Apply to The Creative Placemaking Minor

Submission Requirements:

1. Completed Application form

If you require help with course planning, please contact your college’s advisors:

Architecture: Lena Redisch, redisch1@umd.edu

Arts & Humanities: Paula Nadler, pnadler@umd.edu 

2. Essay: Statement of purpose,

1 typed page or 3 minute video.

Tell us about yourself. Share what excites you about the minor,  why it is of interest, and why you believe you would be a good fit for the program. Please also share how you imagine this opportunity will advance your dreams.

3. Portfolio: 

Share a wide range of work you are proud of, that demonstrates your passion, skills, and potential. If  available, include at least one work that you feel is relevant to this minor. Explain how.

Architecture BA and BS Majors

Single Pdf Portfolio up to 10 pages.

Brief project description- 

Describe your intent, year, class and instructor (if relevant)

Studio Art Majors

Single PDF 

Up to 10 images/video (60 sec max)

For each piece include:title, size, medium.  Brief description (2 sentences)

4. Submit

Submit all of your application files via Box. 

The minor requires a total of 15 credits.

Seminars: 6 Credits

ARCH458 (350), Intro to Creative Placemaking, Fall*, 3-credit Seminar

Studio Credits: Six

Electives: 6 Credits

see Course list

Special electives* are found at the bottom of this section

Studio: 6 Credits

Arch majors:

ARCH408 (450), Making Place, with Prof. Eisenbach, Spring, 6-credits

Art majors:

ARTT426, Art & Community I, Prof. Donahue, Fall, 3-credits

ARTT427 Art & Community II, Prof. Donahue, Spring, 3-credits

NOTE: ARCH458: Intro to Creative Placemaking taught by Prof. Eisenbach is required for the minor. This course is only offered in the Fall and will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:30-4:45. Sign-up now if you plan to apply or are interested in the minor.

*Special Electives:

Visit this page for full list electives

HISP 319N/619 and ARTH 389Y/689Y
Rooting our Shared Stories in Shared Places: Community-Centered African American Heritage Interpretation
Drs. Quint Gregory & Stefan Woehlke

This class is about public-history storytelling, but with a twist. Students will work with members of a local community - North Brentwood - through a relationship in which community members are centered as keepers of their history. They decide what stories should be told and how they should be shared. The class will take advantage of the extensive historical research the community has undertaken over the past 40 years. This will be integrated with the digital documentation of heritage sites that Dr. Stefan Woehlke and his students completed in 2021 and 2022, using laser scanning and photogrammetry. Drs. Woehlke and Gregory will guide students through a community-centered interpretive process that includes inventorying of historic records, collection and digitization of materials that fill historical gaps, and the selection of stories and supporting materials that will be integrated into the digital heritage spaces for public consumption. It is likely that community members will select oral histories, legal documents, maps, and photographs to help tell the story of the town and the selected sites in particular.

Spring '23
ISRL329W/JWST319R
Art as the Vanguard of Social Change in Jerusalem
Karen Brunwasser, Artist-in-Residence

This course explores the role of arts and culture as a force for bridge-building and social change using Jerusalem, probably the world's most contested city, as a case study. In dialogue with practitioners from the field and by studying relevant artistic works, we'll examine the ways in which Jerusalem artists of diverse backgrounds and disciplines are turning impasse into opportunity through their creative activism, and how artistic tools and methodology can be applied to socio-political challenges in Jerusalem and beyond. The course will include virtual performances by and discussions with artists from a variety of communities and in various genres that make up the mosaic of Jerusalem's culture.

Summer I 2023 - mid-May through mid-June.
TLPL 488Q/688Q 
Building Community through Visual Literacy and Narrative  
Prof. Margaret Anne Walker

Join us in an innovative trans-disciplinary, intergenerational class and community art project. Join faculty and students from the University of Maryland and Bowie State University, and artists from the local community this summer as we collaborate with the community members to create a community art project. We are seeking students with a strong interest in the connection between community engagement and their studies in education, studio arts, creative placemaking, documentary photography/videography and designing and creating a mixed media collaboration, documenting the learning process, generating curriculum ideas, and design an exhibition of the creative output/documentation for display.