Arts and culture organizations can play a more powerful role in shaping community development in low-income communities by adopting and adapting key strategies used by traditional ‘anchor’ organizations like hospitals and universities. Arts and culture organizations already make important contributions to the vitality of their communities, and deserve a seat ... Read More

Written by Zachary Nieder and Kim Zeuli As we wrote in our Arts and Culture Organizations—The Overlooked Anchors blog in May, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) and the Kresge Foundation’s Arts and Culture Program have joined forces to explore the degree of anchor engagement among arts and culture ... Read More

“Eds and meds” are the conventional anchors—and remain the focus of most anchor initiatives. But a few arts and culture organizations, such as the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, are beginning to change the narrative, claiming seats at anchor collaboration tables in their cities and begging the question—why aren’t more arts and culture organizations adopting anchor strategies? Read More

This blog was first published by Johns Hopkins' 21st Century Cities Initiative, and describes anchor institutions, their potential roles in reducing economic and neighborhood inequality, and examples of partnerships between anchor institutions and local government. Read More

The relationship between universities and their surrounding communities can often prove challenging, with both groups struggling to find a common language for communicating needs and opportunities. In Washington, D.C., Howard University has long had a complex and multilayered relationship with the LeDroit Park neighborhood, located immediately southeast of the university. Read More