|
|
|
Resident Artists and Theater Companies: Michigan Classical Repertory Theatre Some of our friends and colleagues: Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority Ypsilanti Convention and Visitors Bureau Ann Arbor Area
|
Riverside Arts Center, Winter, 2007, Newsletter Arts Center to head Ypsilanti’s end of Cultural Plan Toward this end, RAC officials and other local arts groups met in September with Craig Dreezsen, a nationally recognized consultant advising on the Arts Alliance Cultural Plan project. Later in September, they met with Becky Anderson, Executive Director of HandMade in America, an economic development agency in North Carolina that focuses on using culture to revitalize a stagnant economy. Desired outcomes of the Cultural Planning Project of this two-year project are to reframe the way area residents think about arts and culture in Washtenaw County and to build consensus among a wide variety of stakeholders throughout the county regarding the role arts and culture can and should play in addressing community concerns to create a better life for the residents of Washtenaw County. The end product will be a five-year cultural plan for the county as a whole. Data collected in Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Dexter, Manchester, Milan, Saline, and Ypsilanti will be returned to that community to create a customized cultural plan, if desired. As a by-product, the Arts Alliance hopes to strengthen its partner cultural organization in each participating community. A cultural plan lays out a vision for cultural development in a community along with specific action steps for achieving this vision. Community cultural planning is a structured, community-wide fact-finding and consensus-building process to identify cultural resources, community needs and opportunities, as well as plan actions and secure resources to respond. Why now? Social, economic, and demographic pressures on Washtenaw County prompted the Arts Alliance to recognize this as an appropriate time for a culture plan. Among these pressures: The Cultural Plan will serve educators, funders, government, artists & arts organizations, business, youth. The Arts Alliance will coordinate the overall project and serve as the fiduciary agent. An honorary committee of business, education, governmental, civic, and cultural leaders will lend their support. A steering committee will provide hands-on direction. Leadership teams will build community awareness and encourage local participation. Volunteers will assist with the data gather at county and local levels. Interns from EMU’s Arts Administration program will provide tactical support to the leadership teams. Citizen task forces will draft the action steps for each community’s individual plan. Participating organizations include:
|