The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced the launch of a $3.5 million, five-year “Creative Cities” investment into Springboard for the Arts to create stronger pathways for arts and culture to become integrated into civic life in eight cities, including San Jose.
The initiative deepens Knight's partnership with Springboard for the Arts, a Saint Paul-based organization with two decades of demonstrated success connecting artists and civic systems across urban and rural communities.
Through the Creative Cities Initiative, participating communities will gain structured support to develop locally driven strategies for working with artists and cultural workers on local priorities such as housing, health, economic mobility and community well-being.
The announcement comes as local artists and cultural organizations face significant cuts in federal support for the arts, and as communities navigate social isolation, economic insecurity and declining public trust.
Research from Americans for the Arts shows that arts and culture strengthen social connection, support local economies and fuel civic participation, the Knight Foundation said in a press release. Creative Cities is designed to bolster local networks, provide practical tools for cross-sector work and build long-term resilience in local creative ecosystems.
The arts initiative will include eight cities where former Knight-Ridder newspapers were located: Akron, Charlotte, Detroit, Macon, Miami, Philadelphia, San Jose and Saint Paul.
“Springboard for the Arts has spent decades showing what becomes possible when artists and arts and cultural organizations are recognized as essential civic partners,” said Kristina Newman-Scott, vice president for arts at Knight Foundation. “Creative Cities brings that practice into eight Knight communities, while ensuring each city can shape its own path. By connecting these communities to one another, we are building a shared learning network where ideas and strategies can travel across cities, strengthening the role of arts and culture in civic life.”
Through the Creative Cities initiative, artists, organizations and local governments will have access to cultural asset mapping; training opportunities to help build relationships between arts and other sectors; support to pilot and shape city-specific strategies for how arts and culture can advance well-being; and opportunities to connect with and learn from leaders across the Knight communities.
The Creative Cities Initiative advances the Knight Foundation's arts strategy, which prioritizes strengthening cultural ecosystems and positioning artists as civic partners and contributors to economic mobility and growth.
Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing, which published the Mercury News and multiple other newspapers in the Bay Area, with its corporate headquarters in San Jose. Knight Ridder was bought by Sacramento-based McClatchy Media Co. in 2006, when the Mercury News and other papers were sold to MediaNews Group of Denver and combined to form the Bay Area News Group.
