SCOPE believes that lasting community change happens when people who live in a place come together and draw upon each other's talents to make things better.  This is in contrast to people or institutions from the outside deciding what is best for someone else.

Art can be a powerful way of generating change through engagement and by strengthening uncommon connections.  Clearly the art on 10th Street motivated many members of the Central-Cocoanut neighborhood to come together. Some of those neighbors liked the art, while others were troubled by their interpretation of it as a symbol of despair, violence and gangs.  Art is like that; it is that tension that generates dialogue. 

Most of the "buzz" in the broader community has been about the "art."  Little "ink" has been commited to the process.  If one looks to successful art-community examples around the country, one of the distinguishing elements has been thoughtful, intentional engagement in anticipation of the art.  Civic Dialogue, Arts and Culture is a seminal review of what works on this topic.  It "set out to demonstrate that civic dialogue and art can be mutually enhanced when the two are thoughtfully brought together."  

The following quote is relevant to the 10^th street mural.  "Understanding context for and current public discourse about a civic issue is the key to defining appropriate and reasonable civic goals and to designing effective arts-based civic dialogue efforts."

With that frame of reference, I am troubled by any effort that does not include in its design or planning process, the members of that neighborhood that are most acutely impacted by the effort.  When art is embedded in a neighborhood, then the artist and those managing the activities would be wise to engage with the neighbors beforehand.  Context makes for good art, good business, and I know it is essential to good community building. 

I heard those responsible for the placement of the mural on 10^th Street say that the mural is on a building situated on an industrial block, and not in a real neighborhood.  OK, there are industrial buildings at that intersection.  That corner is also a gateway from downtown to the Central-Cocoanut neighborhood and to Newtown.  And more to the point, somebody from outside does not get to decide the boundaries of someone else's neighborhood.