“If you are trying to build a community, you need the arts at the community development table.”
-Jason Schupbach, Former Director of the National Endowment for the Arts
Place attachment theory—describing the emotional bond between a person and a place—suggests that the more an individual comes to love their city, the greater their eventual civic engagement. Studies show that this phenomenon has both well-defined inputs and outputs, one predictor of place attachment being a thriving creative economy (scroll down to learn more).
Using Clarke County’s 20-Year Action Agenda as our guide, Get Artistic is a community development program designed to foster place attachment by investing in our creative industries.
A year-round program with a seasonal emphasis—typically in early fall—Get Artistic supports the local arts community through the following outlets:
Since the program’s earliest beginnings in 2017, we’ve mobilized $222,106 to help artists thrive in the Athens community. $63,766 of that has been disbursed through our grant program, which you can read about here.
“Making residents happier is a few levels up the Maslowian hierarchy. But it makes sense that cities
want to shoot for it, since residents who are happier with their city are more likely
to be attached, and attached residents are more likely to get involved.”
-Melody Warnick, This is Where You Belong
Place attachment theory describes the emotional bond between a person and a place. This growing body of research—driven by the disciplines of anthropology, psychology, and sociology—ultimately suggests that the more an individual comes to love their city, the greater their eventual civic engagement.
While this phenomenon has many distinct inputs and outputs (see below), a major predictor of place attachment is a thriving creative economy, which is why the Get Artistic program directs a disproportionate amount of resources toward these efforts.
