What does it take to imagine a shuttered industrial building as the foundation for a new kind of community? Led by Todd Richardson, this two-hour tour of Crosstown Concourse and Crosstown Arts explores how a former Sears distribution center was transformed into a home for artists, residents, educators, health providers, entrepreneurs, broadcasters, and neighbors.
Participants will move through a mixed-use campus that includes arts spaces, a theatre, a radio station, community health services, housing, education, food, and gathering places, learning how these parts work together to create a living civic ecosystem. The tour will also highlight Crosstown Arts and its role in cultivating artists, presenting new work, and building the cultural life that animates the larger development.
Communities across the country are working to reimagine former industrial buildings and other underused spaces as centers of cultural and civic life. Crosstown offers a distinctive Memphis model from which others can learn: one that places arts and culture at the center of community development, not as an amenity added after the fact, but as infrastructure for connection, belonging, health, and shared life. In keeping with the conference’s broader invitation to learn from Memphis, the tour asks what Crosstown’s experience can teach us about building community around the assets, imagination, and relationships already present in a place.
Hosted by: Todd Richardson (Crosstown Concourse) and Stacy Wright (Crosstown Arts)
Expectations: This cultural tour includes transportation by bus, and tea, soft drinks, and reception refreshments are included. Participants should expect periods of walking, standing, boarding and exiting the bus, and moving between indoor and outdoor spaces. Routes may include stairs, uneven surfaces, or varying distances between stops. GIA and our local partners will work to keep the group connected and ensure that all participants can engage meaningfully in the tour. Please share any mobility, seating, transportation, or other access needs with our team at GIAAccess2026@gmail.com.
Cost: $50