Developing partnerships is key to the success of presenting arts programming in parks. Partners can bring resources to the table such as permitting, funding, sponsorship, in-kind material donations, community engagement, marketing and promotion, and much more. Be open to collaboration with local organizations, BIAs, politicians, businesses, and community members. Successful partnerships are reciprocal, built one step at a time and require clear communication and shared vision and objectives.

Establishing and Building Relationships

Building and maintaining multiple partnerships can be daunting but it is a necessary part of creating public arts programming. Beyond developing connections in the community and raising awareness of an initiative, strong community relationships allow for...
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Mapping Support

An effective way of identifying potential organizations, agencies and individuals to collaborate with is to build a list by mapping the spaces, people, organizations, businesses, and communities that may benefit from and contribute to your initiative. Shared goals...
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Relationships at all Levels

Key stakeholders in a public arts initiative are: artists and arts organizations, funders, municipal or regional government, community agencies and services, and community members. As the organizer of your initiative you will be the...
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Maintaining Relationships

Staying relevant beyond the summer months can be difficult. Building year-round connections to the community helps to build an audience or participant base for your programming. Don’t just show up to launch a program and expect everyone to be...
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“Programs like this fill a great gap in the way parks are animated. Residents have been complaining how there isn't a lot of variety of events in their community and how they always have to travel downtown for similar experiences. Events like these are great for bringing people together, getting them acquainted with other members of their community and building confidence, trust and people's awareness of what a park (public space) can be and do for them. And how they can reach out to different levels of government and organizations to accomplish their vision.”

- North York Community Organizer, 2017