The Big Canvas Confab - Group Three

The Big Canvas Confab - Group Three

The 26 total participants were about two-thirds women, varied in age — about four young adults, five seniors and the remainder middle-aged — and overwhelmingly white — probably two Latinas, one Asian American woman, two Black African Heritage women, and 21 white people. We had seven people who described themselves as arts and culture leaders. Moderators were Lisa Santer and Ellen Greenberg. Montgomery County Commissioner and former Congressman Joe Hoeffel and Philadelphia City Councilwoman Maria Quinones Sanchez also joined the group.

What elected officials thought most important:
Joe Hoeffel:
• Getting citizens to push the elected officials to action

• Tying future to arts & culture for economic revitalization of specific areas. Officials find it easier to provide capital funds rather than operating funds.

• Fight over money can be good. There are 2 elephants in the room:

• Not talking about money when we need to talk about it

• The Barnes: this situation is about what can go wrong when you don’t look regionally.

Maria Quinones Sanchez:
• Policy and money determine what’s important to us. We need to talk about the money, even when it’s hard

• Talking about moving into action. Art is more than “Main St.” and “downtown”, and it’s particularly important in preserving and vitalizing cultures.

• Policies/incentives to encourage artists to move into different communities

What the arts and culture leaders/workers thought most important:

• Capitalizing on music as a cultural experience.

• Reaching out to the community to find out what’s important and attractive to them.

• The community arts organizations are the glue that holds the fabric of regional arts together.

• Community arts programs pick up where school programs leave off:

     → Revitalizing areas
     → Bringing people together
     → People will find their community identities
     → Will be part of what’s necessary for livable thriving communities
     → Help develop the kinds of citizens we want to have in the future

• Children in Philadelphia aren’t getting sequential art and music education; how music & art help children in other ways, including seeing themselves as successful.

• How arts and culture can become an anchor for communities. Broaden thinking about where and how “arts and culture” exist. There are areas in the region that don’t have arts organizations, and that have other types of organizations providing arts and culture resources.

Discussion:

• Make Avenue of the Arts a model for other communities. Expand Philly’s to the Parkway—others noted this is happening and will connect interested person to the organization.

• Include all kinds of diversity into a truly regional experience.

Common ground:

• Especially in this economic situation, adding trust to the equation. Need to plan and take concrete action steps to build trust among stakeholders.

• Power of listserv—develop a way to have a listserv of people who want to help arts and culture organizations in various ways.

• Collaboration:  work to find a way for community arts organizations to budget collaboratively based on what they collectively want to accomplish. Could include taking turns/ noting that a particular organization plans to do something big this season they all value and prioritizing funding to that organization.

• How can art support itself? 1% tax on purchase of high-end artworks.

• Generosity in this time of economic crisis

     → Cultural passport—membership that would give access to all organizations so artists and others don’t have to rotate membership each year to have access to varied arts.
     → One day a month that’s free in all institutions—may not have many paying visitors then so why not at least have audience?

• Need to challenge public officials to pressure school districts to increase access to the arts in the school districts—action steps for all

• Sharing between public and private schools

• Stop the closure of public libraries & rec centers

• Reach out to people who will vote to support arts and culture. Talk, write letters to the editors.

• Big, combined PR & marketing campaign to support arts and culture.

• Challenge to leaders: don’t spend money the way you have in the past.