Public Art Is Economic Development

Westfield’s next major public art installation, Hold the Stars, will do more than add a beautiful new landmark to our city. It will help tell a story about who we are, what we value, and where we are going.

Created by Indiana-based artist and historian Aaron S. Coleman, Hold the Stars will honor Westfield’s Underground Railroad heritage and the Quaker families who helped guide freedom seekers through this area. The piece is expected to be installed at The Grand on Main, creating a public gathering place where residents, visitors, families, and future generations can reflect, connect, and experience Westfield’s history in a meaningful way.

For the City of Westfield’s Economic Development Department, this project also reflects a broader truth: public art is not separate from economic development. It is part of it.

Communities compete for jobs, investment, talent, visitors, and quality of place. Companies evaluate workforce, infrastructure, access, and market conditions, but they also look closely at the character of a community. They ask whether employees will want to live there. They consider whether a place feels active, authentic, and forward-looking. They look for signs that a city is investing not only in growth, but in identity. Public art helps answer those questions.

When thoughtfully planned, public art strengthens a city’s sense of place. It turns streets, trails, parks, and developments into destinations. It gives residents shared landmarks and gives visitors a reason to slow down, explore, and return. It supports walkable districts, activates public spaces, and contributes to the kind of environment where restaurants, retailers, offices, entrepreneurs, and mixed-use developments can thrive.

That matters for business attraction. A strong quality of place helps differentiate Westfield in a competitive regional and national marketplace. Businesses want to locate in communities that can attract and retain talent. As workforce expectations continue to evolve, amenities such as trails, parks, dining, entertainment, cultural experiences, and public art are increasingly part of the economic development equation. They are not extras. They are part of the value proposition.

That also matters for talent attraction. People choose communities for more than proximity to a job. They choose places that feel connected, safe, vibrant, and meaningful. Public art contributes to that experience by creating beauty, encouraging civic pride, and making public spaces more memorable. It signals that a community values creativity, history, inclusion, and investment in the public realm.

Just as important, public art supports the creative economy. Artists, designers, fabricators, cultural organizations, event producers, galleries, educators, and creative entrepreneurs all contribute to local and regional economic growth. Projects like Hold the Stars create opportunities for collaboration among local government, artists, cultural partners, private development, and the broader community. That collaboration builds capacity, expands networks, and reinforces the role of creativity as an economic asset.

For Westfield, Hold the Stars is especially significant because it connects growth with memory. As our city continues to develop, it is important that new investment reflects the full depth of our story. Economic development should not only build what comes next; it should help preserve and elevate what came before. This installation gives physical form to a powerful chapter of Westfield’s history while creating a new civic space for learning, reflection, and connection. That is the kind of placemaking that endures.

A community’s competitiveness is shaped by roads, utilities, sites, and buildings. But it is also shaped by the experiences people have when they arrive. It is shaped by whether a place feels distinctive. It is shaped by whether residents feel pride and whether visitors feel invited. It is shaped by whether growth feels connected to purpose. Hold the Stars represents an investment in all of those things.

As Westfield grows, we will continue to support projects that strengthen our economy, enhance quality of life, and build a community where people and businesses can thrive. Public art is one of the ways we do that. It helps us tell our story, attract investment, support talent, and create places that people remember. And in a city with Westfield’s momentum, that kind of place-making is not just cultural; it is economic development.