Creative Placemaking Expert

Kady Yellow has been activating public spaces since 2010, when she first discovered the transformative power of collaboration with municipal governments, community organizations, and the cultural sector to build vibrant, people-centered cities. She holds dual Bachelor's degrees in Mathematics and Design from Binghamton University (BU).
 

Born and raised in Binghamton, NY, Kady overcame early adversity to become the city’s youngest Commissioner for Downtown Development and co-founder of the Department of Public Art. As a mayoral appointee to the Public Art Advisory Board, she helped bring the global mural movement to Broome County. Under her leadership, the initiative took root locally and grew into a formal economic development zone known as iDistrict Murals & Mosaics. She also helped establish the city’s first Director of Placemaking position.
 

In 2016, her work in New York earned her an invitation to keynote the Global Mural Conference. That same year, she was awarded an artist residency at the Bunnell Street Arts Center in Alaska. Rather than pursue a traditional residency, Kady proposed a community placemaking project—Peonies on Pioneer—to help the town of Homer (population 5,000) launch its first creative placemaking initiative. The project spotlighted Homer’s globally recognized peony industry while activating Main Street in partnership with the local arts center.
 

While in Alaska, Kady was hired by Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and Enzina Marrari, Public Curator of Art for the City of Anchorage, to train government staff and arts administrators on how to collaborate effectively with artists in the design of public space.
 

Following her time in Alaska, Kady was awarded a full Teaching Assistantship at the University of New Orleans, where she earned a Master’s in Arts Administration in 2018. During her studies, she completed fieldwork as a Volunteer Coordinator in Western Ireland and later lived and worked in Galway, contributing to the Galway International Arts Festival as the city prepared for its designation as European Capital of Culture in 2020. She was also invited to join the organizing team for the Lisbon Street Art and Urban Creativity International Conference in Portugal.
 

After publishing her first book on creative placemaking in 2019, Kady was recruited as the first Director of Placemaking in Flint, Michigan. Her work focused on empowering residents to engage in urban planning by breaking down barriers to participation. Her Flint model gained national attention and is now being replicated in North Carolina, New York, and California. In 2022, she hosted Placemaking Week Michigan, a nationally recognized event that brought together leaders from Project for Public Spaces, the Brookings Institution, and PlacemakingUS alongside 25 of the country’s top placemakers to explore resident-led transformations in Flint.
 

Kady has been supported by numerous organizations dedicated to improving quality of life, including the American Planning Association (Broome County Chapter), the American Institute of Architects (North Carolina Chapter), the Carriage Town Historic Association (Michigan), and the Flint Public Art Project. She has served as an international keynote speaker for RAUM (Netherlands), is a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Placemaking grantee, and produces the global event series Placemaking Week.

In January 2022, she became the inaugural Director of Placemaking for Jacksonville’s Business Improvement District. In this role, she continues to educate and empower residents to reclaim public spaces, engage in civic life, and participate actively in shaping the future of their communities.