LANSING - Art and culture matter to economic development. In great part it represents a community's wealth, sophistication, and creative talent. In other words, art, especially the display of public art, and culture reveals prosperity and opportunity which in turn can help communities and companies more successfully retain and recruit talent. Thus LEAP announces the formation of the new Placemaking workgroup chaired by Steve Curran from Harvest Creative Services and Julie Pingston from the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Placemaking committee has one main focus which is to develop an institutional program for placing public art within a municipality. The process will involve the required adoption of a public art placement policy by each municipality. Once the community has adopted this policy, the Placemaking workgroup will work with the municipality to commission a local artist to create a piece of art for public view. The artist will be compensated through matching dollars partly funded by LEAP and by the community.

"A vibrant art and culture environment can tell you much about a region. Art and culture represent income, talent, and vision," said Bob Trezise, President & CEO of LEAP. "Displaying these qualities signals to the nation and the world that we are a community of opportunity and prosperity, which in turn plays a real role in helping businesses and communities attract and retain talent."

If you are a municipality or a local artist looking for a way to get involved, please contact LEAP, info@purelansing.com.

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The Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) is a coalition of area leaders committed to building a prosperous and vibrant region where business can thrive. To do this, we help entrepreneurs start new businesses, help existing businesses grow, and attract new businesses to the region. For more information about LEAP, please visit www.purelansing.com.