“This is the story of our land..

A story of early Ohioans and the mark they left behind..

As ancient hunting grounds gave way to farms and families..

It’s a story of how the land feeds the community- and then a city, and with that- a neighborhood feeds it’s soul.

    

 

The Clintonville Farmers’ Market is a place where people come together in a physical environment created by the process of placemaking- defined by Susan Silberberg as, “the deliberate shaping of an environment to facilitate social interaction and improve a community’s quality of life.”

 

The Clintonville neighborhood has a reputation for being environmentally and agriculturally minded, with a  portion of the residential population becoming urban farmers and raising livestock in their own backyards. It is home to one of greater Columbus’ most treasured parks, Whetstone Park of Roses, as well as holistic/natural health stores, organic grocers, apothecaries, and a small but mighty force of locally famed vegan and vegetarian cafe-style restaurants.

 

The people of Clintonville have a greater than 100 year history of protecting the land for their own enjoyment.  Agriculture has been an important aspect of cultural development. Key actors in the community are shifting their focus toward the localization of the economy, creating more opportunities for residents and businesses alike.

 

The Clintonville Farmers' Market began in 2003 and has expanded to run three seasons throughout the year featuring 60+ vendors. It is a producer-only market, meaning the vendors grow or make everything they sell. This model provides visitors with the opportunity to ask questions, develop relationships, to meet the makers, and truly learn where their food comes from.

The Clintonville Farmers’ Market is a valuable asset to the community; it is an important part of the shared identity of the place, and a Saturday morning ritual. The market has an wide impact on the local economy, and is a place for residents to meet their neighbors, in addition to local and regional food producers. In 2014, CFM was voted the best farmers’ market in the city by Columbus Underground. The weekly market, held weekly April through November, provides a perfect opportunity to continue building community in Clintonville.

 

The proposed Community Learning Project strives to increase cultural awareness through participation and engagement at neighborhood landmarks. Beginning primarily at The Clintonville Farmers’ Market, the project aims to gather and advocate for a collective knowledge of the event, its performers and participants, along with the local people and culture. The project will facilitate vendors and local artists to provide creative learning experiences at a street-level within the community.

The Clintonville Farmers’ market is a cultural activity center, not just for the neighborhood, but the larger city of Columbus, and a major player in making Clintonville more of a destination. Global Gallery is an independent coffee shop that supports a wide variety of fair trade cooperatives specializing in handcrafted coffee and handmade crafts from around the world. Global Gallery also acts as an event and exhibition space, and is located near the entrance of the farmers’ market. The gallery patio is a landmark within the farmers’ market and the exhibition/performance space can be utilized as a platform for illustrating a shared identity of Clintonville, and how the market makes the neighborhood better; and how a neighborhood we create can make our lives better.

The short term mission of the project is to engage more residents, young and old, to experience the market as a third place- not work, not home - but a place for community interaction. Marketing the event as a community “third-place” can increase the overall the quality of life in the neighborhood directly through active participation and awareness of market day. Food, music, and art bring people together and enrich our lives with collective memories and lasting flavors. The Clintonville Farmers’ market has the potential to be a landmark for central Ohio, offering a creative place where people engage with each other and the local artistic community.

 

Establish a Creative Team of dedicated community actors who are passionate about making events like the Farmers’ market a better placemaking experience in order to raise awareness of the benefits of nutrition, arts, and the localization of the economy.

 

Develop a Creative Assets Inventory to organize what the community currently has, who is there and what do they have to offer, in order to build on it.

 

Draw connections among cultural, community and economic development.

Build sustainable relationships between actors within the local creative community and those working to benefit the overall health of the neighborhood.

 

Educate and Engage the community through performance and participation in the local creative industry.

Showcase the regional network of local food producers and the incredible impact of dedicated individuals working to serve communities.

 

Enhance the positive, distinct qualities of central Ohio; celebrating what is unique and beautiful about Columbus’ historic neighborhoods.

 

The Initial Focus of the CLP creative team would be enhancing the experience at the Clintonville Farmers’ Market.

Place-based Cultural Marketing:

 

The Clintonville Farmers’ Market celebrates the city of Columbus and is a great venue for showcasing the culture of the residents, vendors, and local artists, making each market event special. Place-based cultural marketing for the Clintonville Farmers’ Market would benefit the local economy, as well as grow social and environmental awareness among residents and visitors while further educating the market community about regional food and sustainable agriculture.

 

Visually mapping and showcasing the successes of community building throughout the market season at each weekly event, would create a culture of celebration around the Farmers’ Market and how it makes the Clintonville neighborhood a better place.

 

Initially create a culture of celebration around the farmers’ market and how it makes the Clintonville neighborhood a better place

 

A final grand presentation on the last day of the outdoor market of the season would build on the celebration and recognize the connections that make the market stronger.

 

Strategically, a presentation/celebration of market culture should occur at the end of the market season and coincide with the post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping rush, the established tradition of ‘Small-Business Saturday’, and warm feelings of family and giving back to the community.

 

Marketing exposure of assets, increased programming, education and participation opportunities to residents of greater Columbus, local community and business leaders.

The Community Learning Project is rooted in temporary, event based, tactical initiatives celebrating community processes, deliberate discussion, and collaboration.

 

After the formation of an initial planning group, the project will develop over a series of 10-12 meetings in the winter weeks leadings leading up to the market season. Additionally, the team will also meet during market hours every week at Global Gallery  to evaluate and work together with the existing market leadership toward facilitating and documenting community building at the market.

Encourage social action/citizen participation

 

Establishing the building blocks of a shared identity

 

Utilize events as a way to celebrate different community assets year round.

 

Curate a photo location as a fun example of both a place-based hands on activity, and effective place marketing through social media.

 

Visually map and showcase the successes of community building at each event.

 

Get the message out to local institutions, citizens’ associations, and individuals about the team’s goals and successes.

 

Strive to include to equal representation of all groups who are involved or impacted by the project (residents, local business owners, vendors, market leaders)

The Clintonville Farmers’ Market is supported by part-time market managers and staff, volunteers, and a volunteer board comprised of community members, local business representatives, and market producers.

 

Recruit local artists and visual communication professionals to create infographics that facilitate communication at meetings, presentations, events.

 

Promote public advocacy & education about community culture to encourage resident participation.

 

Form public and private partnerships with the businesses involved and impacted by target events.

 

Friends of The Market is an advocacy and education based organization supporting the Clintonville Farmers’ Market.  The success of Friends of the Clintonville Farmers’ Market is dependent on community involvement and support.

 

Global Gallery is a non-profit small-business specializing in fair trade handmade products, specifically specialty coffee. They support local coffee roasters as well as global fair trade farms. The patio and cafe serve as gallery/exhibition, activity, and performance space within the community.

 

Wholly Craft is a small gift shop featuring handmade goods from over 200 local  crafters and artists. They offer classes and demonstrations to the community monthly.

Boline Apothecary offers locally grown herbs from farmers and homesteaders, a house line of remedies and body care means supporting the local economy, potent botanicals, and information and tools for sustainable urban gardening within the context of holistic healthcare.

 

Momentum98 is holistic health store offering professional massage tools, homeopathic remedies, alternative health information

The Clintonville Farmers’ Market Board/Friends of The Market- Advise, participate, communicate the needs of the market.

Global Gallery- Event host for artist exhibitions and performances, advise, participate, communicate the needs of the space.

 

Market Vendors- Advise, participate, communicate the needs of the vendor community.

Local Artists & Performers- Share cultural creativity, advise, participate, and communicate the needs of the creative community.

 

Community- Advise, participate, communicate the needs of the residents and market attendees.

 

Creative Placemaker- The role of the placemaker is to build awareness of the opportunities for placemaking within the community. Focusing on the ‘making’ of placemaking- mobilizing strengths along the way.

 

The Community Learning Project Team- The role of the project team is to represent all Key Partners and inform market growth decisions as we work to improve the market experience for everyone involved. The team will need a Visual Communication specialist to aid in coordination and presentation.

Process represents an ongoing practice and way of seeing the world

 

We are Mobilizing Our Strengths along the way

 

CFM is already a place where people are coming together in a physical environment created by the process of placemaking- defined by Susan Silberberg as, “the deliberate shaping of an environment to facilitate social interaction and improve a community’s quality of life.”

 

The most important changes happen in the mind of the participants, not just simply in the space itself.

 

Today’s placemaking represents a comeback for the community- nurturing community capacity and local leadership within a virtuous cycle

Use markets as a way to celebrate different community assets year round.

 

Activity programming such as gallery exhibitions at local businesses, street performances, and live mural painting would be excellent project ideas given the balance of land uses.

Integrating Local Creative Talents Toward Marketing:

 

The Clintonville Farmers’ Market is ideal for place marketing. Marketing is just a way of inviting people to be part of the story.

 

Gathering around the organizing principle of art begin to visually “map” the farmers’ market to increase network understanding and engage residents in the experience of the growing season in relation to their neighborhood.

 

Promoting local events as a community center ‘third place’ (not work, not home)

Currently, none of the surrounding streets are closed during market hours. Limited space for programming and participation is available alongside the market vendors and existing residential and retail space.

 

The top concern of leadership should be pedestrian safety when attempting to increase participation as well as introduce a mixture of activities centered around arts and culture at the Clintonville Farmers’ Market. It is important to brainstorm and consistently re-evaluate how the project can creatively present Clintonville’s strengths, assets, values, and history in the most beneficial and inclusive way.

    The market is growing, this year expanding to include more local and regional vendors, bringing a greater variety of Ohio-made products to the area. As the market grows, the needs of the space change. With more people involved, communication needs grow and change- and more methods of outreach are needed to represent and promote to  a wider range of people. The addition of a creative placemaker to the market planning team would help guide the growth of the market in a direction that maintains the cultural mission statement of the market being a benefit to the local economy and greater Columbus community.

  

 There are currently many activities and performers at the Clintonville Farmers’ Market, but improved visual communication presenting a schedule of events would benefit the market, participants, and performers. A creative placemaker could aid in the coordination of communication between the market planning board, community, and market vendors and performers in order to build a community market calendar with a shared vision.

According to the Clintonville Neighborhood Plan, which draws its data from the Harris Selectory in 2007, only approximately 1,200 of 30,000+ residents work within Clintonville boundaries. It is primarily zoned as a residential area, excluding the High St. and Indianola Corridors. The the local food economy and creative industries in Clintonville are in growing need of support; it is one of neighborhood’s main quality of life challenges that lie ahead.  A main goal re-focusing through the lens of creative placemaking is to develop more economic opportunities in Clintonville.

 

The Clintonville Farmers’ Market is located among businesses on High St. who directly benefit from the influx of people attending the market. The market offers a unique and place-specific experience that builds the local and regional economy through social and cultural exchange.

 

Linking the cultural and creative assets of Clintonville to it’s economic development would improve the overall quality of life in the area. The economic benefits of incorporating creative placemaking strategies within the farmers’ market is a targeted strategy that could potentially amplify the positive outcomes of other neighborhood initiatives.

 

Exposure to the arts, for people of all ages, fosters beauty, creativity and innovation. Artistic expression of identity and feeling connect us on a human level; as people, cultures and communities.

 

The presence of a vital arts community in Clintonville would improve the local economy and overall quality of life in the neighborhood by revitalizing and engaging residents on a street-level basis. The impact of a concentrated effort of growing the role of arts and culture at the Clintonville Farmers’ Market would increase attendance and participation at an already successful and well attended event.

 

A creative initiative in Clintonville would likely be well received among the growing population of young adults, who are motivated to help their neighborhood thrive and grow into a greater place to live. The Clintonville Farmers’ Market is a touchstone of the neighborhood that is open for everyone to enjoy. The Community Learning Project team will support the belief that the larger ecosystem benefits from what happens in the local economy.

Using what we know about Clintonville and The Farmers’ Market to the advantage of the neighborhood, we know that the most important changes happen in the mind of the participants, not just simply in the space itself.

Increasing cultural awareness through participation and engagement at neighborhood landmarks like The Clintonville Farmers’ Market, improves collective knowledge of the neighborhood cultural identity. The more we know ourselves, the more we can grow. This project seeks out creative expressions within a collective experiences of the local events promoting a shared local and a shared identity; improving our daily experience of place.