 one-on-one stakeholder interviews, 12 focus groups, and tabling at community events.
Phase 2: Ideating on the Future - Offered the community opportunities to review the findings of Phase 1 and rank them. This consisted of 4 public meetings and 3 virtual meetings totaling over 150 attendees, as well as additional targeted outreach.
The ideas developed in Phase 1, which included concepts such as increasing publicity and marketing efforts around the arts, and creating more visual spaces for artists, were prioritized during Phase 2 and then narrowed down into 5 guiding principles. Engagement from both phases helped our team develop a concise vision for arts and culture in Loudoun County.
WHAT
The Loudoun County Comprehensive Arts Plan will invigorate Loudoun County’s Arts and Culture Programming by consistently helping to create engaging public art, elevate and promote the value of the arts, while also fostering it as an accessible and inclusive community. The CAP proposes more investments in arts education for all ages that instills the importance of the arts in day-to-day life, but also supports a range of affordable, quality facilities for both visual and performing artists to work on and share their craft. The CAP will help Loudoun County to integrate arts and culture further into its identity, through leveraging existing infrastructure, expertise, and community connections to maximize impact and efficiency. These strategies will help to facilitate seamless collaboration, expand public access to the arts, and ensure that cultural initiatives are woven into the fabric of the community.
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.