Placemaking Public Art Project Creating an Arts and Culture District
Florin Road Community Beautification Project $1,122,173.00
The Florin Road Community Beautification Project is a public outreach campaign, youth engagement, and beautification effort to improve the area from Tamoshanter Way through Franklin Boulevard on Florin Road. The project will coordinate with Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum, Luther Burbank High School, Florin Road Partnership, local nonprofits, and businesses to address litter and illegal dumping hot spots. In addition, this project will create public spaces for showcasing the culture and diversity of the Meadowview community.
The project will include art installations on Florin Road, such as banners, murals, interactive structures, landscaping, museum signage, and public seating. High school interns will conduct litter source assessments, adopt litter hot spots for clean-up, and be involved in designing and promoting litter abatement solutions. In addition, there will be opportunities for the community to participate in beautification efforts through community art projects, youth programming, and outreach events.
The Florin Road Community Beautification Project is a collaboration of just that, the government, businesses, and community members working together to beautify the corner of our earth, provide opportunities for youth to be a part of solutions to prevent littering, and create an area where people will enjoy walking and taking public transit.
For over 20 years, the National Academic Youth Corps. INC has served our community through multifaceted art programs and initiatives, focusing on empowering youth in underserved communities. In addition, the museum has successfully expanded the cultural education of youth in our South Sacramento community. I have seen first-hand the support the museum has provided to emerging young artists, and I understand its transformative impact on young lives.
The museum has done this with collaborative support from local businesses, private donors, and community-based organizations. Shaping this proposal has galvanized stakeholders in a community engagement process. Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum (will be able to expand its services that focus on youth, expand its ability to curate public art, murals, sculptures, and green space, and create a placemaking project that engages arts and business as a cultural district at Florin to 24th and Tamoshanter Drive projects advance local economic, physical, or social outcomes in communities, ultimately laying the groundwork for systems change and centering equity. These projects require a partnership between a nonprofit organization and a local government entity, with one of the partners being a cultural organization.
Required Partnerships
A key to the success of creative placemaking is involving the arts in partnership with committed governmental, nonprofit, and private sector leadership. All applications must demonstrate a partnership that will provide leadership for the project. These partnerships must involve two primary partners, as defined by these guidelines:
Nonprofit organization-
A local government entity-a cultural (arts or design) organization must be one of these two primary partners. In addition, the highest ranking official of the local government is required to submit a formal statement of support.
The Florin Road Corridor Plan is a joint planning effort between the City and the County of Sacramento to promote coordinated planning and economic revitalization along the corridor. The boundaries extend along Florin Road between Tamoshanter Way in the City and Stockton Boulevard (map).
The Florin Road Corridor Plan includes specific strategies to address housing, economic development, infrastructure and financing, public safety, and design needs of the corridor. These strategies will encourage well-designed infill and economic development along Florin Road.
Rezone specific sites. Create a design review district.
Add new South Area Community Plan policies.
Establish a transit village district.
Adopt a new streetscape plan. Accept background studies.
Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum (SOJO) submitted to the Florin Road Partnership. Focusing on Goal 3, improving Public Spaces for Walking and Recreation: and how these improvements will enhance public health, cultural connection, and community placemaking.
The granted objectives are to "Enhance public health, cultural connections, and community placemaking by improving public spaces for walking and recreation" and "Reduce the amount of waste and debris within public rights-of-way pathways, parks, transit centers, and other public spaces." Our grant application specified that community involvement is the key to achieving those grant objectives.
We are proposing to meet these goals by involving the community through the pop-ups and youth engagement opportunities so that ideas for beautification and placemaking are generated in the community and not for the community by the City. This is a significant piece to get buy-in for the projects, hopefully resulting in longer results. As specified in the grant application, this is a critical part of our public outreach approach to successfully engage youth and was described in the grant application. In addition, we budgeted for entertainment and food for the community events to encourage pride in the place and to get youth participation.
Per CFR 200, these pop-ups meet the definition of a workshop or event where we will disseminate information related to litter abatement and placemaking activities. Entertainment costs are also allowed because the entertainment has a programmatic purpose of encouraging youth engagement.
Project Manager
National Academic Youth Corps Inc. DBA Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum Awarded California Arts Council JUMP StArts Grant
State funds support. With support from the California Arts Council, the National Academic Youth Corps, DBA, the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum, and Andre Morris Foundation, collectively as a "Community-Committee, of Correctional officers and Cultural Creatives," will use the arts as a Catalyst for BIPOC youth to transitioning successfully through the justice system.
