2020

An Arts and Culture Vision to Transform the Region

IMAGINE GREATER LOUISVILLE

THIS PLAN WAS CREATED TO ANSWER ONE QUESTION —

How can arts and culture best serve this community?

Arts, culture and creativity are essential components to Greater Louisville’s authentic and distinctive identity. Greater Louisville is a vibrant and livable community with countless cultural assets and creative professionals. Louisville is one of the only cities its size to boast a resident orchestra, ballet, opera, regional theatre, children’s theatre and fine arts museum. The region is known for its museum row, numerous historical sites, gallery districts, the creation of new work and its rich live music scene. Arts and culture are alive across the region, from downtown venues to neighborhood parks, libraries, schools and community centers.

Arts and culture have the power to transform the region, to help advance a more competitive, economically stronger, more educated, creative and compassionate Greater Louisville. Imagine Greater Louisville 2020 provides a shared vision for the role arts, culture and creativity can play in this stronger future.

Over the course of 18 months, this community-based plan was created under the leadership of a cross-sector, 28-person steering committee. Nearly 5,000 people, through public meetings, interviews and surveys, brought their voice to its creation. Their voices are reflected throughout this plan which includes:

5 PRIORITIES, 15 STRATEGIES, 56 RECOMMENDED ACTIONS

Read Full Report Here

Community Engagement Report

Cultural Asset Inventory

PRIORITIES

Click the priorities below to see recommended strategies and actions for each.

Arts, culture and creativity are fully integrated into daily life and accessible to everyone in every neighborhood, every day. More art for more people in more places.

Greater Louisville is a magnet for artists and creative professionals, where arts and culture organizations and creative industries, both institutional and emerging, are thriving.

Every child in our community has the opportunity to experience and participate in arts and culture through experiences in their schools, out-of-school programs and with their families.

Cultural equity is leading the way to a more equitable, diverse and inclusive community improving the social equity and cultural vitality of the region.

Greater Louisville is recognized nationally and internationally as a leading city of arts and culture attracting talent to live and work here and tourists to stay and play.

ABOUT THE PLAN

This document is the beginning of the process of transformation. But it is only words on a page. To fully realize the collective vision laid out here, many organizations, individuals and partners will need to play a role. Imagine Greater Louisville 2020 will be led by a Steering Committee of arts and culture and cross-sector individuals. This committee will have governance responsibility, provide feedback, direction and oversight and report, at least annually, to the community. The Arts & Culture Alliance will serve as a primary liaison to engage arts and culture organizations in all aspects of the plan implementation and the Fund for the Arts will provide administrative support to the Steering Committee.

The responsibility for the implementation of the plan is a shared responsibility. It is expected that arts and culture organizations, artists and creative professionals will see their role in the collective action of the plan. No one organization or individual can fulfill the vision for the region on their own. Nor can the vision be fulfilled without the leadership and alignment of many. The vision statements here are meant to be aspirational and evergreen, but the strategies and actions laid out in the Plan are meant to be executed by 2020. It is imperative that the Steering Committee and the community have the flexibility to explore and evaluate the recommended strategies and actions, and to pursue those with the greatest impact on the region and the future.

Imagine Greater Louisville 2020 is a call to action to all of us, across our community’s sectors, (public, corporate, philanthropic, education, and cultural) to leverage our creative resources to realize the full potential of our creative, prosperous future together.

Our hope for this report is three-fold. First, by connecting the dots between the arts and culture sector and the community’s priorities, this will spark greater collaboration and engagement of arts and culture as a meaningful partner in community solutions. Second, we encourage artists and organizations to ask themselves how they can best support the shared vision for a stronger community. And lastly, we hope to inspire greater investment in the creativity and diversity of the arts and culture sector to realize our common aspirational vision.

If you have ideas, suggestions or would like to get involved in the implementation of Imagine Greater Louisville 2020, simply send an email to us at imagine@fundforthearts.org!

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