NEW Creativity in the Workplace Resources may be found here.
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NEW The Year One Report on the Cultural Action Plan was published March 16, 2010. View it here.
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The Richmond Region Cultural Action Plan was published March 16, 2009. The full Plan, along with research documents, can be found at www.wolfbrown.com/richmond.
BACKGROUND: In 2007 Bill Martin (executive director, Valentine Richmond History Center) informally gathered a few other leaders to discuss the idea of developing an overall strategy to strengthen arts and culture in the Richmond region. This initial idea and subsequent discussions led to the formation of a Task Force that represented a broad range of stakeholders, the hiring of a consulting firm to conduct research and develop a Cultural Plan, and the raising of the funds to pay for the consultants.
FUNDING: The following organizations provided funding to employ WolfBrown consultants to develop the Plan: Altria, Bank of America, The Community Foundation, Dominion Foundation, First Market Bank, Genworth Financial, Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, MeadWestvaco Foundation, SunTrust, University of Richmond, Wachovia Foundation.
STAFFING - A 23-person Task Force staffed the year-long process. Task Force members represented the City of Richmond; Henrico, Hanover, and Chesterfield Counties; corporate funders; and visual, performing, and history cultural arts organizations.
RESEARCH – WolfBrown conducted five primary areas of research.
● 2,807 persons completed extensive questionnaires.
● 31 cultural arts organizations provided complete financial/attendance data for past three years.
● 52 cultural arts organizations provided data regarding their educational programs.
● More than 100 individual interviews were conducted.
● Public meetings and gatherings were convened in venues in Richmond and in Hanover, Henrico and Chesterfield Counties.
GOALS – The Richmond Region Cultural Action Plan addresses six goals (each accompanied by recommendations):
● Increase the contribution of arts and culture to the economic vitality of the region (cultural tourism, economic planning, downtown strategy, creative collaborations in the workplace).
● Expand cultural participation on a regional basis (neighborhood events, non-traditional spaces, satellite programming, improved transportation, subsidized ticketing, audience development).
● Promote cultural equity and build on cultural diversity (festivals, reuse of facilities, mini-grants, dialogue).
● Build a coordinated, equitable, and innovative system for creative education (pathways for learning, coordination of opportunities, new approaches).
● Sustain the Richmond region’s artists and cultural organizations (mergers and alliances, technical assistance, navigating government, coordinated funding).
● Provide for ongoing coordination, advocacy, and dialogue on behalf of arts and culture (unified calendaring and ticketing, cultural tourism, regional collaboration, initiating CultureWorks).
