Rachel Hutchison

"I graduated summa cum laude with my BA in Arts Administration & Theatre from Drury University in Missouri, USA. While my passion for the performing arts led me to work with the school’s Department of Theatre as the Development Assistant, it was my senior capstone project, a placemaking report in support of a burgeoning creative district in my university’s town, which galvanised my passion for urban studies and placemaking.

I knew that although the birthplace of the Creative Placemaking movement began in the States with William H Whyte, Jane Jacobs and Kevin Lynch in the 1960s and 70s and Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa in the early 2000's, the real frontier for the implementation of contemporary thinking was happening in rapidly changing cities like London. In Goldsmiths, I saw my opportunity to complete my post-grad studies immersed in one of the urban hubs I had sought to study.

My interest in placemaking and regeneration led me to an internship with Futurecity, a global cultural placemaking consultancy, where I began working as part of the strategy team. Tasked with unlocking the potential of a site and sussing out ways to leverage private funds to create meaningful interactions between new and existing residential communities, the team has brokered significant cultural partnerships with the likes of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, created meaningful community engagement projects and delivered an ever-increasing portfolio of world-class public art installations. Fours years on and I'm now working as the Projects Controller for the team, overseeing the delivery of our portfolio of strategy and arts delivery projects and developing the structures for new work. My job affords me the privilege to see first hand how our urban spaces are transforming and how integral arts and culture are to preserving authentic communities."