Winnipeg Arts Council

Urban Idea: Creative Placemaking Challenge 2014

On Friday August 15, ten groups of creative people mounted installations in the alleys of Winnipeg’s West Exchange District as part of Urban Idea’s Creative Placemaking Challenge. Charged with reinventing an alley for one day, each group provided passers-by with the opportunity to look at space differently, to engage in a wide variety of activities, and to experience first-hand how embedding creativity and the arts into our neighbourhoods can be transformational for cities.

Throughout the day, thousands of people interacted with the ten installations. You could attend a performance piece or a lecture on gardening. There were hammocks to relax in and a lawn to lie on and stargaze. A video installation transported you to a sailboat on Lake Winnipeg, while another let you watch a cat chase a laser pointer. The area was bordered at one end by a poetry-infused market and at the other by a 2 storey diving board and tank. Whether mapping out their own area of the city or just having fun blowing bubbles, there was something to capture everyone’s attention, and to get people thinking about the endless possibilities of these spaces.

The Creative Placemaking Challenge was about celebrating the City and the art of creating possibility. To see more from the day, or to learn more about the 2014 Year of Urban Ideas please visit www.urbanidea.ca.

Urban Idea is an independent not-for-profit organization managed by the Winnipeg Arts Council. Support for the 2014 Year of Urban Ideas has been provided by The Canada Council for the Arts and The Winnipeg Foundation.