Pomegranate Center

In 1986, Milenko founded the non-profit organization Pomegranate Center with the intention of linking art with community betterment.

Milenko developed a process whereby community members identified a project vision, designers and artists expressed their ideas, and those separate forces were brought together for an actual build - the whole process taking just a few months from start to finish.

He collaborated on over 60 parks and gathering spaces around the Pacific Northwest and beyond, with artists, architects, craftspeople and builders including: James Hubbell, Chiaki Takanohara, Duncan Chalmers, Bree Dillon, Ilisa Goldman, Heinz Sodamin, Heidi Breeze-Harris, Paul Olson, Katya Matanovič, Amna Alvi, Paul Sorey, Deanna Goldy, Eric Higbee, and many others.

In the last decade, people began approaching Pomegranate Center to learn more about the process that led them to be so successful in these projects. The Pomegranate Method was born - a training program to prepare organizations, communities and individuals for a collaborative future. Since then, a multitude of trainings have taken place across the USA, New Zealand and Slovenia, passing on the methods to over a thousand people who hope to take this knowledge into their own communities.

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  • Gathering Places

    Milenko and the Pomegranate Center team led over 60 parks and gathering places from the first community meetings to the finished projects.

    Gallery

  • Press

    There have been numerous features on Pomegranate Center and Milenko over the years. A collection of them can be found below.

    Interviews and Profiles

  • Facilitation Training

    The Pomegranate Method is a training program that was developed based on Milenko’s decades of leading real-world community engagement processes.

    The training is designed to quickly and efficiently tap into the collective wisdom of diverse populations.

    Milenko and his daughter, Katya, developed the Pomegranate Method trainings for groups large and small. Contact Milenko or click below to learn more about the Pomegranate Method.

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“We came to realize that while working on creating a park together we also built invisible social bonds: increased trust, a willingness to become better acquainted, to learn from each other, to help reduce crime, and to encourage those who felt unsure how to participate in the community.

Our method was to work with community members throughout the entire journey. In the end, not only did we create a project where many people said "I did this," but we also changed habits, where community members asked more of on another. And, most importantly, they learned how to work together and appreciate their differences as important connective links.”

— Milenko