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Creative problem solving is a dying art.
Rita Mae Brown wrote that "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".
She's right.
I beleive that artists and culture makers can help us find new and transformative solutions to our most pressing problems, so we aren't doing the same thing over and over that doesn't work.
I beleive that imagination is the tool to unlock political transformation, civic transformation, organizational transformation, government transformation and sectoral transformation.
â—†
I work with bold people who want to transform systems.
Mallory Rukhsana Nezam is a creative city consultant who loves cities and believes that we have the tools to make them more equitable and joyful. Through her cross-sector practice, Justice + Joy, she engages stakeholders across sectors to de-silo the way we run cities and build new models of creative, interdisciplinary collaboration.
​She has helped build inaugural Arts & Culture teams in non-arts organizations at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council of Boston, Transportation for America and PolicyLink. While at Transportation for America, she co-wrote a national field scan on arts, culture and transportation which continues to serve as a roadmap for creative placemaking in transportation.
She's the co-founder of CAIR Lab (Cross-sector Artists in Residence), a cultural policy think tank that supports artists-in-residence in government through research, public speaking and launching new programs in collaboration with government.
Mallory Rukhsana also serves as the Curator of Partnerships and Programming for Forecast Public Art's publication, FORWARD, which highlights cross-sector collaboration with the arts.
She speaks across the globe about the value of cross-sector partnerships, especially engaging artists, designers cultural workers as partners inside of complex systems.
A St. Louis, MO native, she is the founder
of many public art projects, including
founding and directing STL Improv
Anywhere, and co-creating
#ChalkedUnarmed and the St.Louis
Artivists. Through her art practice she
disarms and disrupts public space norms
using play and participatory performance.
She holds a Masters of Design from
Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and
her research focuses on the racial equity
impacts of artists residencies in government
systems. She was formerly a Cultural Policy Fellow
at NASAA, a Fellow at Arizona State University’s
Herberger Institute of Design & the Arts, and a
Monument Lab Transnational Fellow. She's sat on
the Local Government Advisory Committee for
ArtPlace America, served on the Steering Committee
for Planning for Health Equity, Advocacy, and
Leadership (P.H.E.A.L.) among other initiatives, and
currently serves on the Board of Midwest Artist
Project Services and the Regional Arts Commission
of St. Louis' Public Art Commission.
She is regularly organizing events, book clubs, happy hours and creative projects in a way in which you wonder if she ever runs out of inspiration or alchemical potion. Her gatherings and events can be found on her Instagram or LinkedIn.
WHAT I DO
WHAT I DON'T DO
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Design creative placemaking strategies and plans for cities, towns & municipalities
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Creative facilitation of meetings, strategic planning, workshops
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Deliver trainings and workshops on creative placemaking and equitable leadership
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Design systems for cross-sectoral &/or interdepartmental collaboration
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Develop equity-centered communications strategy
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Make projects and events more interactive, engaging for audience
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Develop site-specific artworks
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Public speaking on public art, civic engagement, and social practice art
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Triple axels
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Double axels
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Axels
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this is a longer story if you want to ask me about it!
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