In a theater full of artistic types, there had to be someone who would revolt against the regimen of color-coded index cards upon which we were supposed to submit our questions and inspired ideas for boosting Philadelphia as a creative capital.
Indeed, one artist in the crowd didn't disappoint. The bearded man couldn't contain himself as he sat amid the impressive (all right, incredible) crowd of at least 200 people at the Culture, Creativity and the City Town Hall Meeting, held at the Painted Bride Art Center on this muggy, Sunday night. So he blurted out a protest and later requested that audience members turn to each other – right then - and say what they wanted about art.
No word on what those individual conversations revealed. But, you know, those index cards, they were pretty darn impressive, after all.
On the yellow cards, the Philadelphia crowd jotted down their best ideas to support and grow the city's arts and culture scene. It was steam-of-consciousness inspiration:
Why not have an artist in residence in every city government department?Hire artists as caretakers of abandoned buildings, with free rent as an incentive.
Devote 10 percent of the casino revenues to fund the arts.
Use lottery funds for the arts.
A portion or every cultural budget should be earmarked for bold, new works of art.
Create a multi-county cultural fund.
Create art incubators.
Make Philadelphia the creative capital of the east.
Not a bad harvest of ideas from a two-hour panel discussion on three other cities' approach to government promotion of arts and culture. Of course, everybody most envied the deal that Denver created for its cultural groups, zoo and museums nearly 20 years ago: the seven-county taxing district that last year generated $40 million for such critical community assets.
This word of warning from Erin Trapp, director of Denver’s Office of Arts, Culture & Film: You have to build a broad constitutency for such initiatives, both to launch them and to sustain them over the long haul.
Other insights:
Phoenix officials shield their arts office from political interference by situating it in the city manager's office. They'd probably kill for a thriving philanthropic community like Philadelphia's, by the way. As a result of anemic support from that sector, Phoenix arts groups rely on the box office for up to 80 percent of their needs, said Dwight Walth, director of Grants Services & Community Initiatives at the Phoenix Office of Arts & Culture.
“Free Fall Baltimore” is a five-year-old effort by that city's arts office to grow audiences by encouraging arts organizations to offer free events in October. Grants are provided from the city as incentives. Last year, 180,000 people attended 300 events, reported Randi Vega from the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts.
Democratic nominee Michael Nutter sat in front and listened to the early going, before leaving for another engagement. He'll get an earful as a result of this event, no doubt, if those who remained were taking notes.
Best advice on pushing for the needs of arts and culture came from Trapp: “Collaborate, organize, get a consistent message and don't [just] talk to each other – talk to the world out there.”
Check out the Website from the event for more information on networking.
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