What do we mean by Inspiring Places?
To explore the notion of Inspiring Places is:
· To consider how places inspire us and how we have created places that we value as a community and as individuals;
· To prompt fresh narratives and creative interpretations that help us mine the untapped potential of the places we value;
· To explore and understand the non-geographic spaces, e.g. places of the heart and spirit, that nurture us and give meaning to individual and community life;
· To evaluate how place-making shapes, and is shaped by, the economic, environmental, and physical health of our neighborhoods; and
· To consider how public, personal, and virtual places help and/or hinder community life.
As you evaluate your programming ideas, also consider the following:
· What places are valuable to your community, organization, faith tradition, profession, etc., and why?
· What place-making opportunities or challenges (both physical and metaphorical) does your community, neighborhood, organization, discipline, field, face at this time?
· How might your program build awareness for both celebrated and under-valued “places” in our communities and neighborhoods?
· How might collaborations among the arts, humanities, and religion illuminate these issues?
· How might your program be a catalyst for civic engagement and enduring change in your place, your community? (Spirit & Place mission)
· How might your program bring diverse groups together? Different faiths? Different neighborhoods? Different cultures?