"Community building" is not an abstraction. WHO are we talking about? HOW do we build? WHY do it? A talk given at the AAM 2015 conference by Nina Simon, Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History.

1. Say hi to a stranger.
Discover one thing you
have in common with them.
while we’re waiting…

2. building community:
who / how / why
@ninaksimon

3. building community:
who / how / why

4. Say hi to a stranger.
Discover one thing you
have in common with them.

5. geography

6. geography identity

7. geography identity affinity

8. geography
santacruzmah.org

11. identity
median
income:
$63,000
78% white,
19% latino

14. affinity
culturally curious
active & creative
nontraditional arts
participants

17. 62,000
17,000 (2011)

18. 62,000
52,000

19. 62,000
52,000
2,500

24. building community:
who / how / why

32. There are two kinds of social
capital: bonding and bridging.
Bonding occurs when you are
socializing with people who are like
you. Bridging occurs with people who
are not like you.
Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone (1995)

33. bonding

34. bridging

41. Self-destruction of diversity is
caused by success, not by failure.
Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of
Great American Cities (1961)

43. building community:
who / how / why

53. The average scientist, so far as I
can make out, spends almost all his
time working on problems which he
believes will not be important and he
also doesn't believe that they will
lead to important problems.
Richard Hamming, You and Your
Research (1986)

54. your turn
@ninaksimon