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ARC Selects Arts, Culture, and Civic Leaders to Participate in 2023 Culture and Community Design Program

Atlanta — Apr 18, 2023

The Atlanta Regional Commission today announced that 27 arts, culture, and civic leaders have been selected to participate in the 2023 Culture and Community Design program. These leaders will meet between May and December and work in groups to help further the strategic goals of two community arts organizations:

• The African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta (ADAMA), an innovative museum showcasing contemporary art and culture of the African diaspora.
• Full Radius Dance, a dance company that brings together disabled and non-disabled dancers through performance, education, and advocacy to address community needs through culture-focused planning and design initiatives.

The Culture and Community Design program is a new effort at ARC that builds on the agency’s past arts leadership program, the Arts Leaders of Metro Atlanta, or ALMA. The revised program provides a more immersive, hands-on experience for a broader diversity of participants that includes artists, culture-bearers, planners, designers, and government officials.

Critically, the Culture & Community Design program (C&CD) focuses on strategic engagement with small, arts-focused organizations that don’t have the resources for these kinds of efforts.

“We are excited to launch our newly designed C&CD program, which focuses on communities that are too often excluded from the regional planning process,” said Roshani Thakore, Head of Community Engagement & Arts Program at ARC. “We’ve designed the program to provide an inclusive learning space with artists, planners, community-based organizations, and local government officials – key members in shaping a visionary metro Atlanta.”

The Culture & Community Design Program was created to advance arts and culture as an essential part of inclusive and equitable planning in communities across metro Atlanta and is part of ARC’s Arts, Culture, and Placemaking Plan which aims to integrate arts and culture into the agency’s planning work to help build a thriving and healthy region.

2023 C&CD Program Participants:

• Kristin Allin, Senior Planner, Atlanta Regional Commission
• Jose Awo, Artist in Residence, City of Atlanta
• Thomas Brazzle, Operations Manager/Storyteller, Out of Hand Theater
• Maranie Brown, Vice President, BlackRock
• Page Burch, Master Craftsman Program Coordinator, Kennesaw State University
• Emma Chammah, Visual Artist & Public Art Program Consultant
• Alanna Fairburn, Community Planner & Designer, TSW Design
• Stephanie Fleming, Village Chief, ADAMA/Artist
• Marcel Foster, Arts and Health Evaluator/Faculty, University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine
• Beckie Hawkins, Arts & Culture Manager, City of Roswell
• Ty Kelty, South Fulton Public Arts Commission
• Eryn Kim, Transportation Planner, Pond & Company
• Julia Kim, Landscape Designer, DTJ Design
• Caitlin King, Main Street Manager, City of South Fulton
• Vanessa Lira, Senior Project Director, Street Plans
• Jennie Lobato, Founder/CEO, drawchange
• Lillie Madali, DJ and Co-Owner, The Evil Doers Mega LLC dba Kamay
• Dorian McDuffie, Public Art Project Manager, City of Atlanta Department of City Planning
• Paige Mitchell, Program Associate, Housing & Place-Based, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
• Sharon Moskowitz, Arts Consultant, Explore Brookhaven/srmART Connect
• Laura Murvartian, Principal, LM Creative Talent, LLC
• Katie Perumbeti, Lifelong Communities Coordinator, Atlanta Regional Commission
• Terri Julian Polk, Board President, Create Dunwoody
• Marcelo Roman, Board Member, Full Radius Dance
• Joel Silverman, Artist, Joel Silverman Studio
• Naomi Siodmok, Director of Community Development, City of Doraville
• William Smith, Director of Economic Development, City of Stonecrest

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The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the official planning agency for the 11-county Atlanta Region, including Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties as well as the City of Atlanta and 74 other cities.  The Atlanta Regional Commission serves as a catalyst for regional progress by focusing leadership, attention and planning resources on key regional issues.  

Contact Name: Paul Donsky
Contact Phone: 404-202-4662
Contact Email: pdonsky@atlantaregional.org