Next Step

The Big Canvas Confab
Dec. 6, 2008, at the Valley Forge Convention Center

The work that citizens do at Big Canvas forums in September and October – including the results of citizen balloting on the four approaches outlined in this issue guide – will become the basis for a broad proposal about a regional arts and culture strategy.

This proposal will be developed in consultation with the advisory committee of cultural and civic leaders who have guided The Big Canvas along the way.

The proposal will be the focus on the final event of the Big Canvas, to be held the afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 6, at the Valley Forge Convention Center. (Sure, it’s holiday shopping season. The King of Prussia Mall is right next door. Think of the day as Shop/Talk. You can shop, then talk; or talk, then shop.)

The goal of the Big Canvas Confab is to create a moment that puts this topic squarely on the agenda of the region’s political leaders, and gives them a sense of which ideas have caught the public’s imagination and are likely to generate stable public support.

To create that moment, we’ve invited a good sampling of the region’s political and civic leadership to be at this session. The session will include presentations of the strategy to those leaders as well as an opportunity for you and your neighbors to meet with leaders from your neighborhood and county to talk through what it would take to get moving on plans to make this region an arts and culture mecca.

The Valley Forge site was chosen in part to symbolize the regional reach of this project, and the need for city and suburbs to work together to make arts and culture sing.

Obviously, the site could be problematic for people who rely on mass transit, so we will make transportation arrangements for people who need help getting to Valley Forge.

Stay tuned for further updates and information on this boffo climax to the Big Canvas.