Leaders need to be creative thinkers, capable of responding to situations that have few precedents. Public Matters, LLC is committed to developing a new generation of informed and engaged community leaders: innovative thinkers and problem solvers with a deep awareness and appreciation of their neighborhoods. We believe that art and new media have a tremendous capacity to portray community life and serve as a connective force across race, class and generations.

Public Matters is a multidisciplinary team with expertise in public art, education, new media, community building, capacity building, and leadership development. We also have experience in management, strategic planning, program development and assessment, community service and advocacy.

Public Matters generates innovative, artistic, place-based projects that build creative, civic and social capital in communities. Our projects develop creative community leaders. We engage residents in the creation of media-based neighborhood narratives that illuminate its history, character and conditions and integrate the results with broader civic processes, advocacy efforts and community initiatives. Our work addresses social issues through long-term educational projects. Our interdisciplinary approach is creative and analytical, left-brained and right-brained. We establish long-term sustainable programs that evolve beyond our initial involvement and are ultimately shaped by the community and its needs.

Our goals are to build social capital, bring forward unknown aspects of community life, and give future leaders a diverse and effective set of skills to work on behalf of their communities.