Creating places of belonging where people share heritage, arts and culture.
At Placemaking Design, we are community-driven public space practitioners, advocates and consultants. We offer project management, interpretive content development and graphic design for the creation of vibrant public spaces. We engage with culture as a transformative mechanism to promote social and economic well-being for communities, organizations and businesses. Placemaking Design can incorporate a range of cultural forms of expression in the projects we manage: visual art, craft, design, geology, music, outdoor experiences, literature, performing arts, food, sports, language and heritage. Working with varying-interest stakeholders to transform public spaces, we are adept at using simple, inexpensive materials and programs. We design or redesign spaces to encourage people to come together.
Anya Gansterer
Anya is a curator, arts advocate and promoter of rural cultural and economic development in the Ottawa Valley. She is a partner in Placemaking Design where she supports businesses and organizations to create spaces of belonging. She also holds the position as Co-artistic Director for Ottawa Valley Creative Arts Open Studio.
Anya is adept at identifying a need in a community and finding innovative ways to address it. She has experience managing large- and small-scale projects involving multiple stakeholders and specializes in understanding the challenges and opportunities of working in arts and culture in rural communities. She has curated over a hundred art exhibitions including working with solo artists, collaborations, groups, travelling exhibits and open community exhibitions.
Creating interpretive content and educational programing are skills she has honed throughout her career. She has experience working with rural museums to address and develop strategic plans specially for their unique situations. Anya is a successful grant writer and has generated significant funds to support art, culture and tourism in the Ottawa Valley. She lives near Killaloe, Ontario, with her family where she enjoys the best of rural living.
Beth Kennedy
Beth has lived on both sides of Algonquin Park. She has called the east side home for over 15 years and loves the easy access to fabulous whitewater paddling, cross-county skiing and cycling.
A graphic designer for over twenty-five years, she has extensive experience creating artwork for print and web. Her range of skills includes designing interpretive signage, display maps, style guides, books, magazines, brochures, posters, ads and social media digital images. She works with small businesses and municipalities in the Ottawa Valley to determine their brand and find their customers. She also develops websites.
Services
Exhibits, Galleries and Spaces
Exhibition development and design Interior space decoration
Artifact and art curation
Placemaking Events
Event planning and activation
Design engagement activities for specific events
Educational programming
Municipal Placemaking
Community cultural planning and mapping
Community revitalization
Evaluation and consultation of existing placemaking centres
Interpretive Planning
Tourism product development
Content research and development
Strategic Planning
For museums, art galleries and other cultural organizations.
Graphic Design
Large and small interpretive panels
Booklets, brochures, general promotional materials Interior and exterior sign design
Wayfinding and map design
Web-ready promotional images
Websites
What our clients say…
“Anya and Beth brought a very professional and collaborative approach to developing the Champlain Trail Museum and Pioneer Village’s strategic plan. In meeting with museum stakeholders they brought an independent, unbiased perspective. They were able to compile and bring in all of the recommendations from museum stakeholders, staff and volunteers into the plan in a very effective way that will allow the museum to work toward a future of sustainability and growth. The final planning documents were also laid out in a professional, well-presented manner. We would not hesitate to work with them again. Thank you Placemaking Design.” Angela Siebarth, Director/Curator, B.Sc. M.M.C. Champlain Trail Museum and Pioneer Village, Pembroke, Ontario “Placing art or creative experiences in places of everyday life not only enhances people’s day-to-day routines but also provides inspiration and pleasure in spontaneous ways.” Tanya Lyons, Killaloe, Ontario Featured Artist at Madawaska Coffee