Turnout NYC Evaluation Coaching
Client: Design Trust For Public Space (2022-2023)
Susannah Laramee Kidd, Evaluation Advisor
With support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and guidance from an Artist Advisory Council of 10 NYC-based arts advocates, The Design Trust for Public Space and SITU Studio developed Turnout NYC—a new, more distributed cultural production model that provided resources for community-based programming across the city in underutilized public spaces. This production model included a collaborative process with Community Cultural Partners; a “Kit-of-Parts” to serve as public infrastructure with a user-friendly design; and soft infrastructure to support Cultural Community Partners with the permitting, invoicing, marketing, and promotion necessary to activate public spaces in New York City.
In the summer of 2022, Turnout NYC deployed in all five boroughs of NYC across varied space typologies — a cul-de-sac in Brooklyn, a historic park in Staten Island, a de-mapped street in Queens, under the train tracks in Harlem, and an outdoor community campus in the Bronx — hosting over 100 free public events, supporting over 500 artists, and bringing community-led programming to thousands of audience members. Turnout NYC impacted the city’s cultural landscape by empowering historically under-resourced artists, expanding opportunities to experience arts and culture, and serving as an advocacy platform toward a more vibrant, equitable, and resilient NYC.
Laramee Kidd served as evaluation coach for The Design Trust for Public Space team, guiding them through an evaluation framework design based on the five project goals; an artist feedback survey design and implementation; interview design and completion with each of the five Cultural Community Partners (CCPs); focus group design and implementation with a total of eleven artists; collecting feedback based on multiple in-person and virtual workshops with CCPs, the Artist Advisory Council, and project partners; analysis of the quantitative and quantitative data; and a Final Report including a summary of program impacts and recommendations to further advance the project goals