The Inquirer's Suburban Headquarters - Group Three

The Big Canvas - July 16, 2008

There were nine participants in the session. One was a blogger and the other eight were involved in some way with arts and culture. Six lived and worked for arts groups or historical sites within Montgomery County while two worked and lived in Philadelphia. -- Moderators Louise Giugliano and Jean di Sabatino

For what do people use arts and culture?

Spiritual fulfillment, entertainment, education, “ed-u-tainment,” personal enlightenment, propaganda, status and prestige, branding, to project and image, deliver and formulate messages to the public, connect to customers/constituents, expression of ethnic heritage/culture, self-expression.

Who are the users?

Students, seniors, therapists, folks under 30, families, boomers, tourists, businesses, Internet users, civic groups, social services groups, youth groups (i.e. Scouts), politicians, the wealthy, different ethnic groups, artists.

What values do you think arts and culture bring to individuals, families, communities? What basic values do they support?

• Made folks/groups more productive

• Add to quality of life

• Inspires creativity

• Arts make folks happy

• Share common experiences, connect

• Provide common ground where folks from different groups can
meet, share

• Enhances educational achievement

• Instills cultural, national and patriotic values

• Develops appreciation of past/heritage

• Develops sense of community

• Helps to define self and membership in group/community

• Connect to stories from the past

• Understanding past leads to fuller self-understanding

• Helps to provide personal, regional, community narrative

• Presents other points of views, different values, different
perspective and contexts

• Opens up to possibilities

• Helps us feel good about being a member of community

• Makes us safe or threatens our perspective

• Adds spice to our lives

In our region, what are the barriers to these uses and values?

• Shifting standards of what makes good art – different opinions. This is particularly problematic in terms of funding.

• Education – folks not comfortable or not informed about.

• Limited access for special needs groups, seniors, poor, less educated, those needing transportation.

• Folks not familiar with regional arts and cultural events/opportunities.

• Lack of information/awareness – arts and cultural events around the region are not advertised in the city sections on paper – only advertised in neighborhood or regional sections.

• Fragmented marketing within traditional outlets.

• Funding for publicity and public awareness very limited for smaller venues.

• Internet only reaches certain populations.

• Cost to the individual – admission, transportation.

• Competition among different arts and culture venues and with other types of events – competing regional interests.

• Not enough offerings for families with young children.

• General legal issues, policies and guidelines controlling access, funding, usage.

You're part of a committee that's going to decide how $60 million gets spent. What's on your list? How is the list prioritized?

• With six votes – Arts education programs in schools (as part of public education) and fund education components within the venues. Include interpretative materials, IPOD and other media for education.

• With five votes – Fund a non-profit, umbrella organization to support the smaller venues with centralized marketing and promote tourism, centralized small grant-making, centralized reservations, common calendar (through Google.docs or other formats such as eventful.com or upcoming.org) so that smaller venues can schedule events to coincide with or parallel events planned by major venues. ArtQuest in Bethlehem, Pa., as an example.

• With five votes – Subsidize and expand public transportation to and from venues both in the city and regionally. Provide reduced admission (regional arts and
culture pass) for using public transportation.

• With two votes – Provide funding for general operating and capital support for small to medium organizations (staffing and building funds).

• With two votes – Subsidize all special programs within the larger venues. Offer free admission days.

• With two votes – Sponsor an annual International Arts Festival.
Expand programming to increase artists-in-residents, public art, festivals, concerts in the park.

• With one vote – Provide incentives to develop creative enterprises (pockets of arts and culture) in boroughs and regionally. Provide tax-breaks for artists and art
corporations to move into boroughs surrounding the city. Cool Cities Initiative in Michigan as an example.

Other major regional concerns or issues? Which of these have a higher or lower
priority than arts and culture?

• Education – seven participants felt this held priority over the arts.

• Lack of health care for all – six participants felt this held priority over the arts.

• Economic growth - attracting and keeping jobs – five participants felt this held priority over the arts.

• Lack of public transportation – four participants felt this held priority over the arts.

• Crime – 4 participants felt this held priority over the arts.

• Historic preservations – threat to smaller, historically significant sites – three participants felt this held priority over the arts.

• Preserving open space – 1 participant felt this held priority over the arts.

• Territorialism/regionalism.

• Environmental concerns re. flooding and air quality.

• Lack of inter-regional collaboration - strong regional identity – ethnocentricity.

• Corruption in city government – lack of ethics and accountability.

For what other issues could arts and culture be part of the solution?

• Education

• Economic growth

• Transportation

• Preserving open space

• Environment

• Historical preservation

• Crime (as in Mural Art Project)