Oakland Named Among Top 12 Art Places in the Nation!

Oakland has just been named among the top 12 cities for art in the nation. The ranking comes from ArtPlace America, a collaboration of 13 leading national and regional foundations, eight federal agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, and six of the nation’s largest banks to accelerate creative placemaking across the U.S. ArtPlace is investing in art and culture at the heart of a portfolio of integrated strategies that can drive vibrancy and diversity so powerful that it transforms communities.  

As selected by ArtPlace, “America’s Top 12 ArtPlaces” are communities that have most successfully combined art, artists and venues for creativity and expression with independent businesses, retail shops and restaurants, and a walkable lifestyle to make vibrant neighborhoods

Oakland is in very good company. See below for complete list, which are not in any ranked order – all 12 cities are considered equal in the survey.


America’s Top 12 ArtPlaces for 2013:

Brooklyn, NY / The intersection of Downtown, Fort Greene, Gowanus, Park Slope and Prospect Heights
Dallas, TX / The Dallas Arts District, with parts of Deep Ellum and Exposition Park
Los Angeles, CA / Central Hollywood
Miami Beach, FL / South Beach
Milwaukee, WI / East Town and a portion of the Lower East Side
New York, NY / Manhattan Valley
Oakland, CA / Downtown, including Chinatown, Old Oakland and Jack London Square
Philadelphia, PA / Old City
Portland, OR / The Pearl District and a portion of Downtown
San Francisco, CA / The Mission District
Seattle, WA / The Pike-Pine Corridor
Washington, DC / The intersection of Adams Morgan, U Street, and Dupont Circle

Here is a link to the ArtPlace press release, which has already generated coverage for Oakland in the San Francisco Chronicle (see below link).

http://www.artplaceamerica.org/articles/americas-top-artplaces-2013/

“Oakland on top 12 list for art, not crime”

January 8, 2013, San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/place/article/Oakland-on-top-12-list-for-art-not-crime-4176169.php#ixzz2HV7MnI7A

 

In addition, the City Hall art exhibit featured at our 2012 Art +Soul festival was recently named among the top 10 Bay Are art experiences of 2012: http://www.kqed.org/arts/visualarts/article.jsp?essid=113408

 

**** Come hear more about art in Oakland at our upcoming event: Building A Strong Economy: A Vision for 2020 on February 6^th. The Concurrent Program sessions will feature a discussion on arts and entertainment in Oakland. Join Us – register online HERE.******