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Intermedia Arts | 2016 1
COMMUNITY AND CREATIVE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
Made possible thanks to the generous support of the Bush Foundation.
2 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
Intermedia Arts | 2016 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSMany thanks to the CCLI alumni who so generously
shared their experiences and gave their time to this
effort. Thanks to Intermedia Arts Staff and the impact
study team whose thoughtfulness and commitment
shaped this initiative from its inception: William
Cleveland, Lisa Dejoras, Wendy Morris, and Lisa
Brimmer. We would also like to recognize former
Executive Director, Theresa Sweetland, former Program
Director, Julie Bates MacGillis, and co-founding faculty,
Erik Takeshita, for your contributions to this work.
Finally, thank you to the Bush Foundation, whose
support made this study possible.
– BETTY EMARITA, Lead Evaluator
– SCOTT CHAZDON, Evaluation and Research Specialist at
University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality
4 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
COMMUNITY AND CREATIVE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE: THE CONTEXT
1This framework was developed by the Center for the Study of Art & Community based on a community arts rubric conceived by Maryo Ewell.
Intermedia Arts, a multidisciplinary, multicultural arts organization
based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, commissioned this study to
assess the impact of its Creative Community Leadership Institute
(CCLI). CCLI is on the cutting edge of an emerging field that
combines arts, culture and community development. The field is
so new that its name has not yet been canonized, although it has
national and international adherents, practitioners, and a significant
body of research. In 2010 the field was framed as creative
placemaking in a white paper for The Mayors’ Institute on City
Design, a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the
Arts in partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors
and American Architectural Foundation. The field is also referred
to as community cultural development, social practice/socially-
engaged practice, cultural animation, creative community building,
community arts and arts for social change. Intermedia Arts refers
to the field as arts-based community development.
CCLI defines arts-based community development (ABCD) as arts-
centered activities that contribute to the sustained advancement
of human dignity, health and/or productivity within a community.
These include arts-based activities that:
• educate and inform us about ourselves
and the world
• inspire and mobilize individuals or groups
• nurture and heal people and/or communities
• build and improve community capacity
and/or infrastructure1
CCLI was first established by Intermedia Arts in 2002, when
the program was known as the Institute for Community Cultural
Development (ICCD). Co-created with founding faculty members
William Cleveland, Wendy Morris, and Erik Takeshita—some of
the foremost practitioners and thinkers in the field—it was one
of the first programs of its kind in the nation. CCLI provides
comprehensive training and support for leaders working at the
intersection of the arts and community change across sectors
and disciplines. Initially serving participants in the Minneapolis-St.
Paul area, CCLI expanded regionally in 2011 to pilot communities
in Fargo-Moorhead and Duluth-Superior.
The program is organized into cohorts of 14-25 participants.
Participants are activists, changemakers, and community leaders
who come from a variety of disciplines and sectors. The program
is structured as an experiential and team-based learning process,
which spans either 3, 4, or 5 months depending upon the
location. The curriculum emphasizes arts-infused learning and
critical inquiry focused around local and national exemplars of
arts-based community development.
Each cohort consists of active community artists, organizers,
and developers whose work and practice enriches organizations,
neighborhoods, and the wider community. Cohort members
engage in an intense exploration together of arts-based
community development, including reading and study, individual
self-reflection, and group-directed activities. The program’s
100-120 hours are divided equally between on-site sessions and
individual or group assignments outside of sessions. Each session
is held at a different site which exemplifies arts-based community
development and serves as a case study in the curriculum.
Based on the fundamental belief that the future health of
communities demands innovative, cross-sector leadership at
every level, the intent of the program is to build networks of
capable, innovative, cross-sector leaders and partners who can
effect change in complex environments through arts and cultural
strategies. The program is designed to leverage local action for
systemic impact; to strategically weave networks for change; and
to enhance capacity to navigate dynamics of power, rank, race,
and privilege.
Since its beginning, 231 community leaders in the Twin Cities,
Duluth-Superior, and the Fargo-Moorhead areas have completed
the program.
Intermedia Arts | 2016 5
FIGURE 1. THEORY OF CHANGE GRAPHIC
In order to understand the impact of the CCLI program, it is
important to know how program participants were recruited
and how the cohorts were formed. During the early years of the
program, Intermedia Arts used its extensive interdisciplinary
connections, its cross-cultural networks, and community
credibility to publicize the program. Potential participants were
then nominated to apply by other practitioners, administrators,
educators and funders; potential participants could also self-
nominate. All candidates for the program completed a rigorous
application and interview process, which is still the case. Now that
the program is well established, most applicants self-nominate
after learning about the program from colleagues or through a
broad online distribution of a call for applicants.
Each cohort is formed by a selection process that is essentially
an art form in itself. The selection process considers the variety of
perspectives, qualities, and balance of its members. Applicants are
evaluated not just as individuals, but according to what they would
contribute to the cohort in the following areas:
1. Diversity (generational, experience in the field, geographic,
gender, cultural, learning style, racial, leadership type/
role, sector/field/artistic discipline): What perspectives and
networks will this applicant bring to the cohort?
2. Ripeness (readiness and potential to apply the CCLI
curriculum): How strong is this applicant’s need to access
what CCLI has to offer?
3. Agency and potential (the applicant’s potential for
community leadership through arts-based community
development): What is this applicant’s potential to influence
community change through arts and cultural strategies,
and/or to impact the regional environment for arts-based
community development?
4. Capacity to learn (receptivity to learning in a cohort setting):
Is this applicant an agile and assertive learner? How
capable is this applicant of creating meaning from disparate
sources of information?
5. Quality of engagement (the factors that the applicant brings
to the cohort interactions and discourse): How excited,
challenged, stimulated, and enthusiastic will other cohort
members be to engage with the applicant?
Participants are chosen who have leadership experience in
their respective fields, active community relations, and their
own distinct networks. They are pulled intentionally from a
broad array of sectors and disciplines, including advocacy,
community-engaged arts (including performing, literary, visual,
media, and interdisciplinary arts), community organizing, design,
economic development, education, environmental justice, faith
communities, health care, housing, public policy, public systems,
racial justice, urban planning, and youth development. They
come from a multitude of cultural communities, neighborhoods,
identities, and orientations.
Some participants are chosen whose influence stems from their
positional authority within institutions; others are chosen whose
influence stems from their skill as extraordinarily accomplished
grass-roots organizers. Elders are valued cohort members, as
well as energetic young “sparkies”. In essence, the cohorts
are containers to maximize the potential for new learning about
strengthening communities through: arts and culture, cross-
sector fertilization across networks, building and strengthening
relationships, reflection, and self-revelation.
CCLI: Creative Community Leadership Institute
ABCD: arts-based community development
CCL: creative community leadership
New ABCD training
for new groups&
A more Capable,
Healthy, EquitableCOMMUNITY
=
&New local CCL NETWORK# local effective
ABCD practitioners= →
→
+100 hoursCCLI curriculum + CCLI learning
NETWORK→
1 select group local creative comm. developers
6 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
METHODOLOGY FOR ASSESSING IMPACTThis impact study was commissioned in the fall of 2014 to
document the changes in the lives of program alumni, and
the changes that alumni have created in their communities
since the program began in 2002. These communities
could be geographic, place-based, cultural, and/or based
on shared interests (CCLI defines community as groups of
people with common interests defined by place, tradition,
intention, or spirit).
The overall assessment questions were:
1. How has the ICCD/CCLI impacted individual
participants, their interpersonal relationships, and the
communities in which they live and work
2. What elements of the program have been the most
useful, or least useful in promoting arts-based
community development
3. What insights do alumni have about future direction
for the program?
Our approach to the study was to form a team of external
consultants and Intermedia Arts staff that offered multiple
perspectives, a deep knowledge of the history and
evolution of the CCLI program, and knowledge of the
field. Led by Betty Emarita, an ideation and strategic
change organizational development consultant, the team
consisted of Scott Chazdon, program evaluator, University
of Minnesota Extension; Wendy Morris, director, Creative
Leadership programs at Intermedia Arts; Lisa Dejoras and
Lisa Brimmer, Creative Leadership programs managers; and
William Cleveland, director, Center for the Study of Art and
Community.
Our strategies for collecting data were informed by Michael
Quinn Patton’s definition of impact evaluation to include
both, ”direct and indirect program impacts, not only on
participants, but also on larger systems and the community.”2
We chose methods, and developed or adapted instruments
that could capture the varied experiences of alumni at
different levels of engagement. These included:
2Patton, M. (1997). Utilization-focused evaluation: The new century text (3rd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.
• An online survey of all alumni, along with “heat maps”,
showing where alumni activities were most heavily
concentrated in the three metropolitan areas,
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Duluth-Superior, and
Fargo-Moorhead.
• Mapping the ripple effects of activities, ideas and
relationships for one cohor
• A social network analysis of alumn
• Interviews with a small, selected sample of alumni
This mixture of traditional and creative assessment and
evaluation methods enabled us to highlight significant and
meaningful changes for individual program participants, their
relationships with each other, and their communities. It also
revealed alumni perceptions about the most and the least
effective aspects of the program.
OUR FINDINGSONLINE PROGRAM IMPACT SURVEY
An online survey was conducted with 190 program alumni
for whom valid e-mail addresses were available. The survey,
which garnered a 44.1% response rate, included questions
on the following themes:
• Aspects of the program that had the greatest value
for participants
• A series of closed-ended questions in which participants
were asked the extent to which the program had led to
their personal growth
• A series of questions regarding the extent to which
participation in the program contributed to multi-
sectorial changes in participants’ communities
Intermedia Arts | 2016 7
• Places in the three metropolitan areas
(Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Duluth-Superior,
and Fargo-Moorhead) in which program
participants had conducted arts-based
community development work (Heat
Map), with open-ended questions to
capture more detail about their work
• Recommendations for improving
the program
VALUABLE ASPECTS OFINTERMEDIA ARTS’ LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
As part of the online alumni survey,
respondents were asked to rank from one to
six aspects of CCLI they found most valuable,
with one being the most valuable and six
being the least valuable. As Figure 2 indicates,
47% of the respondents ranked development
of a robust network of colleagues as the most
valuable aspect of CCLI, with 68.7% ranking
it among their top three choices. Twenty-eight
percent ranked advancing their leadership
journey in the field of arts-based community
development as the most valuable, with 71.9%
ranking it among their top three.
Developing their knowledge of the field of arts-
based community development was ranked
first by 15.7%, with 49.4% ranking it among
their top three. Using arts-based approaches
for communication and learning was ranked
first by 7.2%, with 48.2%, including it in
their top three. The program aspects that
received the lowest ranking were strategies
for advancing community discourse, and
gaining skills and gaining skills and tools
for developing and sustaining productive
partnerships
Development of a robust network of colleagues
Advancing your own leadership journey (i.e., exploring your place
and future path in the field of arts-based community development
Knowledge of the field of arts-based community development
Using arts-based approaches for communication and learning
Skills and tools for developing and sustaining productive partnerships
Strategies for advancing community discourse and organizing
FIGURE 2: RANKING OF ASPECTS OF CCLI (PERCENTAGES OF RESPONDENTS)
TOP RATED 2ND 3RD 4TH 5TH 6TH
14.5 7.2 9.6 10.8 10.8
23.2 20.7 9.8 2.4 15.9
15.7 12 21.7 16.9 14.5 19.3
7.2 20.5 20.5 18.1 22.9 10.8
2.4 15.7 14.5 22.9 19.3 25.3
13.3 15.7 22.9 30.1 18.1
47
28
8 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
IMPACTS ON PERSONAL DEVELOPMENTAs part of the online program impact survey, respondents were
also asked to respond to six statements pertaining to ICCD/CCLI’s
impact on their lives. Respondents used a four-point scale where
1 meant “not at all”, 2 meant “to a slight extent”, 3 meant “to a
moderate extent”, and 4 meant “to a great extent”. Figure 2 shows
how participants responded to each personal impact statement. The
vast majority of respondents reported at least a moderate level of
impact for five of the six impact statements. Slightly more than half the
respondents reported they had not continued to be actively engaged
with their cohort members since the program.
I am likely to take part in discussion about ideas and issues I encountered during my involvement in the program.
I have been actively involved with the issues, ideas, and strategies I encountered through the program.
I have been able to apply some of the things I learned through the program to good effect in other situations.
The organization(s) I have worked with since my involvement in ICCD/CCLI has/have benefited significantly from my participation in the program.
I have increased my appreciation for the opportunities and challenges that can emerge from boundry-crossing engagement and collaboration.
I have been actively involved with people I worked with during the program
FIGURE 3: ICCD/CCLI’S IMPACTS ON PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
To Great Extent Moderate Extent Slight Extent Not at all
43.8 41.1 15.1 0
44.6 33.8 20.3 1.4
43.2 40.5 12.2 4.1
32.9 45.2 17.8 4.1
54.1 27 13.5 5.4
25.7 23 43.2 8.1
Respondents also gave examples of the impacts
CCLI has had on their personal development:
• The experience helped me to learn new
strategies for accomplishing goals I have
long been working toward. It has helped me
solidify a much broader network of potential
collaborators, though staying current with
the busy members of the network has been a
huge challenge.
• I learned how to sit in great discomfort, how
to listen, observe, be present in my body,
how to speak up and how to articulate hugely
complex ideas in a large, smart, intimidating
group. I learned that it’s okay not to know and
that being authentic and vulnerable can be
good.
• [More than four years after] completion of the
program, CCLI learnings still bubble up to the
surface. Things I may have forgotten about, or
didn’t access during my time in the program
have emerged from my toolkit, allowing me to
apply as necessary—in a real, authentic, and
in-the-moment way.
• The biggest impact was on being able to
conceive of myself as an artist, to claim the
power that comes with it and to move forward
in greater levels of confidence: both about the
importance of my voice and the value of my
potential to contribute.
Several respondents stated that the growth they
had gained from CCLI came mainly from their
interaction and work with other program fellows,
and less from the curriculum. This feedback
highlights the critical importance of the recruitment
process and the intentional way in which cohorts
are formed. Cohorts are composed of people with
rich personal and professional experience. Their
expertise is often developed across disciplines,
within and outside of the accepted cannons of a
particular field.
Intermedia Arts | 2016 9
IMPACTS ON COMMUNITIES The alumni survey included several types
of questions about the ways the program
led participants to make changes in their
communities. One series of questions asked
about changes that participants had made since
participating in ICCD or CCLI, and was organized
around the community capitals framework3, with
items on human, social, cultural, civic, financial,
built, and natural capitals. Figure 4 displays the
average responses among the program alumni to
these questions.
The greatest impacts reported tended to be on
items related to human, civic, and social capital.
The top item, “I’ve taken on new informal or formal
leadership positions,” is an example of both human
and civic capital built by the program. The next
two items, “I’ve helped strengthen networks” and
“I’ve built trust” are both representative of social
capital. Even the lowest scored items such as
“I’ve helped conserve or protect natural resources
in my community,” or “I’ve strengthened or
helped improve the physical infrastructure of my
community” had over three-fourths of respondents
reporting at least a slight extent of impact.
I’ve built trust among people and organizations in my community (social capital).
I’ve helped strengthen networks among people and organizations in my community (social capital).
I’ve promoted cultural equity in my organization or community (social capital).
I’m more likely to take part in discussions about difficult community or social issues (civic capital).
I’ve taken on new informal or formal leadership posotions within my organization or community (human and civic capital).
I’ve promoted efforts to engage broader participation in community and public life (civic capital).
I’ve strengthened collaboration among organizations to work on challenging issues facing my community (social capital).
I’ve strengthened cultural events in my community (social capital).
I’ve become more comfortable voicing my opinion to public or political leaders (civic capital).
I’ve strengthened efforts to promote mental or physical health in my organization or community (human capital).
I’ve strengthened the financial condition of my organization or my community (financial capital).
I’ve helped conserve or protect natural resources in my community (natural capital).
I’ve strengthened or helped improve the physical infrastructure of my organization or community (built capital).
FIGURE 4: ICCD/CCLI ORGANIZATIONAL AND COMMUNITY IMPACTS
To Great Extent Moderate Extent Slight Extent Not at all
45.7 31.4 17.1 5.7
57.1 24.3 14.3 4.3
34.8 40.6 20.3 4.3
39.4 39.4 18.3 2.8
38.6 48.6 11.4 1.4
38.2 50.7 11.6 1.4
26.9 16.4 32.8 23.9
19.7 27.3 30.38 22.7
29.4 26.5 25 19.1
21.2 39.4 25.8 13.6
25 41.2 23.5 10.3
29.4 39.7 25 5.7
37.1 28.6 24.3 10
3Flora, C., Flora, J., & Fey, S. (2004). Rural Communities: Legacy and Change (2nd ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press; Emery, M. and Flora, C. (2006). “Spiraling-Up: Mapping Community Transformation and Community Capitals Framework.” Community Development 37, 1: 19-35.
10 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
Perhaps even more interesting than the numeric responses to
these items were the open-ended comments that respondents
typed when asked for examples of the ways their work had led
to organizational and community impacts:
• Our work, grounded in equitable food access, specifically
organic/whole foods, absolutely had a positive impact on
the physical and mental health of those engaged in our
programs!
• Within the Collaborative for a Culturally Diverse Economy,
I intentionally built a strong and diverse team of leaders
of color, bringing them to the table in a way that had not
been previously accomplished.
• Connected community art organizations to higher
education resources.
• Through Arts on Chicago, I have (with my partners) striven
to build connections to the local businesses, education
centers, neighbors through the arts.
• Growing a forest and eliminating invasive species in my
neighborhood
Most participants felt the program had spurred them to
higher levels of community engagement. For example, 57%
reported they had taken on new leadership roles within
their organizations and communities “to a great extent.”
Some participants (see the percentages in purple in Figure
4) commented the program did not necessarily add to their
strengths or abilities to influence some of these areas of
community capital, often because they were already making a
difference in these areas before participating in the program.
IMPACTS ON NETWORK DEVELOPMENTONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK SURVEY
As part of the social network survey, respondents were
asked to identify fellow alumni whom they had met, known
or collaborated with before, during and after the program.
Out of the 195 alumni contacted, 72 responded—a response
rate of 37% Figure 5 shows the evolution of this network
over the years. Each graduate of the program is represented
by a colored square. The color is based upon the cohort the
graduate is from. The squares also vary in size. The size of
the square indicates the number of connections that each
graduate of the program reported, e.g. the bigger the square,
the more connections reported. The lines represent the
specific connections among the alumni.
The maps show a tightly knit network of alumni across many
alumni. Many alumni reported knowing and having worked
with people from both within and outside their cohorts. This
trend is especially evident among those whose training
happened in the Twin Cities. It is less so among alumni from
the two cohorts in Duluth-Superior and Fargo-Moorhead
(See figure 5). Their connections appeared to be more limited
to their respective regions.
FIGURE 5: OVERALL ICCD/CCLI ALUMNI NETWORK
2002 Cohort
2002-2003 Cohorts (2003 cohort ADDED – BLUE SQUARES)
Intermedia Arts | 2016 11
2002-2004 Cohorts (2004 cohort added – yellow squares)
2002-2006 Cohorts (2006 cohort added – green squares)
2002-2010 Cohorts (2010 cohort added – magenta squares)
2002-2011 Cohorts (2011 cohort added – purple squares)
2002-2012 cohorts (2011 Fargo-Moorhead cohort added – dark blue squares at left)
2002-2013 cohorts (2013 Duluth-Superior cohort added – light blue squares upper left)
12 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
2002-2013 cohorts (2013 Minneapolis-St. Paul cohort added – light green squares)
2002-2014 cohorts (2014 cohort added – teal squares)
While the network maps are based on many types of connections (alumni who had met before the program, alumni who met
during the program, alumni who have collaborated since the program), it is powerful to focus on just the network of those who
reported collaborating since participating in the program. As Figure 6 illustrates, the overall alumni collaboration network was
dense and extensive, branching across cohorts. In general, there were at least one or two individuals from each cohort who
played bridging roles in this process. These core actors are the social influencers who are making a difference in the density of
the collaboration network.
FIGURE 6: OVERALL ICCD/CCLI ALUMNI COLLABORATION NETWORK
Intermedia Arts | 2016 13
IMPACT HEAT MAPSBased on the volume of clicks on particular areas, the
survey software produced “heat maps” that graphically
display the areas of most intense activities by ICCD/
CCLI alumni. Figures 7, 8, and 9 show the heat maps
of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Duluth-Superior, and Fargo-
Moorhead. The brightest red shows areas where close to
30 alumni clicked on the map. The color legend underneath
the maps show the colors associated with the frequency
of clicks. For example, in Figure 7 significant impacts
appeared to center primarily within the downtown areas
of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and along the light rail line
connecting the two cities. Many CCLI alumni were core
to Irrigate, a three-year creative placemaking initiative,
designed in response to the disruption by a major
construction project through the heart of Saint Paul. Irrigate,
created in partnership with Springboard for the Arts, the
City of Saint Paul, and Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support
Corporation (LISC), with funding provided by ArtPlace, held
placemaking workshops for artists, facilitated partnerships
between artists and businesses, and funded small scale
community arts projects that spanned the six miles of the
Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line in St. Paul during the
years of its construction.
FIGURE 7: IMPACT HEAT MAP FOR MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL
FIGURE 8: IMPACT HEAT MAP FOR DULUTH-SUPERIOR
FIGURE 9: IMPACT HEAT MAP FOR FARGO-MOORHEAD
As Figure 10 shows, alumni activities were not limited to Minnesota. Participants reported having projects in 20 states since
completing the program, representing every region of the mainland.
FIGURE 10: NATIONAL LOCATIONS WHERE ALUMNI HAVE CONDUCTED WORK OR PROJECTS
In addition, program participants reported having conducted projects in a total of 20 countries across six continents since
completing the program. They include: Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Caribbean Islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, France,
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Thailand, and the
United Kingdom.
FIGURE 11: COUNTRIES WHERE ALUMNI HAVE CONDUCTED WORK OR PROJECTS
14 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
Intermedia Arts | 2016 15
CASE STUDY: RIPPLE MAPPING OF THE 2010 COHORT To focus on the range of impacts produced within a single cohort,
the evaluation team conducted a Ripple Effect Mapping (REM)
session with a portion of the 2010 CCLI cohort. REM is a participatory
group method for evaluating the impact of complex programs or
collaboratives. The method engages program stakeholders to visually
map the performance story resulting from a program or complex
collaboration. It combines elements of appreciative inquiry, mind
mapping, group interviewing, and qualitative data analysis in its
process. The evaluation team invited a dozen members of the 2010
CCLI cohort, who were given the option of bringing a guest who was
familiar with the impacts of their work. The invitation was to participate
in a structured group discussion and mapping process. More
information about the process can be found at
http://blog-ripple-effect-mapping.extension.umn.edu/.
RIPPLE MAP INTERVIEWS
Participants in the session were asked to interview each other using
two questions. The questions asked of the alumni were slightly
different from the questions asked of the invited guests.
Questions for Program Alumni:
• What is a community-based highlight, achievement, or success
you had based on your involvement with the CCLI?
• What connections in the community – new and/or deepened –
have you made as a result of the CCLI?
Questions for Invited Guests:
• What is a highlight, achievement, or
success of former CCLI participants in your
community or with your organization?
• What connections in the community – new
and/or deepened – have you observed as a
result of the CCLI?
After participants had interviewed each other,
they were asked to report some of the items they
had heard. Their reports were captured using a
mind mapping software program and projected
onto a screen. The evaluator then worked with
the group to identify core themes for the different
types of “community impacts” they were reporting.
Through follow-up questions from the evaluator,
participants brought forward more detail on some
of the effects and how they had been catalyzed
by the program. After the Ripple Effect Mapping
session, the evaluator conducted supplemental
interviews with some of the participants to capture
additional details.
The core themes of the Ripple Effect Map provided
richer context and echoed many of the themes
that emerged from the online survey and the data
from the social network analysis (See Appendices
16A-E - Sample of Creative Community
Leadership Institute 2010 cohort). Four themes
emerged from the process regarding the impact
the CCLI program had on participants:
• Promoted deep connections which
generated new forms of collaboration
(APPENDIX 16A) During the reflection
discussion after appreciative inquiry
interviews, the group suggested a core effect
of the program was the sense of solidarity
and trust created among members of the
cohort. This section of the ripple map ended
up with the most detail. For the group,
the theme represented the core meaning
of participation in the program. Several
participants asserted that they wanted to
see the word “love” placed on the map. One
16 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
participant commented that these deep connections
generated new forms of collaboration, and this section
of the mind maps shows some examples: the Bedlam
Theater becoming open to new audiences, collaboration
among alumni to write and act in an original play, a
pop-up theater, and the creation of YO MAMA’s Art of
Mothering Workshops in north Minneapolis.
• Deepened commitment to racial equity work
(APPENDIX 16B) Several participants described
a deepened commitment to racial equity work, with
examples ranging from work in philanthropy to increased
funding support for equity-focused artistic work to cross-
cultural sharing between Hmong and Native American
youth. Participants also mentioned cross-cultural sharing
efforts in neighborhood organizations in Minneapolis and
St. Paul. One important branch in this part of the ripple
map focuses on the Bedlam Theatre, which linked to East
African audiences in its West Bank location, opened a
second theater in St. Paul, and engaged program alumni
in its Ten Minute Playfest.
• Strengthened leadership skills for community building
(APPENDIX 16C) Participants described how they
strengthened a wide range of leadership skills as a result
of the program. These ranged from increasing conflict
management skills and network building to incorporating
specific activities from the curriculum, like “the stick
exercise,” into their own leadership development
practices. Several participants reported an increase in
their own confidence when in community settings and an
increased ability to feel comfortable when speaking hard
truths—the absence of which can threaten community
building work.
• Generated personal and professional growth
(APPENDIX 16D) Participants described a range of
ways they had strengthened their voices as practitioners
of arts-based community development and/or as artists
as a result of the program. One participant reported how
much she appreciated having opportunities to speak and
be heard, which led her to gain confidence in community
building work. Another participant highlighted how the
program gave her the opportunity to showcase her work
as well as continue as a guest presenter in later cohorts
of the program.
• During the mapping discussion, participants were asked
what, if any, aspects of the program were in need of
improvement. An additional branch of the ripple map
focused on these challenges (APPENDIX 16E).
The comments participants gave focused on the desire
for more resources, racial dynamics, and the lab group
experience (an aspect of CCLI in which small groups
of participants collaboratively design an arts-based
community development project). Comments included:
concerns that the training should be delivered more by
participants and less by outside experts, that raising funds
is a crucial barrier, that group projects were not always
structured well, and that conversations about race need to
be more complex.
There should not be a division between “experts” and [CCLI]
“participants.”
[Labs] could have been more practical and formatted in a less
rigid format.
[I would be] curious to know how to create learning that isn’t
just white people learning from people of color.
[Lab] Activity should have led to something that can be
implemented, instead of purely imaginary.
Individual artists are not nonprofits, so it’s hard for them to get
any funds for their highly engaged work.
ALUMNI INTERVIEWSThirty-minute interviews were conducted with a subset of CCLI
participants. The interviewee list was compiled by program staff
to reflect different perspectives. Potential interviewees came
from a variety of cohorts, regions, and cultural communities.
They included alumni with positional authority within established
institutions as well as alumni with grassroots and community
credibility. Forty participants were contacted, and 10 agreed to
be interviewed, a response rate of 25%.
Intermedia Arts | 2016 17
The interviews supported the data generated by the online
survey and the network map. Interviewees stressed the
value of the networks that they were introduced to
through CCLI.
I need community. It feels hard to be alone...not knowing
if the work is effective or not. We have to make ongoing
efforts to know about each other’s work.
I’ve built real connections with some people [in the cohorts],
one moved to the Maryland area. It turned into real
friendship.
It’s given me another community of people...A radical and
diverse community that I greatly value, and a great place to
build the network.
Interviewees felt more affirmed and supported in their work
by being introduced to frameworks and vocabulary used by
other practitioners in the field.
During the program, the revelation was that other people
are also doing this work.
[CCLI] gave me a home base in a new way and was very
grounding for my work. It helped me to name what I do a
little more.
CCLI gave us a common frame of reference!
…Seeing other people bridging and moving through
different ways of doing and being, across sectors that didn’t
overlap. This was an interdisciplinary process where that
was the norm.
It was helpful to think of the intangibles of what I’m doing as
real work, not as prelude to the real work.
Through partnerships, the interviewees were inspired
to take on larger, more impactful projects that had the
potential to change a community, an organization, or
a region.
I’m used to working in open ended groups. This expanded
that. Even getting rid of the word “art”. It made me think
about how we came together to collaborate, because the
outcome isn’t necessarily the product, but the process.
18 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
Creative CityMaking…definitely impacted the City of Minneapolis
and the community. We brought youth into planning and political
processes. We had interns with the historic society, studying the
history of Minneapolis through the art. Their studies informed the
plan on what the city should prioritize for historic preservation.
[We’re] examining historical injustices and provocative ideas.
We’re trying to swing the door open, and whoever comes
through is welcome. We’re trying to plan for a summer of new
theatrical work. Not just open the door, but to reach out across
the state. We want the final selection to look like the diversity of
the state.
I was successful in getting the arts council to look at the
programming and the ecosystem… Looking at what the artists
and the creative economy look like.
The presence of the CCLI activity in town and media coverage
helped give some impetus…There has been a lot of talk about
art and economic development. Not many people deny it now.
Politicians and the business community don’t question it. CCLI
pushed this in a variety of different fields.
There is more interest in Native art. Mill City now includes
a Native piece and in places around the river front, and in
Northern Spark.
Interviewees gave specific suggestions for how they would like
to see the field of arts-based community development evolve.
More access to long-term funding and more consistent funding.
[In Duluth] We have the people and the expertise, the public
sector, and the Chamber willing to work with us. We have
the pieces, and we need to pay people to make it a full time
commitment. It will lead to its own economic engine.
Make the case for localization. What’s sort of neat about the
arts are the jobs that can’t be outsourced. It’s locally based,
and dollars circulate more within the community…where arts
and economic development can come together to build local
economies and build a sense of place.
Building on what people value and not having them pushed
out…That conversation doesn’t happen nationally and
internationally. Bringing in best thinkers and leaders in the
community regarding diversity, and figuring out systems that will
work for the majority of people.
Interviewees also gave a more nuanced interpretation of the
kinds of skills they would value moving forward. Most were
entrepreneurial—even when based in institutions. They were
greatly concerned about the need to raise resources to realize
their vision, to implement projects, and for their own wellbeing.
If I were creating a document or product there could be
funding, but making more social capital across differences is not
supported…I have to work as an unpaid contribution.
There are clear categories of funding for artists, but no sustained
funding for community organizing or community building.
How do we sustain and resource the community side of
community development?
I’d just say [I need] some time and capital…money and time.
Information on how to balance fundraising and programming.
You have to grow both hand in hand. When you work so hard
to raise the money, it’s hard to do the programming. [When
there are] no accounting department, or technical writers…No
support…It gets really hard…Helping people to know how to
raise funds and what that means for programming, and how to
get boards engaged in fund raising.
We need to grow in [knowing] how to manage projects
successfully, how to scale projects into programs, and how
to replicate.
WHY ARE THESE FINDINGS IMPORTANT? The focus of CCLI is to foster healthier, more capable, and
equitable communities through arts and cultural strategies.
As expressed by William Cleveland, a CCLI co-founder, at
a presentation for Animating Democracy (https://prezi.com/
kss2k2gcowa1/copy-of-animating-democracy-abcd-ecosystem/),
“Humans must cooperate to survive….Art-making has evolved as
a primary stimulus for human cooperation.” By their nature, arts-
based approaches to community transformation help develop
and/or unleash the very skills that are most needed at this time.
The structure of CCLI is designed to cultivate those skills while
cultivating authentic relationships.
Arts-based community development, as a field, is expanding
on the crest of a wave of unprecedented change in the national
Intermedia Arts | 2016 19
landscape. Locally, regionally, and nationally, structural economic
changes, geo-political shifts, and profound demographic
changes are making visible the inadequacies of conventional
decision-making processes. The technology that connects
us also divides us into narrower interest groups. There is a
compelling need for better ways to make progress on the
issues people care about, to work more productively across
our differences, and to foster healthier, more capable and more
equitable communities.
Much of our procedural infrastructure for decision-making,
however, is rooted in the late 1940s and 1950s when Minnesota,
the United States, and the world in general looked quite different.
The health of federal, state, and local economies—as well as
families and communities—now depend upon how effectively
decision-makers can work across differences to respond to new
economic and demographic realities:
• Today, the United States’ economic growth is highly
interconnected, global in nature, and being driven, to
a great extent, by new ethnic markets and emerging
international markets.
• A large and growing percentage of the nation’s population
are people of color whose cultural roots are not
predominantly European or Euro-American.
• In Minnesota, millennials outnumber baby boomers, and 1
in 5 millennials is a person of color.
• The income of Minnesota millennials age 16-24 in 2012 is
over 20% lower than the income of baby boomers in that
age group in 1980.
• By 2030, for every retirement-age Minnesotan, it is likely
that there will only be 2.5 working-aged adults, with 2
actually employed in the paid workforce.
In order for government agencies, institutions, and businesses to
address these economic and demographic realities, they will need
different ways to engage people and the communities in which
they live and work. New and more inclusive narratives, concepts,
and strategies will have to be developed. The ability to navigate
across large divides, find common ground, and move forward
together will be essential skills. These are the skills that at the
center of CCLI training and programs.
5 Helmsletter and Tigan, Six Surprising Trends about Minnesota’s Millennials. Compass Project, March 1,2014. http://www.mncompass.org/trends/insights/ 2014-03-01-minnesota-millennial-trends. 6 Ibid.7 Helsmsletter, Craig. Minnesota’s Aging Population: Prepare for Lift Off. Community Matters, Wilder Blog, Aug 26, 2014.
20 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACTExamples of the transformative impact CCLI has had upon
individuals, organizations, and institutions were found at
several levels: neighborhood, city, national, and international.
INDIVIDUAL TRANSFORMATION
YO MAMA’S Art of Mothering Workshop
Amoke Kubat, a member of the 2010 cohort, created YO
MAMA’S Art of Mothering Workshop for mothers of all ages.
Located in north Minneapolis, it is not, by Amoke’s insistence,
a nonprofit organization. In fact, it defies categories and
description. YO MAMA exists as a creative space in which
Amoke invites other mothers to support one another as sisters.
This intergenerational group of elders and younger mothers
nurture each other, heal, and transform themselves while
making art in a 10-week workshop.
One of the participants, Raelene Ethel Ashe, began her healing
journey from poverty and homelessness. After attending a
workshop and becoming part of the circle of mothers, Raelene
credits YO MAMA for her transformation. She is now the
co-owner of The Art Shoppe at the Midtown Global Market.
Amoke related that through participation in CCLI she herself
gained confidence as an artist, which led her to act with more
power and impact in her art, as well as in other realms.
TRANSFORMING SYSTEMS
Creative CityMaking Minneapolis
Many CCLI alumni play key roles in Creative CityMaking, a
collaboration between Intermedia Arts and the Arts, Culture
and the Creative Economy program of the City of Minneapolis.
Creative CityMaking is a multi-year initiative that pairs staff in
City of Minneapolis government departments with experienced
community artists to advance the City’s goal of eliminating
economic and racial disparities. This “One Minneapolis” goal
is focused on ensuring that all residents can participate and
prosper. Creative CityMaking develops new arts-based, field-
tested approaches that engage traditionally underrepresented
communities and stimulate innovative thinking and practices
for more responsive government. This work is increasing
the capacity of the City to address inequities in political
representation, housing, transportation, income, and race.
Creative CityMaking began in 2013 with support from ArtPlace,
a 10-year collaboration among a number of foundations,
federal agencies, and financial institutions. The collaborative
works to position arts and culture as a core sector of
comprehensive community planning and development in order
to help strengthen the social, physical, and economic fabric
of communities. Following a highly successful demonstration
year, Creative CityMaking drew over $1 million of investment
from private, federal, and municipal sources including the
Kresge Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and
the City of Minneapolis. The program has expanded from one
department in 2013 to five departments across the
City in 2015.
CCLI alumni currently serve on artist-City project teams,
in program direction, program management, project
management, and documentation roles. They are support staff
and trainers/facilitators for the Creative CityMaking Institute,
a year-long series of cross-departmental learning events for
systems change through arts-based community development.
Through Creative CityMaking, Intermedia Arts has adapted
elements of the CCLI curriculum and put them into practice
in a carefully considered, highly productive interface between
City departments and communities.
THE VIRAL SPREAD OF CCLI CONCEPTS NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY
CCLI alumni are spreading arts-based community development
concepts and ideas virally in their work nationally and
internationally. While analyzing the impact of those ideas
was beyond the scope of this work, alumni credited CCLI
with helping them apply and share arts-based community
development approaches to community development
and training.
Examples:
• A graduate of the program uses ICCD/CCLI concepts
and tools in arts-based civic engagement with an
organization that is active in East Africa and the
Caribbean.
• ICCD/CCLI concepts and tools have been useful to a
graduate of the program who works with an international
group of scholars, practitioners, community leaders, and
artists to map the pasts of traumatized communities and
Intermedia Arts | 2016 21
contested lands, and their impact on present-day relations.
Projects have been carried out in the United States, the
United Kingdom, and Europe.
• A graduate of the program who coordinates major
national and international conferences on organizing, and
coordinates communities of practice in Europe and the
United States, uses facilitation and organizing techniques
learned at ICCD/CCLI.
• A graduate of the program uses the ICCD/CCLI training
concepts as a global scholar participating with a multi-
campus initiative to prepare the next generation of globally
competent citizens. The initiative is sponsored by an
association of state colleges and universities.
• Tools learned at ICCD/CCLI were useful to a graduate of
the program while coordinating an exchange program for
educators from a European country, between its museums
and American museums. The program featured projects in
both countries.
• Case studies from ICCD/CCLI were useful to a graduate of
the program working in southern Africa. The alumni used
these examples as part of a master’s degree thesis on the
use of arts and creative strategies as a tool for community
development.
NOW WHAT? Clearly CCLI is breaking new ground. It has built significant
capacity in the Twin Cities, affecting opportunities for CCLI
alumni. Its impact is also spreading in Moorhead-Fargo and
Duluth-Superior. There is a growing awareness of its presence
in expanding and shaping the arts-based community develop-
ment field locally, nationally, and internationally. Regarding local
impact, one graduate of the program observed:
…in the Twin Cities I see how Intermedia Arts has changed
minds and CCLI communities [are] embracing [that]—this [arts
and cultural approach] is central to community development.
The data and analysis in this study are a snapshot of the
experiences of alumni which can help CCLI program staff,
designers and faciliators determine what aspects of CCLI are
working well, what can be improved, what could be eliminated,
and what could be added. To guide CCLI’s future direction, data
from the survey, network assessment, interviews, the Ripple
Effect Mapping, and comments made by participants provide
specific and insightful responses to the three questions on
which this study focused:
1. How has the ICCD/CCLI impacted individual participants,
their interpersonal relationships, and the communities in
which they live and work?
Brief: ICCD/CCLI has had significant impact on alumni, par-
ticularly in their ability to work across boundaries, continue
involvement with issues and strategies they encountered in the
program, and in their capacity to apply things they learned in
the program to other situations. ICCD/CCLI alumni have been
engaged in projects in their home communities, in 20 states, 20
countries, and six continents.
2. What elements of the program have been the most useful,
or least useful in promoting arts-based community
development?
Brief: The aspects of the program alumni ranked highest were:
creating a robust network of colleagues; advancing their own
leadership journey in arts-based community development; in-
creased knowledge of the arts-based community development
field; and using arts-based approaches for communication and
learning. The aspects of the program alumni ranked lowest
were: skills and tools for developing and sustaining productive
partnerships, and strategies for advancing community dis-
course and organizing. The aspects of the program that were
rated lowest seemed to be those areas in which the participants
themselves already had the most knowledge and experience.
3. What insights do alumni have about future direction for
the program?
Brief: Suggestions from program participants addressed both
program content and structure, with implications for CCLI’s fu-
ture direction. The comments highlight tensions between formal
structures, required outcomes, and a discovery process that is
driven by participants. Suggestions included:
22 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
• Supporting continued connection to the contacts and
networks developed through CCLI/ICCD, as well as further
professional development trainings.
• Creating funding and fundraising opportunities.
• Having a common space at Intermedia Arts where alumni
can meet regularly for in-depth discussion and to catch up
with one another.
• Creating a mentorship program.
• Updating and diversifying program content; and better
connecting the program content to participants’ needs and
backgrounds.
• Highlighting profiles and stories about alumni and their
work in a newsletter or on the website.
• Developing neighborhood-based cohorts.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
As Intermedia Arts designs the next iteration of the CCLI
program, it has to balance the needs of alumni, current program
participants, staff capacity, and the demands of building
the field. While there is currently an increasing amount of
philanthropic support, arts-based community development will
not be sustainable as a field until it is integrated into the broader
marketplace, with a variety of other sectors paying for the skills,
services, products and results that the approach generates.
Critical questions include:
• What kind of infrastructure can be developed and
sustained by CCLI that will support the ongoing
development and interaction of alumni networks?
• Given the well-developed expertise participants bring, how
can CCLI determine which skills and information are best
demonstrated and shared by participants and which are
best demonstrated and delivered by CCLI staff?
• How might CCLI define and unleash the knowledge and
skills of participants for the financial benefit of both the
participants and CCLI, to consciously build the field?
• How can CCLI develop and utilize resources to step more
boldly into its leadership position in the field, prime key
sectors to recognize and value its contributions, and create
a larger marketplace for its alumni?
EVALUATORS’ RECOMMENDATIONS
Based upon the data and the analysis as well as formal and
informal conversations with CCLI staff and participants,
the authors of this impact study make the following
recommendations:
• Develop a flexible infrastructure that can support continued
interactions between alumni. The infrastructure could
include: a website with an alumni directory, updates on
programs, funding, and partnership opportunities; individual
alumni activities; as well as information on the field.
• Support a quarterly convening of alumni, rotating between
invitations to all CCLI alumni and a city and/or regional
convening. Create more opportunities for people in
targeted sectors to attend—particularly from the corporate
community and the public policy arena.
• Provide platforms for highlighting participant generated
inquiries and solutions. The development of an archive that
can be promoted to help build the field.
• Promote the effective tools and procedures developed
through Creative CityMaking for use with other public
agencies.
• Explore new business models that align with the
equity goals and values of the arts-based community
development field and that participants can use in their
entrepreneurial work. These models could include case
studies of successful social enterprises and Benefit
Corporations, and for-profit entities that include public
and environmental benefits as part of their mission. These
types of Benefit Corporations are now legal in 30 states,
including Minnesota.
• Plan presentations and discussions with leaders of local
ethical business associations and technical assistance
providers regarding ways in which particular business
structures and processes can be useful to program
participants and alumni.
Intermedia Arts | 2016 23
SUMMARYIntermedia Arts’ Creative Community Leadership Institute is clearly having an impact in the lives of
its alumni and creating community ripples through their work. The impacts can be seen in the lives of
individuals, initiatives sparked within communities, and changes generated in institutions and agencies.
The growing network of alumni has created a relational infrastructure that is showing itself to be flexible,
adaptable, and enduring. The activities of this network are taking place in Minneapolis-St. Paul,
Duluth-Superior, Fargo-Moorhead, in other regions of the country, and internationally—
wherever CCLI alumni move and engage.
The CCLI program has generated these impacts in part by creating “containers” for sharing expertise,
while developing and deepening relationships in a highly intentional way. Those containers include
many resources: a well-balanced cohort of experts on their individual journeys, a curriculum,
a place to meet, and an agreement to reflect and co-create across significant differences with
a commitment to equity.
These shared journeys of passion, courage, vision, and imagination are full of risk and uncertainties.
Their discoveries may well hold the answers many other sectors are seeking in order to thrive in this
century of unprecedented change.
24 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
APPENDIXFIGURE 12. ICCD/CCLI ORGANIZATIONAL AND COMMUNITY IMPACTS
I’ve taken on new information or formal leadership
positions within my organization or community
(human and civic capital).
I’ve help strengthen networks among people and
organizations in my community (social civic).
I’ve built trust among people and organizations in
my community (social capital).
I’ve promoted efforts to engage broader participation
in community and public life (civic capital).
I’ve promoted cultural equity in my organization or
community (cultural capital).
I’m more likely to take part in dicussions about
difficult community or social issues (civic capital).
I’ve strengthened cultural events in my community
(cultural capital).
I’ve strengthened collaboration among organizations
to work on challenging issues facing my country
(social capital).
I’ve become more comfortable voicing my opinion
to public or politcal leaders (civic capital).
I’ve strengthened efforts to promote mental or physical
health in my organization or community (human capital).
I’ve strengthened the financial condition of my
organization or my community (financial civics).
I’ve strengthened or helped improve the physcial
infrastructure of my organization or community
(built civics).
I’ve helped conserve or protect natural resources
in my community (natural civics).
0 2.0 3.0 4.0
Average reponses on a scale of 1 = not at all, 2 = to a slight extent, 3 = to a moderate extent, 4 = to a great extent
Intermedia Arts | 2016 25
FIGURE 13. SOME EXAMPLES OF ICCD/CCLI ALUMNI PLACE-BASED IMPACTS IN MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL
QUOTES FROM ALUMNII work with 100 public libraries in the 7 county areas, supporting
library staff in implementing thousands of free public programs
funded by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund in the areas of
literary programs, creative writing, author visits, book clubs,
all-community-read events, history programs, live performances,
hands-on art making, public art, archival preservation, exhibitions,
cultural activities and other projects.
I served as consultant to Northside Arts Collective, and publish
the Northeaster and NorthNews newspapers. The newspapers
put me in a position to attend a lot of meetings and sometimes to
advise people who want to know more about our coverage areas.
The appreciation for ABCD informs my coverage of the arts.
Model Cities Sustainable Spaces: working with two public artists
(Roger Cummings & Marjorie Pitz) to bring to life the stories of
African-American railroad workers.
Forecast Public Art: consulting on arts and culture planning in
Saint Paul, Eagan, Hopkins, Duluth and Grand Forks.
Mixed Blood Theatre: board member working with staff to realize
vision of the theatre as a community center for its majority Somali
neighborhood.
Farmhouse, Longfellow: I’ve been able to weave tools of
partnership development, funding strategies, and community
development in my work leading yearlong urban farming
programs that continue to produce leaders in the local food
movement.
I was, for a time, involved in the Native American-Somali
Friendship Committee (NSFC) and some of the community-
building activities they were holding in conjunction with Bedlam
Theater and New Native Theater. I tried to make sure there
were Native perspectives and people present. I tried to involve
students in the NASFC and link the committee to resources at my
then-employer and the church we were housed in.
I clicked South and North Minneapolis because of my involvement
with arts and community organizing with Remember 1934 and
In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater. I started
attending the Remember 1934 All-volunteer Initiative in January
2014. As a group, we were able to plan a few things: 1) a street
festival in the Warehouse District, 2) a picnic at Wabun park, and
3) helped to get the Remember 1934 theme--and people--in the
2014 MayDay parade.
I and another CCLI alum (one that I told about CCLI to, and
encouraged to apply) hosted a spoken word/literary event
remembering the 150th anniversary of the US Dakota War, in
2012. We organized and participated in one in 2013, as well as
held a session at the Overcoming Racism conference. We will be
hosting another event with the Saint Paul Almanac this December
26th, the 3rds annual Dakota Writers Speak to Presence on the
anniversary of the hanging of the Dakota warriors in Mankato.
I got very involved in the hands-on work the Family Life Education
staff did at two schools in North Minneapolis--Lucy Craft Laney
K-8 and North High School. At Lucy Laney, we initiated an After-
school Moves Program that was experiential and utilized art,
movement, dance, rock climbing, group initiatives, games, etc.
We collaborated with the Stuart Pimsler Dance Company to do
some of the dance/movement portions.
I worked as Interim Executive Director at Inter-tribal Elder
Services. The programs which were part of Inter-tribal Elder
Services (ITES) were layered and culturally relevant and included
Circles of Tobacco Wisdom, Wisdom Steps, Grandparents Raising
Grandchildren, Access and Outreach, and Nutrition Assistance
Program. We ran an Elders Sewing Circle, collaborated with
Dream of Wild Health, Native American Community Clinic, Indian
Health Board, Kinship Care Program, MN Board on Aging,
University of Minnesota, Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging,
Little Earth, Elders Lodge, Minneapolis American Indian Center, as
well as all of the Urban Tribal Offices. The layers of relationships
that I experienced were rich and complex.
Social Media Coordination for the Irrigate Arts project - with
Springboard for the Arts, project runs all along University
Avenue and the Green Line Light Rail Line from the West Bank
of Minneapolis into Lowertown Saint Paul. Artist Organizing with
the Friendly Streets Initiative - projects and events in St. Paul on
Fairview Avenue, Charles Avenue, Victoria & University, Pelham
Boulevard, Raymond Avenue & University, and a demonstration
event in Prospect Park for Green 4th. These included
26 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
neighborhood block parties with community visioning for
transforming public space, life sized demonstrations, and artist
activities and performances. I have also taught preschool in
St. Paul.
I’m integrating the arts into a capacity-building project at a
senior low-income hi-rise. I have also facilitated civic dialogue
and storytelling at a public library, and have done story
coaching for numerous people.
I’ve also collaborated with CCLI alum (Bedlam Theater) to
produce community art projects where I live (Saint Paul).
Most recently, I’ve been awarded a Knight Arts St. Paul
grant to organize and produce community arts work in my
neighborhood Dayton’s Bluff. This, I expect and endeavor to
ensure, will become the deepest and longest lasting impact I’ve
had the opportunity to effect.
Took Organizing Classes from Hope Community and began to
develop a long-term working relationship, program/practice
group called Intersections. I am currently working on my first
large-scale public art project/process - out of Intersections -
Soundtrack of Phillips.
I was the original co-founder of Form and Content Gallery, an
artist’s cooperative that is thriving and now 8 years old. Some
of my major works include the Presence of Loss, on which I
collaborated with fellow ICCD alum Juliet Petersen, and the I
AM WATER project. I also co-produced the MN Creates Project
which brought the work of contemporary MN artists to the State
Capital in a first of its kind exhibition.
I work at an arts program serving artists with disabilities. We
have been in the Warehouse District/North Loop in Minneapolis,
but I have recently moved to the Midway neighborhood in
St. Paul. The artists participating in our program come from
throughout the Metro. In my own creative work, I have created
a touring project called the Picnic Operetta that performs in
community gardens and sites of urban agriculture and food
production. We have ongoing relationships with communities
and partners in East St. Paul, West St. Paul, North Minneapolis,
St. Louis Park, Whittier neighborhood, Falcon Heights and
Hastings.
Bdotememorymap.org, which is a partnership project with the
Minnesota Humanities Center, is being used in classrooms at all
levels. As a result of the project, there is now more recognition
that the Metro area/the bdote area is Dakota homeland. A
permanent installation of Dakota voices (Cloudy Waters) is now
available in the Mill City Ruins Courtyard. The same audio/
along with primary video from the exhibition/installation at
Minnesota History Center in St. Paul is being installed in an
exhibit at the Science Museum in St. Paul.
My training in the CCLI prepared me well for helping to
develop a statewide initiative to increase graduation rates
for African-American and American Indian students in
Minnesota, and especially in urban school districts. It also
helped me forge meaningful connections with others working
specifically for resiliency of Native American youth at the
American Indian Family Center in St. Paul, the indigenous arts
education organization Ce Tempoxcalli in St Paul’s West Side
Neighborhood, and the Twin Cities Native American
Lacrosse Club.
Midwest World Fest: fostering cross-cultural understanding
through an international music program in small communities
across the Midwest Somali Documentary Project: working with
partners, including Intermedia, Somali community across
metro area.
FIGURE 14. SOME EXAMPLES OF ICCD/CCLI ALUMNI PLACE-BASED IMPACTS IN DULUTH-SUPERIOR
QUOTES FROM ALUMNIConsulting with Forecast Public Art, I developed a public master
plan and assisted with artist selection and implementation for
three projects in Saint Louis County’s Government Services
Center.
I have performed, exhibited, taught and served as support
person/ advisory board member in downtown Duluth (at the
Prøve Gallery, at Gimaajii Community Center, and at Zeitgeist
Arts). I have also exhibited in Wrenshall and at the Duluth Art
Institute and frequently support events/ projects of other artists
and community organizations.
I’m consulting with the Design Duluth Collaborative with LISC,
the St Louis River Alliance, and the University of Minnesota.
Intermedia Arts | 2016 27
Recently I participated in community organizing around the
Chester Park development issues (in Duluth).
I was and am a part of the Nibi Walk project, which walked the
St Louis River this year.
The map does not include the entire City of Duluth- it’s missing
several River Corridor neighborhoods where we have taken on an
increased role in revitalization activities. One of our main areas of
focus is to drive greater parity for the western neighborhoods’ low-
income neighborhoods. We are also working on some citywide
initiatives, so placed a marker at City Hall.
FIGURE 15. SOME EXAMPLES OF ICCD/CCLI ALUMNI PLACE-BASED IMPACTS IN FARGO-MOORHEAD
QUOTES FROM ALUMNIOur CCLI lab group has created an installation that will appear
at the Plains Art Museum in 2015. We will be a part of a group
show called: “The Bakken Boom: Artists Respond to the North
Dakota Oil Rush.” This opportunity grew out of the connection
we had with our CCLI project mentor, Karis Thompson.
Leading strategy and a Board for a community foundation
(ex: integration of a non-designated endowed art fund into the
long-term strategy as well as one for uplifting out of poverty,
education and community building; building community
dialogue platform for downtown Moorhead); strategy and board
leadership for a major arts org; continued integration of regional
art into our business.
We ran the 6th Annual F-M LGBT Film Fest in 2014 at the Fargo
Theatre. Previously, I also hosted FTM Dinners at my home in
Moorhead, and held FTM Brotherhood meetings at Grove Park.
Helped design and leverage the Plains Art Museum’s socially-
engaged art initiatives - development of three Defiant Gardens,
a Living as Form exhibition with 10 weeks of artist residencies
and the symposium Central Time Centric: Art and Social
Practice in the Midwest - as relationship-building platforms.
I have increased my involvement with West Acres, a local,
privately owned mall, in terms of helping them think about how
to further engage the larger community with and through art.
Our office is near downtown, and many conversations have
been held there that have helped shift the conversation to
find ways to incorporate the arts and arts-based learning into
a variety of businesses, ideas, Cities, etc. Downtown has
continued to grow and thrive since CCLI, in part because of the
work I am doing with artists.
I did some work in the Fargo-Moorhead area with a small
theater company that is devoted to heightening community
conversations to create social justice, Act Up Theatre.
Specifically I played a role in creating partnerships with
social service agencies within the area, as well as facilitating
post show conversations between audience, artistic team,
performers, and mental health specialists. I also worked with
them to develop a fundraising plan.
Connections built for a for-profit coffee shop and events space.
Collaborative work with the Moorhead Public Library.
28 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
APPENDIX A
Promoted Deep Connections
Intermedia Arts | 2016 29
APPENDIX B
Deepened Commitment to Racial Equity Work
30 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
APPENDIX C
Strengthened Leadership Skills for Community Building
Intermedia Arts | 2016 31
APPENDIX D
Generated Personal and Professional Growth
32 Community and Creative Leadership Institute | IMPACT STUDY
APPENDIX E
Challenges
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Intermedia Arts is a premier multidisciplinary, multicultural arts organization
in Minneapolis, Minnesota whose mission is to be a catalyst that builds
understanding among people through art.
The Creative Community Leadership Institute (CCLI) is a program of Intermedia Arts that
fosters healthy, capable and equitable communities by building the skills and network of
leaders working at the intersection of the arts and community change. CCLI is rooted
in the belief that communities facing rapid change and complex issues can make real
progress when people come together across disciplines, sectors and boundaries to
collaborate, innovate, think big, and act artfully for community-driven change. For
communities to thrive, we need creative leaders who can engage people across large
divides and establish enough common ground to develop cooperative and just solutions.
These are the skills the Creative Community Leadership Institute builds. This study was
commissioned by Intermedia Arts to inform the ongoing improvement of the
organization’s creative leadership programs. It was prepared by lead evaluator
Betty Emarita, with Scott Chazdon from the University of Minnesota Extension Center
for Community Vitality.
The Creative Community Leadership Institute, and this study have been made possible
through the generous support of the Bush Foundation.
IntermediaArts.org
612.871.4444 // [email protected]
2822 Lyndale Ave South, Minneapolis, MN 55408
WENDY MORRIS
Director of Creative Leadership