Elayna Toby Singer

Elayna is a strategic collaborator and change catalyst who facilitates capacity building for

individuals and organizations. Working at the intersection of community engaged creative

placemaking, cultural and environmental sustainability and public health she specializes in

cultivating public/private/community partnerships to achieve a shared vision and implement

actions to attain desired outcomes. In response to community values and priorities Elayna’s

empowering approach activates diverse community members and cross-sector stakeholders in

the co-creation of cultural arts related strategic and master plans, places and programs. She is

also experienced in upsizing from start-up to sustainability in both public and nonprofit

paradigms.

For more than 20 years working with artists, community leaders, design professionals and

elected officials, Elayna leads community driven planning and implementation of Art in Public

Public Places initiatives in South Florida that transform public infrastructure into public “art

places” which amplify client missions, enhance community pride, social cohesion, and quality of life. Sample projects include library, transportation, convention center, water utility, courthouse, correctional, voting, and sheriff facilities, along with baseball stadiums, parks, botanical gardens and housing resource centers. Elayna’s first career chapter involved public garden museum management in Chicago, Philadelphia and Naples, Florida where she led built inter-agency cross-cultural alliances to expand community engagement and foster equitable access to resources. She also led community centric strategic and master planning and curated culturally- specific landscapes and art exhibitions.

Elayna served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant which

supports creative placemaking using arts, culture, and design to strengthen communities and

advance local priorities. She currently Co-Chairs the Design & Planning Community for the

American Public Gardens Association and serves on the Florida Association of Public Art

Professionals Board. Elayna graduated from University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a BA in

Cultural Anthropology, and from the Longwood Graduate Program at the University of Delaware with a MS in Public Horticulture Administration and a Certificate in Museum Studies.

As an artist Elayna partners with public and private arts, health, educational, and environmental organizations, offering participatory nature arts programs and creative place keeping communiTree kinetic public art interventions that create healthier people and places.