Community Happens Here
Cincinnati, OH
WE-Making is a suite of resources that explores the relationship between place-based arts practices and social cohesion as a means to advance health equity and community wellbeing. This We-Making story is one example of how place-based arts and cultural strategies uniquely contributed to social cohesion and wellbeing in this community. Throughout this story you’ll see terms paired with actions in parentheses (e.g., social capital, collective action, place attachment, civic engagement, self-determination of shared values). This is to denote for the reader how the WE-Making framework was specifically incorporated. Explore the WE-Making framework and resources.
Image credit: Community Happens Here
It's a brisk autumn morning in Pleasant Ridge, a neighborhood on the north side of the Cincinnati metro area. Leaves are falling and wind gusts swell, as local students make their way up the driveway to begin their Sidewalk Hospitality shifts at Community Happens Here – a neighborhood-focused non-profit committed to connecting people across differences. There's Shawn[i], the class clown with an award-worthy smile. And Imani, who's wearing a shirt she helped design for a club at school. They get right to work. Shawn pops popcorn while Imani prepares supplies for the art table. More teammates arrive. Carter wheels out a cart of mugs, as Jasmine brews coffee and makes hot cocoa. Before long, the result of their work is manifest. Together this team of 5th through 8th graders has created an outdoor space where classmates can reconnect on the weekends; where dialogues are facilitated between the resourced and the under-resourced, between those with access and those without; and where neighbors have the opportunity to become friends, allies, and advocates for one another (social capital-bonding).
Community Happens Here opens opportunities for conversations between strangers that grow into resilient community connections, resulting in fresh energy for community change goals, economic empowerment and cross-cultural friendships (collective action- community participation to facilitate dialogue). The organization’s flagship initiative – Sidewalk Hospitality – is a weekly opportunity for Pleasant Ridge residents to gather, share coffee, and create art side by side. Sidewalk Hospitality takes place each Saturday morning outside the Community Happens Here space (place attachment- community spaces). On a typical Saturday, 25-75 people take advantage of this opportunity to connect. Participants vary in socio-economic status, racial background, sexual orientation, and age (civic engagement- willingness to participate in hyper-local activities; high opportunity, low barrier). As they are offered a warm drink and invited to contribute to a shared art project, they’re brought into intentional conversation by staff and students leaders (self-determination of shared values- provides setting to discuss issues and form connections).
This dynamic neighborhood space is staffed and shaped by members of Community Happens Here’s Teen Barista program. Teen Baristas – like Shawn, Imani, Carter, and Jasmine – are students from local schools who sign up for this entrepreneurship training initiative to earn community service hours and to develop practical workplace competencies. Teen Baristas learn specialized skills for coffeeshop work – such as grinding beans, brewing coffee, crafting lattes, etc. – as well as essential workplace skills – such as introducing yourself confidently, engaging potential customers, completing tasks, and making eye-contact with adults (civic engagement- fostering lifetime inclination; leadership). They also prepare the Sidewalk Hospitality art initiatives and guide neighbors through the creative process. They are the face, muscle, and creative spark behind the weekly Sidewalk Hospitality gatherings. As they receive conscious mentorship and real-world experience, Teen Baristas gain confidence and improve their marketability. Community Happens Here’s ultimate aim is that each participant in the Teen Barista program would find themselves better equipped for in-person interviews and meaningful employment, if and when that becomes a goal they might like to pursue.
The kind of placed-based space-making work that occurs at Community Happens Here is valuable to community members, and formative for the Teen Baristas who lead it. It’s dignifying and difference-making.
Consider just two conversations that unfolded at one particular Sidewalk Hospitality gathering in late September 2021. That morning, a 31-year old community member had the opportunity to interact with an 8th grader from Cincinnati’s Spencer Education Center, a school for gifted students. They shared with the adult that they’d recently come out as bisexual at their school. While the student felt support from their classmates, they said they had yet to feel seen or understood by the adults in their life. The adult at Sidewalk Hospitality was able to provide a listening ear and some encouragement in the midst of this significant period in that student’s life (social capital- bonding).
That same morning, an African American high school student spoke with an adult about her aspirations to become a human rights attorney. That adult, who is connected with a number of attorneys who practice in that space, offered to connect this student to those attorneys if it would be helpful to her as she explores that pathway for her future (social capital- bridging, networks).
Conversations over coffee, across the table, and around artwork are connecting individuals across different ages, racial, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds in the heart of Pleasant Ridge. Social capital is being leveraged for the benefit of neighbors. And neighbors are gaining a sense of belonging and connection that is driving new initiatives to improve community well-being. Through Sidewalk Hospitality conversations, new groups have been formed around shared interests (self-determination of shared values). And new advocacy has consolidated for significant community issues.
Additionally, Community Happens Here has served as a site where neighbors can creatively respond to the collective trauma and isolation of COVID-19. Following the limitations on human connection necessitated by the pandemic, Community Happens Here’s outdoor space of hospitality and creativity has enabled Pleasant Ridge residents to reconnect in a safe and socially-responsible way (group attachment).
How Arts and Culture moved the dial in Pleasant Ridge
In many ways, the place-based arts and culture work that occurs at Community Happens Here begins at Pleasant Ridge Montessori School (PRM), the public elementary that serves Pleasant Ridge and its surrounding micro-neighborhoods. Minority enrollment at PRM is 62% with Black students forming the majority of the student body. Participants in the Teen Barista program are recruited from PRM. Community Happens Here also serves as the site for PRM parent organization meetings, and hosted PRM’s 2021 outdoor celebration for its teachers. Because of its close connection with PRM, Community Happens Here is able to draw upon and deepen pre-existing relationships between parents, students, and neighbors (social capital- bonding). Through this dynamic partnership, Community Happens Here has established itself as an inclusive space for meaningful conversations about shared community goals.
Place-based arts and cultural strategies…
Another key ingredient to Community Happens Here’s catalytic presence in Pleasant Ridge is its location. Situated on busy street in downtown Pleasant Ridge, across from the local branch of the Cincinnati public library, Community Happens Here is physically present on a key transportation artery in its neighborhood. It’s easily accessible by foot, by bus, or by car, making it an ideal meeting place for conversation and collaboration. Because of its visible location, weekly Sidewalk Hospitality gatherings attract the attention of neighbors running errands or walking by with pets. It’s not uncommon to hear first-time participants comment, “I’ve seen you out here, and have always wondered what was going on.” In this way, the regular rhythm of place-based arts activity outside the Community Happens Here catches the attention of potential participants and paves the way for additional conversation and collaboration (place attachment- creates and sustains sense of belonging).
…amplify the drivers of social cohesion…
From the beginning, Community Happens Here has leveraged simple expressions of hospitality and creativity to spark increased social cohesion. Enjoying a cup of warm coffee or participating in a prepared art project each have low barriers for entry. While painting a scene of their preferred future, crafting a collage, or sipping a latte, participants are able to communicate both through their art and across the table. In these dialogues, shared values have been identified and neighborhood goals expressed.
…to increase equitable community well-being.
By creating a safe space for conversation and creativity, Community Happens Here has contributed meaningfully to the well-being of Pleasant Ridge. Much of this work has taken place alongside other organizations, who are seeking to bring about necessary transformation and change in the neighborhood. As those shared strategies continue to emerge and that synergistic work coalesces, Community Happens Here continues to empower its Teen Baristas – offering meaningful work to teens who want to contribute to their community outside of school – and to facilitate conversation. The desired outcomes of the regular place-based arts activities that Community Happens Here hosts are both proximate and emerging. The deeper vision undergirding the work is that participants who move on from the Teen Barista program, or who stop by during their afternoon out in the neighborhood, remember their positive experience and come to see Community Happens Here as a physical place where they can meet other engaged neighbors in Pleasant Ridge, host conversations that matter to them, and meet unanticipated allies, who might come to work alongside them and engage in issues in the community. In this way, the value of a neighborhood-based space making organization like Community Happens Here only increases over time, as continued arts and cultural activities ultimately, eventually, and inevitably increase civic capacity for change.
