Council to Form for Regional Arts
by June 23, 2003 12:00 am 69 views
A five-year strategic plan to enhance cultural arts opportunities in Northwest Arkansas is officially getting off the ground this month with efforts to form a regional arts council.
Anita Scism, president/CEO of the Walton Arts Center, said the Cultural Development Plan Committee, created last year by the WAC to consider options for arts expansion in the area, recommended the regional arts council be formed in order to enhance arts and cultural opportunities throughout the region. Meetings on June 25 and June 26 will gather public input on the formation of the council.
It’s not clear yet what the council’s financial budget would be.
Scism said the WAC often functions like a regional arts center. An organization that would focus on the whole region would not only support the WAC’s efforts, but also be a resource for other arts organizations and projects in the two-county area.
Studies have shown that 56 percent of WAC patrons come from Washington County, 28 percent are from Benton County, 14 percent from other Arkansas counties and 2 percent from out of state.
Craig Dreeszen, a consultant for the North Group Inc., a New York firm hired to work with the Cultural Development Plan Committee to develop a strategic plan, said a regional arts council could “coordinate arts advocacy and efforts to raise public arts awareness.” Such a nonprofit organization can coordinate fundraising and even award grants for local arts programs. It can also partner with local organizations, including schools, for arts education programs, Dreeszen said.
Jim Blair, co-chairman of the Cultural Development Plan Committee, said a regional council’s centralized services would “make the arts more accessible to all area residents.”
North Group consultants will participate in the planned public meetings.