With funding from the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Meyer Foundation, the Center for Arts and Culture is hosting seminars examining cultural policy issues at the local and regional level. The series convenes leaders of small to mid-sized nonprofit and community-based organizations, policy centers, foundations, and local government agencies to explore concerns of key local significance.

Read the new Cultural Policy at the Grassroots report, which documents the process and the discussion from the 2003 seminar sites in Nashville, Los Angeles, and New Orleans. It also provides information for other communities interested in bringing together the cultural sector to articulate policy needs and affect policy change. Download the PDF file from http://www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/Grassroots.pdf.

Also read August 20th news coverage on Backstage.com. Leonard Jacobs highlights the seminar series and publication. He discusses the project's timeliness, and places it into perspective by providing additional examples of cities in need.
http://www.backstage.com/backstage/news/
article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000615793

Fairfax County, VA
The Center for Arts & Culture, in partnership with the Arts Council of Fairfax County and George Mason University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, sponsored a summit on Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at GMU’s Mason Hall. The summit, "Fairfax County Cultural Policy: A Challenge to Our Community," attracted over 70 attendees. Participants represented a broad cross-section of the county’s arts and cultural, political and business community. Organizers were delighted that Gerald Connolly, Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, provided opening remarks. In addition, Ben Cameron, Executive Director of the Theatre Communications Group, offered a stimulating keynote address on the economic vitality of the arts & cultural sector. The meeting focused on successful cultural policy lessons learned in the region and on developing partnerships within and beyond the arts and cultural community. During closing break out sessions around diverse topics (including space/facility development), participants made concrete recommendations for strengthening Fairfax County’s cultural policies and development.

Download the Fairfax agenda:
http://www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/FairfaxAgenda.pdf

Download the full proceedings (10 pages):
http://www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/FairfaxProceedings.pdf

Download a brief summary and recommendations (2 pages):
http://www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/FairfaxSummary.pdf

Download the presentation on "Economic Vitality of the Arts & Cultural Sector" delivered by Ben Cameron, Executive Director of the Theatre Communications Group, at
http://www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/CameronSpeech.pdf.

Prince William County, VA
On Tuesday, February 1, 2005, the Center for Arts & Culture, the Prince William County Arts Council and George Mason University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts sponsored a forum entitled “Prince William County: Cultural Policy at the Grassroots.” Over 35 leaders of small to middle-sized arts and cultural organizations attended the forum, which was held at Verizon Auditorium at George Mason’s Prince William campus. The meeting focused on suburban arts development, joint marketing and collaborations, and affordable venues, with presentations offered by regional and national experts. During a closing break out session, participants made numerous observations and recommendations on ways to strategically move Prince William County’s cultural development forward.

Download a summary of the forum at http://www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/PrinceWmSummary.pdf.

View the agenda at http://www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/PrinceWmAgenda.pdf.

Read remarks by keynote speaker Carolyn Bye, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council in Minnesota.
http://www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/ByeSpeech.pdf.

New Orleans
The Center for Arts and Culture, Contemporary Arts Center, Creative Industry, Tulane University School of Architecture, the University of New Orleans, and Xavier University—-with funding from the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, and the New Orleans’ Mayor’s Office of Economic Development—-are hosting "Creative Investments in New Orleans," a one-and-a-half day forum on December 11-12, 2003.

At the forum, participants—-guided by local, regional and national experts—-will strategize ways to prioritize arts and cultural activity and foster a greater working relationship between the non-profit arts and private creative industries sector as an important part of the state’s economic development. The forum will elicit ideas and action plans for affecting the new governor and lieutenant governors’ administrations. Discussion will inform a working paper that will be disseminated to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, the state legislature, local officials, and the creative sector within three to six months of the meeting—-making the report and its policy recommendations a timely resource for future planning.

View the New Orleans seminar agenda at http://www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/ForumAgenda12-10.pdf.

Los Angeles
In partnership with the Center for Civil Society at the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research (www.sppsr.ucla.edu/ccs/), the November seminar in Los Angeles was focused on three primary issues: (1) leadership, (2) advocacy, and (3) communication and collective action. The one-day event was held downtown at the Mark Taper Auditorium of the Los Angeles Central Public Library from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Seminar topics were identified by focus groups held in Los Angeles recently in preparation for the November 12, 2003, seminar. The focus groups expressed great interest in integrating arts and culture into the broader policy agenda, and learning how arts leaders can better communicate the importance of a vibrant cultural community to other 'sectors' and policymakers. Participants included local policymakers and arts leaders as well as speakers from outside of the Los Angeles region who participated in moderated panel discussions.

Read a report on the proceedings at http://www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/LosAngelesProceedings.pdf.

Nashville
On July 10-11, 2003, the Center for Arts and Culture and the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy sponsored a one-and-a-half day seminar entitled "The Plan of Nashville: Cultural Policy at the Grassroots." Over 55 leaders of small to middle-sized arts and community based organizations attended, as did Mayor Purcell, Superintendent Pedro Garcia, and several city council and school board members. The meeting, which focused on Arts Education, Cultural Tourism, and Affordable Housing/Venues, was designed to inform The Plan of Nashville, an 18-month project to develop a community-based vision and design principle for metropolitan Nashville. The group made numerous observations and recommendations and will reconvene later this summer to begin moving them forward.

Read the full proceedings report at http://www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/NashvilleProceedings.pdf, or a one-page summary at http://www.culturalpolicy.org/pdf/NashvilleSummary.pdf.