Fairmount Park Conservancy
Fairmount Park Conservancy staff recognized that artists bring a unique set of skills and perspectives to community development and they are adept at giving voice to community narratives and proposing strategies that fall outside traditional park planning, development, stewardship, and programming. Fairmount Park Conservancy is now utilizing the arts to strengthen the organization’s mission and values, make the city’s parks relevant for a more diverse population of Philadelphians, and celebrate history, culture, and identity in reclaimed public spaces. Their initial efforts in adapting arts and cultural strategies focused on strengthening and expanding their work in the neighborhoods adjacent to Fairmount Park — the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood, in particular. By forging new partnerships with artists and cultural producers, they became better equipped to tap into critical community voices to ensure that current and future planning and decision-making processes for new park investments are truly collaborative.




