Culture Talks continues conversations between artists, architects, designers, city builders and urbanists, shining a light on exemplary buildings, public art projects, placemaking and the public realm. The 2025 talk series delves deeper into social infrastructure.

Carol Coletta is the former President and CEO of Memphis River Parks Partnerships, a public-private partnership responsible for five miles of public property on the Mississippi River. She led a new riverfront concept plan with extensive public engagement, the renaming and redesign of two parks with confederate associations, and the design and construction of Tom Lee Park, winning international acclaim for its designers Studio Gang and SCAPE.

Carol has spent a lifetime focused on cities and their success. She is a Fellow with the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University, where she is exploring how public space can enable economic mobility and stronger communities by fostering cross-class connections.