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The regional arts and culture scene will change dramatically under a master plan unveiled in 2003 by Region 2020 and The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.
Tom Wolf, a partner in the Cambridge, Mass.,-based consulting firm Wolf, Keens, and Co., announced the regional arts and culture master plan findings at the annual meeting of The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham in March 2003.The two organizations jointly announced the results of a comprehensive arts and culture master plan at the foundation’s annual meeting. Wolf, Keens, and Co., based in Cambridge, Mass., developed the plan after talking to more than 300 people and doing market research in the 12-counties.
A priority of the plan was the creation of a Cultural Alliance for the region to carry out many of the initiatives. It also recommended establishing a “Cultural Trust,” which would raise endowment funds in partnership with cultural organizations.
The plan offers programs and initiatives that strengthen cultural organizations, provide more support for working artists and encourages arts education. It provides for an enhanced role for arts and culture in fostering the economic development of the region, and moves arts and culture out to the neighborhoods.
The completion of the plan accomplishes an important Region 2020 goal set by citizens, which was to develop a region that actively promotes and supports the arts and humanities, and provides more cultural opportunities for residents and tourists, said Ann Florie, executive director of Region 2020.
Steering Committee co-chairs were Lyndra Daniel, a past president of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, and Charles McCrary, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Alabama Power.
“We view the Arts and Culture Master Plan as another tool to move the community forward,” said Kate Nielsen, president of the Community Foundation. “The whole purpose of Region 2020 is to learn what citizens hold as a priority, and to make plans to make their vision come true. We have already seen that happen with housing, and we look forward to seeing what happens in the area of culture and the arts.”
These initiatives will provide a blueprint for public and private investment that will strengthen and stabilize one of our most valuable assets -- the arts and cultural community, Ms. Florie said. “We want to thank the Community Foundation for providing leadership in developing the plan, and for their continued support of the arts.”
