By: Erin Moore—
Muncie, IN—Several organizations in Muncie are working together to host a city-wide presentation on March 15 by Peter Kageyama, an internationally known author and speaker on grassroots engagement and community revitalization.
Peter’s books, For the Love of Cities: The Love Affair Between People and Their Places and the follow up, Love Where You Live: Creating Emotionally Engaging Places, explore the powerful role of heart and emotion in community, social, and economic development. Peter speaks all over the world about what makes cities loveable and what motivates ordinary citizens to do extraordinary things for their places.
“Love Where You Live: An Evening with Peter Kageyama” will be held on Wednesday, March 15, 6:30 – 8:00 pm, at Cornerstone Center for the Arts (520 E. Main Street, Muncie). There is no cost to attend, but pre-registration is appreciated. The event is for everyone – people who love Muncie and those who are skeptical about the community and its future.
“I’m excited about this visit because there’s a lot to love about Muncie,” said Mitch Isaacs of Shafer Leadership Academy, an event partner. “As the economy continues to go mobile people have increasing freedom of where to live. It is important that Muncie builds on the growing momentum behind the quality-of-place movement. We should celebrate what we do well, and work towards what we can do better.”
The spirit of collaboration around this event reflects the strong desire for Muncie’s citizens, non-profit organizations, local businesses, anchor institutions, and elected leadership to pursue a unified vision for our city.
“It is encouraging to see so many different entities come together and support the presentation,” said Delaina Boyd of Ball State’s Office of Community Engagement. “We hope that Peter’s talk will give us a common language to talk about the good work that is happening across our community.”
In addition to Shafer Leadership and Ball State, event partners include the City of Muncie, Muncie Action Plan, Muncie-Delaware County Economic Development Alliance, Muncie Public Library, Cornerstone Center for the Arts, Woof Boom Radio (WERK, WLBC, MAX, BLAKE-FM, WXFN, WHBU and Muncie Journal), IPR/WIPB, and the Building Better Neighborhoods initiative. Many more organizations and community leaders have helped to spread the word about the event to their members and constituents.
Kageyama’s presentation follows on the heels of the second annual I.D.E.A. Neighborhoods Conference on March 4, where more than 120 neighborhood leaders shared ideas and best practices.
“Peter Kageyama is a strong advocate for resident engagement at the neighborhood level,” said Building Better Neighborhood’s Heather Williams. “If residents can learn to harness their love for their home, their block, their neighborhood, and their city, there is no telling what positive effect they can have on our community. I hope that goodwill spreads out from Cornerstone and lights up every dark corner of doubt in our city. We can do better, and we will!”
For more information and to register, visit www.muncieneighborhoods.org/kageyama.
Erin Moore is Communications Specialist, Government Relations and Community Engagement at Ball State University
