CULTIVATING THE ARTS -4

CITIES BENEFIT FROM USING
THE ARTS AS AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TOOL

Chris Velasco, who founded PLACE in 2005 and serves as its President and Executive Director, has been actively engaged in the creation of innovative communities and sustainable facilities for 16 years. He has worked in more than 200 communities, creating more than $350 million worth of new, arts-centered facilities.

"Art is fundamentally a process and not a product," Velasco said. "There is a strong temptation to go to a museum and say `this is where art lives,' but it really takes place over a cup of coffee talking with an artist over their canvas, or in a loft with the dancers creating their dance. That is why I have spent nearly two decades of my life building very specialized spaces for the arts."