The Big Canvas Collection

The Big Canvas: A regional dialogue on art and culture ... and your wallet

Nearly everyone who's attended a Great Expectations forum agreed on one point: One of the best things about living in the Philadelphia region is the wealth of things to do.

The Big Canvas aims to create a regional cultural strategy that citizens will support because they helped to craft it.

All of the citizen and expert contributions came together at The Big Canvas Confab on Dec. 6, 2008. Check out our Confab page for audio from discussion panels featuring arts experts and political leaders along with the keynote speech by Judge Marjorie Rendell; posts by citizen bloggers; and summaries of citizen discussions held that day. Also, take a look at our Summary of Findings and the results of the voting.

Leading up the Confab was the summer round of forums, which got under way in July. Citizens gathered at five events held throughout the region to talk about who uses arts and culture resources, what values the arts and culture bring to the community, what barriers there are to participating, and what should be prioritized.

The fall round of forums focused on The Big Canvas Issue Guide. The guide featured four approaches to a regional arts plan, each of which was based on the discussions held during the summer. These included:

1. Extend the Arts Experience
2. Nurture Children's Future
3. Build the Creative Economy
4. Foster Quality of Community

If you missed either round of forums, there's still time to join the dialogue. Visit the summer and fall forum pages to see what participants had to say at each event, and check out the posts by our citizen bloggers. In addition, you can weigh in with your thoughts and ideas by leaving a comment on the site (you must be logged in) or e-mailing them to great-expectations@gse.upenn.edu.