 |
|
|
|
 At Lake Park Crescent (LPC), a mixed-income development in Chicago’s North Kenwood/Oakland neighborhood, The Field Museum’s Center for Cultural Understanding and Change (CCUC) is using anthropological insights to help build community. As the coordinator of the LPC Collaborative, CCUC works with social service providers from Abraham Lincoln Centre and Centers for New Horizons as well as property managers from Draper and Kramer, Inc. to make LPC a place that residents from diverse economic backgrounds are all proud to call home.
“ I wanted to be part of the Lake Park Crescent concept of a multi-income community. Hopefully it will prove to be a positive model for living in urban and other communities in the United States.”
— Marian Jones
LPC Resident/Community Facilitator
CCUC aims to cultivate and mobilize social assets—the building blocks of community, made up of the relationships that people create to address the needs of everyday life. Key to reaching this goal in the context of LPC is the development of resident-generated arts programs, where participants can find common ground in activities such as painting, cooking, and creative writing. Above and beyond developing residents’ technical abilities, these programs foster the creation and strengthening of relationships which cut across existing social divides.
In addition, CCUC works together with other Collaborative members to put a broad array of community resources within residents’ reach. This requires networking with area institutions and agencies, connecting residents with social services staff, and working to integrate LPC residents into the surrounding community. CCUC anthropologists work on site to oversee these bridge-building activities.
At Lake Park Crescent, The Field Museum’s Center for Cultural Understanding and Change is applying anthropology to the challenge of fostering vibrant communities in mixed-income housing developments. By identifying existing social assets, and working with residents, social service providers, and property managers to design creative strategies for their enhancement and expansion, CCUC seeks new paths towards social stability and improved quality of life for all.
Continue to Arts Programs >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
