Notes from September 12 Culture Bytes: Leveraging the Most out of Civic and Cultural Parterships

Melinda Cavarallo (Deputy Director, Center for the Arts)

Center for the Arts, part of Salt Lake County owns Capitol Theatre, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Abranvanel Hall 

Sometimes there’s an expectation to give our venues away for free. But we aren’t able to because there’s that earned revenue expectation so it’s not a huge burden on the tax payer.

Successful partnerships: Rose Exposed

• Sept 1
• it was wonderful to highlight the building, the 6 resident arts organizations came together, it was free during the day
• we were able to level some of our costs to support that
• it was a great partnership between downtown alliance, visit salt lake (nowplayingutah.com), the city, and others

 Jesse Dean: Assistant Director of Public Policy, Downtown Alliance

• Discussed how the downtown alliance can help you leverage your potential
• always looking for new opportunities, from orgs, artists, etc.
• mission to create a more vibrant capitol city. Arts are the heart of a vibrant city
• want to make sure we’re focusing on more successful events
• goal to help market those partnerships and organizations
• Rose Exposed was an interesting experience because we got to help with the marketing and having them all work together. 
• Eve is another example as it’s a 3 day cultural collaboration over new years (for the 2011 Eve: included Derek Dyer’s art installation, called Glow Forms, giant glow in the dark building blocks); also had 7 other arts groups performing

Helen Langan, Senior Advisor to Mayor Ralph Becker

• when Mayor Becker was reelected last november, he had worked prior to put together a livability agenda for his second term, and one of those 12 points is the arts and culture of SLC. Click here to read it: http://www.slcclassic.com/links/livability.pdf
• livability plan’s goal is to make it one of the most green, inclusive, and diverse
• arts and culture really assist in making the emotional core of the city
• part of having a livable city is the economy
• hence that connection between businesses wanting to come because the cultural scene is vibrant
• the works rests in the relationship we’ve been cultivating with salt lake county and the downtown alliance
• such as the cultural core project that we launched a few years ago
• also partnering with hospitality and business companies
• the city is committed to (through livability program):

• Click here to read: http://www.slcclassic.com/links/livability.pdf
• HIGHLIGHTS:
• establishing a micro loan program for individual artists to explore and share their work
• a storefront studios space at the street level (function as studios, performance space, etc.)
• review and expand current arts and culture funding projects
• move forward with construction of UPAC
• Support Capitol Theatre renovation
• seek best use and renovation of Utah Theater

explained funding for cultural core

• still in development phase
• it’s not going to be like a new ZAP, it’s going to be more about audience development
• from increased tax revenue of city creek
• interested in new ideas, collaborative ideas like the Rose Exposed

In terms of successes and challenges: one of our greatest successes have been our partnership with salt lake county, we’ve transformed the relationship that existed before. We’re pushing each other as partners in really exciting ways

Challenges: limited resources, never enough time and money to do everything you want to do

Nan Ellin: Chair, Department of City & Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah

(also sitting on Cultural Core finance committee)

Cultural core is just getting started, so not too much to report on beyond the meetings we all attended

So now is a great time to get input from cultural community on general principles

Downtown rising (2007): we embrace a vision for our city that is about much more than buildings and places. Visions are about people and their ability to live fulfilling and productive lives

These principles are great founding principles for the cultural core initiative as well.

Shared a model that she uses in terms of principles called “Path to Prosperity”

When you want to achieve prosperity

• start with your assets
• polish it
• come up with new ideas, propose it
• prototype it
• promote it
• present it as a gift

Typically people start partnerships with problems or deficits we’re trying to fill. Instead, take a step back and look at our assets. ask: what are our gifts

Instead of starting with a tabula rasa, start with a tabula plena

She sees cities as works of art. We’re all urban artists creating some beautiful masterpieces together

Showed some things they are doing at the U to help this happen for Salt Lake.

• salt lake city workshop
• abandoned rail corridor on 900 South (looked at the high line, an urban garden)
• named it the 9 line (student designed the logo)
• did an asset map of what’s along the line
• turned it into a trail, had an opening celebration (walk run, bike, celebrate)
• The 9 line even shows on google maps!

By focusing on assets and co-creating we’re rallying resources to realize the vision

Instead of thinking about needs so much, let’s think about gifts: energy, tools, our knowledge, we can create jewels with those things

When we begin with strengths instead of weaknesses, what seems to be our greatest problems can be our greatest opportunities

Example: 

• people were saying the bats in Austin were a problem, but then they said this is a good thing and turned it into a festival
• In phoenix, instead of saying we have a sun problem, let’s make it an opportunity to make shade structures that double as solar energy panels
• taking vacant lots in phoenix, planted sunflower fields

She has a book called “Good Urbanism”