Cultural Asset Mapping
Communities in Conversation: Cultural Asset Mapping in Sheboygan
In collaboration with Green Bicycle Co., the Arts Center worked for much of 2020 and 2021 on phase one of a process called cultural asset mapping, working to identify the resources that make Sheboygan unique.
When the project began, the expectation was to name tangible assets in the community—specific and concrete locations, organizations, and resources that people value. Through many interviews and conversations, project staff learned that the things people most appreciate in the community are often intangible. As a result, mapping turned toward understanding networks and systems in the community rather than creating a physical geographic map.
Out of this project came a full report, highlighting different perspectives and new ways of thinking about the community as programs develop and relationships strengthen. The report outlines tools and recommendations that can be used to create change in Sheboygan, specifically regarding youth education, participation and engagement, and diverse representation.
View the Cultural Asset Mapping Phase 1 Report
The work continued in a second phase of the project from the end of 2021 into late spring 2022. Using the tools outlined in the report, Arts Center staff and Green Bicycle Company dove deeper, working specifically on additional ways the Levitt AMP Sheboygan Music Series could positively impact City Green and other third spaces and strengthen community partnerships.
Our goal throughout phase two and continuing into the future is to to encourage active citizenship, as well as a sense of ownership and belonging, by utilizing the concert series to leverage and highlight community assets while honoring the Levitt AMP mission to “build community through music and transform underused public spaces into thriving community destinations.”
Cultural Asset Mapping is supported by the Kohler Trust for Arts and Education, the Bert L. and Patricia S. Steigleder Charitable Trust, the Frederic Cornell Kohler Charitable Trust, Kohler Foundation, Inc., and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Levitt AMP Sheboygan Music Series is supported in part by the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, which partners with towns and cities across America to activate underused public spaces through the power of free live music, creating welcoming, inclusive destinations. Presenting a broad array of music genres and cultural programming, Levitt venues and concert sites are community anchors where families, friends and neighbors of all ages and backgrounds come together. Learn more at levitt.org.
