Participants share their ideas at an Imagine Chattanooga 20/20 public meeting last fall at the North River Civic Center in Hixson. Seven community input meetings were held throughout Hamilton County in October.
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A strategic arts and culture plan that is the work of more than 400 members of the community will be unveiled at an Imagine Chattanooga 20/20 public celebration Tuesday, Jan. 31, at 5:30 p.m. at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre.
Through a nine-month process coordinated by Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga, a diverse array of elected officials, community leaders, artists, students, and arts organizations’ staff and board members gave input that has resulted in a plan that addresses how arts and culture can impact virtually all aspects of community life.
“Imagine Chattanooga 20/20 engaged the community to see arts and culture as an effective tool to strengthen Chattanooga,” says Ruth Holmberg, publisher emeritus of The Chattanooga Times and co-chair with Unum senior vice president Tom White of the Imagine Chattanooga 20/20 steering committee.
“The effort reached out to a diverse group of community members and focused around our unified belief in the importance of the arts and culture to enhance our quality of life.”
Following the input phase, Massachusetts-based consulting firm WolfBrown and the 50-member steering committee – comprised of community leaders, government officials, business leaders, non-profit CEOs, foundation directors, and artists – identified patterns and consensus in the feedback and framed a plan of action.
“This is the community’s plan and all should feel ownership and contribute to the success of the plan’s implementation,” says Mr. White. “We believe that awareness and appreciation for arts and culture has increased through this process, along with the understanding that arts and culture are important pieces of the puzzle as we look at creativity and innovation as necessary traits for Chattanooga to succeed in the 21st Century.”
The primary goal of the plan is to serve as an action plan that answers “What can creativity, arts and culture do for our community?” That’s a twist on the conventional question of how the community can support the arts, as Imagine Chattanooga 20/20 explores the strategic placement of the arts to address and impact community issues such as education, job creation, neighborhood revitalization, crime prevention, and environmental sustainability.
“We join other forward-thinking communities such as Cincinnati and Dallas that have embraced the arts as a strategic element of addressing community needs,” says Allied Arts President Dan Bowers, noting that WolfBrown consultant Dr. Thomas Wolf has led more than 200 cultural planning processes across the country. “Chattanooga is a unique mid-sized city. Our arts resources far outshine other communities of similar size.”
Allied Arts has been designated to oversee the implementation of the plan, and the public will receive regular progress reports, beginning in June.
At the Jan. 31 presentation, Mrs. Holmberg and Mr. White will give an overview of the outcomes of the cultural planning process, and task force members will be available to answer questions. Handouts of key findings will be distributed. Following the presentation, a reception with wine and light hors d’oeuvres will mark a celebration of the unveiling of the plan.
Following the event, the plan will be available for review at imaginechattanooga2020.org and on the Imagine Chattanooga 20/20 Facebook page.
Funding for the Imagine Chattanooga 20/20 cultural planning process has been provided by a partnership between Allied Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kresge Foundation, the Tennessee Arts Commission, the Lyndhurst Foundation, the Benwood Foundation, and the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga.
For more information, call Allied Arts at 756-2787 or e-mail IC2020@alliedartschattanooga.org