Photo credit: Callum Rice

In part one of our interview, we talked with James Richards about his visit to Jacksonville to assist with The Spark Plan. A partnership among the City, DVI, The Cultural Council and the private sector focused on creating a plan for downtown to attract artists to live and work in unoccupied historic buildings.

Richards is the co-founder and principal at TOWNSCAPE, Inc., a Fort Worth urban design consultancy. Richards has created walkable downtowns, new town centers, transit-oriented developments, urban villages, and other city improvements.

One Spark: What does a downtown art district like the Spark Plan offer top talent, both professionally and personally?

We have found that the arts and cultural opportunities are fundamental pieces of the puzzle in the competition to attract and retain talent. One of the key goals of having that talent in place is to foster community-wide interactions, conversations, and exchanges of ideas that result in new projects, products, businesses and other innovations.

We’ve also observed that having talent in place attracts more talent. In my view, The Spark initiative gives a voice and visibility to Jacksonville’s artistic and creative community, attracts more talent and fosters exactly the kind of creative interactions that result in great ideas and projects and innovations.

It also creates a forum that can advocate for the arts and continually make the case that the arts are economic development. Ultimately, through art installations, advocacy, promotion, and events, I think The Spark district could help grow an appreciation for public art in its many forms, creating patrons and a more vibrant market for art and artists, and enhancing the perception of Jacksonville as a place where exciting things are happening.

One Spark: In his book The Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida talks about companies, people, and communities working together to solve complex problems. Where have you have seen this collaborative, creative approach succeed?

Richards: It’s happening all over the country in varying degrees. Florida’s research and writings convincingly linked new growth and innovation in places like the San Francisco Bay area, Seattle and Austin to several factors and underscored the degree to which talent was drawn to quality of place.

Consequently, cities around the country and the world began to form creative alliances that tapped the collective ingenuity of the public and private sectors, educational institutions and cultural institutions to try to emulate those successes in places from Memphis to Baton Rouge.

The passionate efforts of the city, non-profits, educational institutions and the arts community in New Orleans, where “creative class” initiatives have helped jump start redevelopment. The new edgy creative energy in that city is making it very attractive to people with ideas, passion and money to invest.