Ann Markusen, professor of planning and public policy and director of the Project on Regional and Industrial Economics (PRIE) at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, was named the Fesler-Lampert Chair in Urban and Regional Affairs for 2004–2005.

Markusen used the resources provided by her appointment to conduct intensive field research on artists’ clubhouses and live-work spaces in Minnesota, enabling her and her colleagues to investigate more closely the social and economic benefits of such spaces for neighborhood and regional economies, as well as their impacts on artistic creativity and livelihoods. The results of this research will inform cultural policy debates at city and neighborhood levels and help policy makers allocate arts and economic development dollars among competing uses.