Deepen Your Understanding. Broaden Your Practice. Weave Your Network. 

Intermedia Arts’ Creative Community Leadership Institute matches people who have a passion for change with the tools and experiences to advance their effectiveness and take their work to the next level by leveraging the power of arts and culture. Formerly the Institute for Community Cultural Development (ICCD), the Creative Community Leadership Institute was one of the first programs nationwide to provide comprehensive training and support for leaders working at the intersection of the arts and community change. Led by some of the region’s foremost practitioners and thinkers in the field of community cultural development, Intermedia Arts’ Creative Community Leadership Institute has trained over 230 of the region’s most active changemakers, including community-engaged artists, community developers and organizers.
Based on the fundamental belief that the future health of communities demands innovative, cross-sector leadership at every level, this innovative experiential training program builds a dynamic network of capable leaders and partnerships over an intensive semester-long program of hands-on workshops and on-site experiences.

Since 2002, over 230 active and prominent leaders in local arts-based community development and organizing have graduated from Intermedia Arts’ leadership institute, including: John Bueche, co-founder of Bedlam Theater; DeAnna Cummings, Executive Director of Juxtaposition Arts, Roger Cummings, Artistic Director of Juxtaposition Arts; Justin Huenemann, Program Officer, Northwest Area Foundation; Andrea Jenkins, Senior Policy Aide in Minneapolis City Council 8th Ward Office of Elizabeth Glidden; Gülgün Kayim, Director of Arts Culture and the Creative Economy, City of Minneapolis, Office of the City Coordinator; Victor Makes Room For Them, American Indian Community Housing Organization, Duluth; Chaka Mkali (I Self Devine), Director of Organizing and Community Building at Hope Community; Michael Strand, Associate Professor and Visual Arts Department Head at North Dakota State University; and Jun-Li Wang, Artist Community Organizer at Springboard for the Arts.

The Creative Community Leadership Institute is a program of Intermedia Arts, and is made possible in part thanks to the generous support of the Bush Foundation, with additional support from the Rosemary and David Good Family Foundation. We share a mutual commitment to developing and supporting courageous leaders to work with their communities to identify assets and solve tough problems. In the “new normal,” the future health of communities demands innovative, cross-sector leadership at every level.