About the Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit

Get more connected, inspired and empowered at the South & Appalachia Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit. Gain the knowledge and skills to help you grow new or better partnerships, projects, programs and policies.

You will be joining a diverse mix of people from the worlds of arts, community and economic development, cultural heritage, government, philanthropy and more to explore innovative and effective approaches to help communities through local arts and cultural ecosystems. We are expecting more than 350 people to participate online or in-person.

See Which Organizations Will Be Attending the 2022 Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit

With 40 sessions online or in-person, you can explore a wide range of topics: Environmental protection, rural approaches to creative placemaking, enhancing town/gown relationships, community engagement, issues in public art planning, and more.

We're meeting online November 1, 2022. You can participate in sessions live, or watch recordings of any sessions you missed. (They will be available to you long after the Summit, so you can take your time.) You can visit the exhibit booths at your convenience to learn more about what’s going on in the creative placemaking field, and about organizations doing interesting work in the South and Appalachia. Want to meet up with other participants, or maybe connect with an affinity group to find other people who share your interests or are from your area? You can do that in the online Social Lounge.

On November 3 and 4, 2022, we’ll be together in downtown Chapel Hill. You can expand your creative placemaking toolbox through workshops, get and share big ideas in Strategic Conversations, sharpen your planning and design skills through Strategy Labs, or go on tours to see interesting things happening in the area.

Early bird Summit tickets range from $20 for the online only part of the Summit to $259 for the full Summit. Single day tickets for November 3 and 4 are available. All in-person tickets include the entire online portion of the Summit.

The 2022 South & Appalachia Summit is produced by The Town of Chapel Hill, Creative Placemaking Communities, North Carolina Arts Council, South Arts, and University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill’s Arts Everywhere initiative.

We will be submitting the sessions for Certification Maintenance credits for members of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). The credits will be sponsored by the North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association.

This is the fourth South & Appalachian Summit since 2018, and the 16th since 2014. More than 90% of participants surveyed in previous Summits have said they enjoyed their Summit, gained valuable knowledge, and made good connections. Please join us and see for yourself.

Summit Advisors

Melissa Bartoletta, Town of Chapel Hill Arts Commission • Dwight Bassett • Gabrielle Berlinger • Julia Beabout • Lee Bidgood • Margaret Lou Brown • Susan Brown, Town of Chapel Hill Community Arts and Culture • Johanna Cockburn, American Planning Association North Carolina chapter • E Cecelia Conway, Appalachian State U • John Delconte • Deborah Desilets • Ann Dickson, Creative Placemaking Communities, The Arts Hub • Atinuke Diver • Caroline Dwyer, Durham Cultural Advisory Board, Durham Public Arts Committee • Jessica Evans • Matt Gladdek, Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership • Vanessa Grossl, University of Kentucky, College of Fine Arts, Arts Administration • Tom Hansell, Independent filmmaker, Appalachian State University • Jessyca Holland, South Arts • Susannah Johannsen, Louisiana Division of the Arts • Bem Joiner • Keith Lee, Nonprofit and Arts Management Consultant • Dawn Logsdon • Steven-Alfonso Maldonado, National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) • Sementha Matthews • Yvette McDaniel • Dorian McDuffie, City of Atlanta Department of City Planning • Anita McKeown • Katie Murray, Orange County Arts Commission • Ellen O'Brien, John C. Campbell Folk School • Amanda Page • Ashley Pegram • Ashley Pegram, Appalachian Arts Craft Center • Ashleigh Porter, South Arts • Carolina Puente • Stephanie Raines, Athens Clarke County Unified Gov. • Shanette Renea, Taos, The Art of Self • Antonio Renteria • Meghan Rutigliano • Ivan Schustak, South Arts • Tierney Sneeringer, City of Raleigh Park, Recreation and Cultural Resources • Rusty Sox • C. Meranda Surmanek • Bernice Sykes, Quitman Co Arts Council • Amy Trieger, Cozy Arts • Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP, Creative Placemaking Communities • Kathryn Wagner, Arts Everywhere University of Chapel Hill • Jessica Wallen • Mital Lyons-Warren • Leigh Ann Wilder, North Carolina Arts Council