The Arts Council of Indianapolis, in partnership with Near East Area Renewal (NEAR), is requesting statements of interest from Near Eastside residents who are interested in aesthetically engaging with artists, police officers, and each other to plan community and public space arts projects that help increase public safety in the Rural/10th Street corridors.  Four community members will team with four artists and four East District police officers to form a cohort that will train and work together over a period of about 18 months.

Deadline for Submissions:  Wednesday, December 6, 2017 5:00 p.m. (this is NOT a postmark deadline!)

Compensation:  $10,000 (part-time, temporary) plus hourly time-in-training

Eligibility Requirements

To qualify, residents must:

• Be 18 years of age or older
• Be a resident of a Near Eastside neighborhood (map here:  http://nescocommunity.org/neighborhoods/). Preference will be given to applicants living in the Springdale, Brookside, St. Clair Place, Rivoli Park, TEAR United, or Englewood neighborhoods, particularly in the portions of those neighborhoods included in the project area (see attached map of project area)
• Have previously engaged with community-based groups with the goal of neighborhood improvement.  Examples: neighborhood associations, faith-based organizations, block clubs, school organizations (such as PTA/PTO), neighborhood watch, event planning in the neighborhood, etc.
• Be willing to commit to the full duration of the project and meet all documentation requirements.
• It is not expected that the resident participants will come into the project with experience in creative placemaking or crime prevention.  Artistic talent is not required!  Enthusiasm, a desire to learn new skills, and excitement about working with others to make neighborhoods better are the only qualifications for this project.  The commitment to the neighborhood and deep local knowledge are what the project is looking for in the resident participants.

Project Context

Until the 1980s, the Near Eastside of Indianapolis was home to middle-class families with good-paying manufacturing jobs.  With the decline of this economic sector over the next 25 years, the area faced dwindling community investment, resulting in its current high levels of unemployment and poverty, increased crime, and physical deterioration.  In 2012, the community developed the Near Eastside Quality of Life Plan to help guide its future; in 2015, the federal government designated the Indy East Promise Zone as an area with assets and activity that merited special attention from programs designed to improve livability and spur growth.  Creative placemaking was identified in both of these plans as a desired approach, to help bring “out of the box” thinking to seemingly entrenched challenges, particularly the type of crime that was keeping the neighborhood from attracting opportunities for jobs and economic growth.

Meanwhile, the East District of the IMPD had identified the area around East 10th and Rural as an area to pay special attention to, due to the number of violent crimes occurring there.  With new leadership the department has emphasized the idea of “community policing,” in which the community and law enforcement partner to create a positive physical and social environment that emphasizes problem-solving for prevention rather than arrests for infractions.   A set of strategies often applied in community policing is Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED), which employs techniques focused on art, architectural design, and the social environment to make a neighborhood more crime-resistant. Many East District officers are CPTED-certified.  Other techniques highlight working with youth at risk and those re-entering the community after having been incarcerated.

Indy East Art Peace was created by NEAR and the Arts Council, with support from the City of Indianapolis, to combine these community- and city-based efforts with the creative energy of the arts community, known for its ability to inspire activity that brings community together, to promote positive use of public space, and to look at challenges in a completely unexpected way.  The project intends to take advantage of these three different streams of expertise by providing training, guaranteeing compensation, and allowing sufficient planning time, and by bringing together residents, artists, and police officers who can work in productive teams to take action.

Project Area

The project area is shown on the attached map.  It is approximately one square mile in the heart of the Near Eastside, and includes portions of six neighborhoods:  Brookside, Springdale, Rivoli Park, St. Clair Place, Englewood, and TEAR United.  Intersections along Rural St. include E. 10th St., E. Michigan St., E. New York St., and E. Washington St.  Activity can take place anywhere within the indicated area with an emphasis on the commercial corridors and intersections.

Project Activities

Creative placemaking is a discipline that brings people, culture, and place together to enhance and support communities as they reach toward their goals.  Through Indy East Art Peace, three particular groups of people will work together, each bringing their unique perspectives to the common challenge of public safety to an area where a wide range of people live, work, shop, and play.

Four Near Eastside artists, four residents, and four East District police officers will form a working cohort for about 18 months.  They will all be trained in the disciplines of creative placemaking and CPTED, learning together and meeting regularly for conversations, community walks, and idea sessions.

Four mixed teams, each consisting of one officer, one artist, and one community member, will then propose and test ideas for arts-based projects that will address hyper-local public safety challenges.  The teams will present their concepts to the community at large at a “pitch-night” style event in January 2019; the community will select the ideas they like best and the teams will work on creating plans, budgets, and designs to get them ready for funding and implementation.

In addition to placemaking plans, the project will result in a toolkit so other neighborhoods can engage in similar activities, and a set of metrics designed by professional evaluators to help understand and further direct the positive effect of creative placemaking on crime prevention.

Compensation and Project Budget

The selected residents will each receive a fee of $10,000 for their participation and engagement over the project’s 18-month duration, plus additional compensation of approximately $15/hr for time spent in CPTED and creative placemaking training sessions.    The required time commitment will be about 6 hours a week, on average.

Resources

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), through its Our Town program.  For more information on Our Town and the NEA’s approach to creative placemaking, visit https://www.arts.gov/exploring-our-town/

Information about the use of creative placemaking in public safety improvements can be found in the ArtPlace/Urban Institute Public Safety Field Scan.  Read about the field scan and other projects in this blog post.

Selection Process

Submitted information will be reviewed by a selection panel, composed of representatives from Near Eastside stakeholders, IMPD, and the Arts Council of Indianapolis.   The selected resident group will represent a diversity of ages, cultures, life experiences, neighborhoods, and community perspectives.

Project Timeline

This timeline represents the project as it now appears.  Changes may be necessary as the project progresses.

• November 6, 2017–Release Request for Resident Participation
• December 6, 2017 – Resident applications due to NEAR (susan@nearindy.org)
• Week of January 8, 2018 – Resident submissions reviewed (some applicants may be asked to come in for a personal interview)
• By January 31, 2018 – Selected residents notified and contracted
• Winter-Spring 2018 – Creative placemaking and CPTED training
• Summer-Fall, 2018 – Community interaction, cohort meetings, team work
• January, 2019 – “Pitch Night” event; projects selected for development
• February-June, 2019 – Project development and planning
• July 31, 2019 – End of project (implementation of projects may continue under another initiative)

Submission Process

Residents must submit the following information digitally:

• Applicant Information: Complete the form below and submit in .doc, .docx or .pdf format.  An editable copy is available on request from susan@nearindy.org, or use copy/paste to reproduce the form.
• Examples of Previous Community Involvement and Leadership (maximum 5 files):  Submit any available documentation (articles, pictures, links, letters of recommendation, etc.) of the applicant’s connection and community involvement on the Near Eastside within the last 5 years.

Delivery of Submissions

All submissions must be received at NEAR before 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on Wednesday, December 6, 2017.

Submissions may be delivered electronically via email, on a flashdrive/CD, or in hard copy (paper) to Susan Vogt, Director of Economic Development, NEAR.

Flashdrives/CDs or hard copy proposals may be delivered or mailed to:

Near East Area Renewal (NEAR)
Attn: Susan Vogt
2807 E. 10th St.
Indianapolis, Indiana 46201

Email documents to Susan Vogt, susan@nearindy.org

QUESTIONS?

For questions and assistance preparing the application, contact:

Susan Vogt, Director of Economic Development, NEAR:  susan@nearindy.org, or (317) 927-8659

ARTS COUNCIL EQUITY STATEMENT

The Arts Council of Indianapolis is committed to working with the arts and cultural community to cultivate a sector that serves, celebrates, and values every resident of Indianapolis. We envision a city where engagement in the arts is not pre-determined by socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. We see a robust and successful arts and cultural community as:

• A city where all artists, creative workers, audiences, and students have full access to the robust creative arts resources of our community and in which their varied histories, voices, and life experiences are honored.
• A city where equitable access to arts funding and programs for all arts organizations and artists is expected and delivered.
• A city where such funding and programs unite arts organizations and artists with diverse populations in our community to nurture a community where every resident sees themselves as belonging, learning, and participating in the arts sector.

We believe these closely held tenets will sustain a full creative life for all.

For more information about the Arts Council of Indianapolis, visit www.indyarts.org.

For more information about Near East Area Renewal, visit www.nearindy.org

Indy East Art Peace

Resident Applicant Information Form

Please limit the information provided on this form to one typed page.

Resident Name:

Mailing Address:             City/State/ZIP:

Day or Mobile Phone:            Evening or Home Phone:

Email Address:

Neighborhood Association (if applicable):

Please explain the nature of your connection to the Near Eastside:

Please list and describe the neighborhood-based groups or projects you have participated in and any leadership roles you may have held. As you can, include pictures, links to websites, Facebook groups, articles, etc. as documentation of these projects and activities:

Please describe your view of the strengths and challenges of your neighborhood and the Near Eastside in general:

Please describe any groups, populations, organizations, agencies, individuals, etc. you feel you could or would like to engage if you were to be selected for this project:

Demographic information

(all questions are optional)

How do you describe your preferred gender identification?

• Male
• Female
• Gender Variant/Non-conforming
• Other not mentioned above

Which of the following categories describe(s) you? (check as many as may apply)

• Hispanic or Latino
• Black or African American
• Native American or American Indian
• Asian
• Pacific Islander
• White or Caucasian
• Other

What is your age?

• 18-29 years old
• 30-49 years old
• 50-64 years old
• 65 years and over

Do you identify as a person with a physical or mental disability?

• Yes
• No

Are you a veteran of any branch of the U.S. military?

• Yes
• No