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Every project moves through the same three stages — from the relationships that ground a project in its community, to the public art itself, to the funding that makes it all possible.
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A Creative Placemaking Firm
Activating underutilized public spaces through ART
Video Credit: Ziwei Liu
Too many neighborhoods have public spaces that no longer serve the people who live there — neglected, unsafe, or fragmented by decades of disinvestment. Capital infrastructure projects meant to address these conditions take years, sometimes decades, to materialize. And traditional community engagement — when it happens at all — too often comes too late and runs too shallow to generate the authentic buy-in that makes projects succeed.
Art changes that. It transforms a space before a single shovel hits the ground — making the invisible visible, surfacing local knowledge, and generating the kind of genuine community response that no planning document ever can. It brings residents, electeds, and institutional stakeholders into the same conversation, builds shared vision, and creates the momentum that lasting infrastructure change requires.
And while capital projects move slowly, public art activates a space immediately — sustaining community investment and neighborhood energy for the long arc of change ahead.
We believe public art should be the first budgeted component of every urban and transportation planning process — not an afterthought. That's what we're here to make possible.
ThirdSpace Partners is a creative placemaking firm that uses art to activate underutilized public spaces — promoting greater safety, vibrancy, and a sense of place.
We believe art is the most powerful tool we have for getting there. It brings people together, sparks conversations, and invites residents to participate in shaping the places they call home. That local knowledge — who lives here, what matters here, what this place means — is what transforms a public space into one that feels genuinely safe, welcoming, and rooted in its community's unique culture and history.
We work alongside residents, artists, municipal leaders, neighborhood groups and local business owners to design and build murals, installations, and pop-up activations. But we're not just making spaces beautiful. We're laying the groundwork for lasting infrastructure change.
From community engagement and artist selection to permitting, installation, and fundraising, ThirdSpace Partners manages the full arc of every project — so our partners can stay focused on what matters most: their communities.
ThirdSpace Partners is a Minority Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) certified firm.
Every project moves through the same three stages — from the relationships that ground a project in its community, to the public art itself, to the funding that makes it all possible.
View Our Services
ThirdSpace Partners is led by Lillian Cho, a public art and placemaking strategist with 20+ years of experience advancing the arts, strengthening neighborhoods, and building community in New York City and New Jersey.
Her work spans collaborations with nonprofits, government, artists, and planners, including leadership roles at Hester Street and Urban Essex Coalition for Smart Growth, where she advanced projects from sustainable infrastructure design with NYC Housing Authority residents to statewide mapping of BIPOC-led arts organizations and pedestrian safety initiatives in highway-divided communities.
As executive director of organizations including Asian American Arts Alliance, Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, and the Asian American Writers' Workshop, Lillian launched impactful public programs, raised significant private and public funding, and guided leadership transitions. She also developed NYC's first disability arts funding program for the Department of Cultural Affairs, and served on Lincoln Center Out of Doors' La Casita curatorial team.
Lillian currently serves on the boards of Pink Fang and Think!Chinatown and is active in regional transportation and walkability advocacy work. She lives in New Jersey with her family.
"It is through art that we know ourselves. It's through art that we will go forward into the world, and it is through art that our cultures will be remembered."— Joy Harjo, 23rd US Poet Laureate