IMAGINE IF…
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.
Access to arts and culture across neighborhoods and communities build more connected and engaged citizens, bringing people together from across the region, and creating safer, healthier people and neighborhoods. Arts and culture have the power to enrich lives, create connections and revitalize communities. But this is only true if everyone across broad and diverse communities has access to them. To ensure this is so, neighborhoods must be connected, arts hubs and creative districts must be woven together, celebrating and building on what exists, creating an accessible and open fabric of opportunities to experience and participate in arts and culture.
THIS PRIORITY ALREADY IN ACTION
Kentucky Shakespeare
Kentucky Shakespeare is committed to connecting with the community and bringing Shakespeare to the places people live and gather. Examples include “Shakespeare in the Library” touring all 18 Louisville Free Public Libraries, “Shakespeare in the Parks” in 23 neighborhoods across the community, and the multiple productions — all free — of the annual “Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park”.
STRATEGY 1
Infuse arts and cultural programming into libraries, parks and other neighborhood resources to provide programming in neighborhoods – every neighborhood, every week
ACTION A: Map the existing programs in community centers, libraries, and other neighborhood spaces – identify where it is happening to determine where there are accessibility and participation gaps.
ACTION B: Expand arts and culture programming in neighborhoods when and where needed, leveraging neighborhood venues such as libraries, community centers, parks, etc.
ACTION C: Develop a network of artists and arts providers, as well as activities in venues and artist galleries and across all neighborhoods.
ACTION D: Identify current and new funding opportunities to support current and expanded neighborhood arts and culture programming.
STRATEGY 2
Make access to information about arts and culture experiences, programs and events easy and available to everyone
ACTION A: Identify and leverage an existing resource such as the ArtsLink app to create a singular regional place to access information about arts and cultural events and activities in region-wide venues as well as artist galleries and neighborhood spaces.
ACTION B: Using the Cultural Asset Inventory as a basis, create a comprehensive, continuously updating map of all of the arts and cultural assets and programs across the region.
ACTION C: Work with community partners such as the Convention and Visitors Bureaus, Greater Louisville Inc., the Arts and Culture Alliance and One Southern Indiana, along with regional media outlets to utilize one comprehensive platform for arts and cultural groups and organizations to upload their event information. Include a joint promotional plan for its use.
STRATEGY 3
Integrate public art into every community and neighborhood development projects.
ACTION A: Work with local governments to examine national policies and models in order to establish local policy that ensures that arts and cultural impact are considered in all local development and other decisions.
ACTION B: Support the continued enhancement and expansion of the current “fee in lieu” program that supports the Louisville Commission on Public Art; and, work with regional communities to develop similar programs.
STRATEGY 4
Create arts events and opportunities across the community that are open and accessible.
ACTION A: Build an army of arts and culture ambassadors or liaisons in each neighborhood.
ACTION B: Identify, celebrate and connect current “cultural districts” and advocate for the creation of new districts, i.e. the Russell plan.
ACTION C: Build up and upon the “Cultural Pass”. Explore the inclusion of bus transportation and consider expanding to year-round opportunities beyond just summer.
STRATEGY 5
Develop interdisciplinary operating models for using arts and culture to support community health development.
ACTION A: Create a task force to explore how this region can support and encourage the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based practices at the intersection of art and health.
ACTION B: Establish Greater Louisville as the national thought leader of arts + health through development of a formal research strategy for disseminating core learnings to a national audience.
STRATEGY 6
Advocate for public support of art.
ACTION A: Support the passage of statewide legislation to allow local communities to increase revenues through a vote of its citizens and utilize at least a portion of those dollars to support arts and culture.
ACTION B: Encourage the implementation of a “Percent for Art” program: in projects where public
monies are at least 25% of the total project cost; 1% of those dollars must be used for art in the project.
ACTION C: Support the continued enhancement and expansion of the current ‘fee in lieu’ program that supports the Louisville Commission on Public Art; and, work with regional communities to develop similar programs.
