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Edward Comentale

Professor of English, Associate Vice Provost for Arts and Humanities, Director of IUB Arts and Humanities Council

No photo available.
Phone:
(812) 219-3457
Email:
ecomenta@iu.edu
Department:
Office of the Provost
Campus:
IU Bloomington

Quality of Place: Town Engagement Program

Project abstract

The Town Engagement Program mobilizes IU's vast resources in the arts and humanities to help small towns and communities develop their cultural resources, programs, and identities. We work with city governments, arts programmers, school districts, business leaders, and other community groups on creative placemaking initiatives that include collaborative programs in the arts, educational experiences, arts administration projects, capacity building, and fundraising/grantmaking. Our current work, for which we received an award from the University Economic Development Association, focuses on the towns of Nashville, Salem, and Huntingburg; these intensive, long-term collaborations are helping us develop a replicable/scalable model for Quality of Place efforts in other rural communities.

Campus partners

  • Eskenazi Museum of Art
  • Jacobs School of Music
  • Grunwald Gallery
  • School of Art, Architecture, and Design
  • Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance
  • Creative Writing
  • Arts Administration
  • Traditional Arts Indiana
  • Mathers Museum of World Cultures
  • IU Libraries 

Community partners

  • city governments
  • arts programmers
  • school districts
  • business leaders
  • community groups

Counties involved

Brown, Dubois, Washington, Orange, Franklin

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