Together

BRING THE PEOPLE together—that is the mission. Over several decades, city planners and urban leaders in American cities have been engaged in creating built environments designed to attract people. Why do they do this? Community well-being: Human engagement improves and adds to our quality of life. Since the beginning of time, human nature dictates a desire to gather. The best public parks and squares, waterfronts, performing arts centers, and museums are all designed and built with this need in mind.

The most commonly used word for this concept is placemaking. American urbanist William H. Whyte published the Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, a pioneering work that influenced modern placemaking. His research and books continue to influence urban-planning students around the world. Whyte’s research answered the question of why we gather, simply put, “What attracts people most, it would appear, is other people.” He believed that public space contributed to an individual’s quality of life and that there was an obligation on the part of city planners, architects, and designers to create physical places that facilitate interaction. This concept—almost taken for granted today—is an essential component to the successful design of public buildings, outdoor spaces, and, just as critical, the programs that activate those spaces.

Covid-19 has made it challenging to gather together in spaces that were designed for human interaction. Despite our forced separations, artists and art organizations are innovating and adapting new ways to facilitate interaction with the visual and performing arts in a manner that is safe and socially distanced. This is what artists can be relied upon to do—rethink and communicate perspectives and solutions to life’s most vexing problems. During a time when distancing is necessary, artists, arts educators, and the organizations that produce art programs have shown extraordinary creativity and resiliency. A universal bright spot throughout the coronavirus era, the arts have defined placemaking, gathering us together through the computer screen, in a public park or plaza, or within a meticulously managed setting of a gallery.

We have laughed, cried, and been moved by the importance of artistic creation. Personally, I have viewed live and recorded performance on the television and my laptop and participated in the experimental and sometimes polished live-streamed and virtual events. Each time, I truly appreciate the innovation it takes to conceive a different way for an audience member to engage with the visual and performing arts. More than ever, we’ve seen how streamed and virtual programs enrich cultural value—in ways that will most certainly complement in-person programming in the future.

Through the summer and early fall months, placemaking has moved outside with arts programming adapting to physical space and the need for distancing. This has been a positive development, but I know I’m not alone when I say that I hope, in 2021, we will return for seated and educational arts programming inside. I look forward to the day when we can attend the theater, a concert, or a ballet in a performance space designed for optimal presentation of the artist and the artform. To enjoy the arts, inside and outside, in spaces designed to facilitate human interaction and participation with each other and the art is one of life’s great pleasures.

As we conclude the year of the pandemic, I say a profound thank you to the artists and arts organizations who gather us together. We appreciate all you are doing.

Elizabeth Eickman is the director of Kirkpatrick Family Fund.