The 2021 Winter Buzz Breakfast series, hosted by Leadership Asheville and the Asheville Area Arts Council and sponsored by Explore Asheville and Buncombe County TDA, has been focusing on Equity in Creative Placemaking, an approach that uses arts strategies to involve those that live, work, and play in a community and give them a voice in the urban design process.

This four-part series has included presentations from national recognized experts followed by Q&A moderated by Dr. Darin Waters, Special Assistant to the Chancellor at UNC Asheville and Executive Producer of the Waters & Harvey Show, and Aisha Adams, Founder and Executive Producer of The Asheville View.

The final event concludes April 15 with a panel of local experts who will focus on local public art initiatives and explore what Equitable Creative Placemaking could look like for our community. Panelists include the following, with remarks also provided by Vic Isley, President & CEO of Explore Asheville:

    • Katie Cornell, Executive Director, Asheville Area Arts Council,
    • Stephanie Monson Dahl, Strategic Development Program Director, City of Asheville
    • Cortina Caldwell, adé Project Founder
    • Sekou Coleman, Executive Director, Asheville Writers in the Schools & Community

REGISTER NOW for the April discussion >>

The virtual Winter Buzz Breakfast series is free and open to the public.


Previous Buzz Breakfast Discussions in the Series

JANUARY 27: Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans known for his decision to remove Confederate monuments in his city and author of the book, “In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History.” View a recording of the discussion >>

FEBRUARY 18: Paul Farber, Director of the Monument Lab and Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Public Art & Space at the University of Pennsylvania, speaking on public art and creative placemaking and rethinking our monuments. View a recording of the discussion >>

MARCH 18: Maria R. Jackson, Institute Professor at the Studio for Creativity, Place and Equitable Communities at Arizona State University Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, is a national leader in the Equitable Creative Placemaking movement. View a recording of the discussion >>

Learn more about the series >>