This summer, the Rutherford Arts Alliance Arts Advocacy Interest Group has been diving into creative placemaking: the practice of using arts, culture, and creativity for community development, to shape the places where we live, work, and gather.

You don't need to be an artist or a city planner to be interested. If you care about what Rutherford County is becoming, and want to have a hand in shaping it, this series is for you.

This free series included two videos and one live discussion. Both videos are now available to view on YouTube:

Part 1

What Is Creative Placemaking?

What does it mean to make a place worth living in? And how do arts and culture shape the communities we call home?

In this first session, we'll explore the foundations of creative placemaking: what it is, where it comes from, and why it matters for communities like ours. Drawing on insights from the 2026 South & Appalachian Creative Placemaking Summit in Memphis, this session offers an accessible introduction to ideas that are already reshaping towns and cities across the South.

Whether you're brand new to this conversation or have been thinking about it for years, this is your invitation in.

Part 2

Making Home in Rutherford County

We've learned the framework. We've practiced working together. Now we bring it home.

In this final session, we look at creative placemaking in action: real projects from communities across the South that used arts and culture to shape their growth, protect their identity, and strengthen belonging. Then we'll turn the lens on Rutherford County: what's already happening here, what's possible, and how you can be a part of it.

About This Series

In April 2026, RAA board member and Arts Advocacy Interest Group leader Mai Hamric attended the 2026 South & Appalachian Creative Placemaking Summit in Memphis, Tennessee — made possible by a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission's Special Opportunities: Arts Forward program.

Produced by Creative Placemaking Communities in partnership with Community LIFT, the Summit brought together artists, administrators, and community leaders to explore how arts, culture, and creative placemaking can drive community and economic development across the South. Themed "Building Bridges: Connecting Communities through Culture and Commerce," the 2026 gathering was the eighth and final regional summit — a capstone convening for a decade of work across the Southern region and Appalachia.

The Tennessee Arts Commission's Special Opportunities: Arts Forward grant is designed to strengthen Tennessee's arts sector and support unique opportunities statewide, including funding for individual Tennessee residents to attend the Summit. This series is the direct result of that investment — bringing what was learned in Memphis back to Rutherford County.

This project was supported in part by a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission. Learn more about the Special Opportunities: Arts Forward grant program and the 2026 South & Appalachian Creative Placemaking Summit.