Listening Tour Concept (page 3 of 3)

The Listening Tour process involves the following three phases:

Phase I
Research & Site Selection
The Listening Tour project team gathered information about projects, organizations and communities around the country where collaborative efforts are underway or seriously contemplated. The team used this information to identify up to six communities who were invited to sponsor a local screening of "Downside UP."

Phase II
Local Screenings
The Tour team collaborated with local sponsors in the communities to prepare for and hold the screenings. These sessions were designed not only to explore broad conceptual questions but also to reflect issues of practical concern to the specific local context. Examples of other successful projects using art, culture, public space in community are also illustrated. The local screenings took place at: Asociación de Músicos Latino Americanos (AMLA), Philadelphia; Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio; Little Black Pearl Workshop, Chicago; HandMade in America, Asheville, NC; The Point, Bronx; and Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle.

download screening flier

Phase III
MASS MoCA Tour & Ford Foundation Convening
Practitioners from around the country, specifically those from sites where screenings were held, were invited to tour MASS MoCA, engage with North Adams' practitioners and then participate in a Convening hosted by the Ford Foundation. Those attending the MASS MoCA tour will participate in a "philanthropy exercise," in which they will evaluate North Adams and MASS MoCA as a strategic investment. Those attending the Convening will engage in a substantive, facilitated discussion to detail what has been learned from the screenings; articulate a vision of whether and how this work can be an economic impetus in distressed neighborhoods; and envision what future support of this collaborative work might look like. In the month following the "Downside UP" Listening Tour, the team will prepare a Final Report which will summarize the learning and understanding of what these communities are doing, frame the question of art, culture, public space and community development and define next steps.

National Advisory Board