ABSTRACT
In 2012, Sherry Dobbin went to work for the business improvement district (BID) Times Square Alliance and founded the public art programme, Times Square Arts. Her placemaking mission was to take back the centre of the city for New Yorkers, while still appealing to the visitors (previously known as tourists). During her five years there, she created a programme that developed Times Square into a cultural hub, which garnered international attention, developed cultural partnerships, generated a substantial return on investment for the stakeholders, and catalysed the greater New York City arts, design, and architecture communities to use the place as a global platform for experimentation. Dobbin reveals how she structured the programme and exposes the related experimentation and learning lessons. Project examples are included to demonstrate how to raise artistic ambition, while simultaneously contributing to the stakeholders’ and communities’ strategic objectives for place. Her subsequent methodology and framework were shared internationally amongst city and town centre leadership and cultural civic agencies, as well as implemented into guidance documents. The chapter also includes how the cultural placemaking approach was adapted for a London BID and concluding principles that can be applied across city centres of all scales.
