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City Studies

Making Change

How do you change a public space, like a street? What does it take? Where do you start?

In the Spring of 2015, CUP teaching artist Douglas Paulson worked with students from the Municipal Art Society’s youth program Designing Change to investigate how to create change in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood on Belmont Avenue, a four-block commercial strip with lots of storefronts. Students explored where to gather information, who to communicate an idea to, and how to work with city organizations and building or property owners.

Students interviewed elected officials, city agencies, and business owners on how to change public spaces in Brownsville or elsewhere in New York City. Students created silhouettes, drawings, and designed a poster that demonstrates the step by step process to make change to a public space.

Making Change debuted at the Paul Cooper Center, where students presented the poster and discussed their creative process.