Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

TO: City Commissioners
CC: Diane Stoddard, Interim City Manager
FROM: Porter Arneill, Director of Arts and Culture
DATE: August 11, 2015
RE: City-Wide Cultural Plan Final Presentation

Background

The City of Lawrence was awarded a grant from the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission to complete a city-wide cultural plan. The City of Lawrence engaged the team of Christine Harris Connections and Creative Community Builders to complete a city-wide cultural plan for Lawrence. The development of a city-wide cultural plan is one of the key recommendations of the city's Cultural District Task Force report, delivered in late 2013.

Project Description

The cultural planning process will create a functional and sustainable guiding plan which a) documents Lawrence's unique cultural assets, b) defines cultural priorities, c) recommends strategies and tools which the City of Lawrence can provide to support the efforts of the community to accomplish those priorities, and further enhance the climate in which artists, art-related businesses, cultural tourism and creative sector economic development can thrive, and d) provides recommendations for integrating infrastructure and capital improvement projects with the overall goals of the cultural plan. In order to create a successful cultural plan, numerous stakeholders in the community will be engaged.

The city's consultant team hosted several meetings from March 24-25 with local artists, arts organizations, creative sector businesses, and other community stakeholders. The consultants also met with the community for two workshops May 6-8 and, with information derived from these meetings, developed a multi-faceted survey questionnaire to evaluate assets and the current quality of cultural life in Lawrence to help glean ways to grow and ensure future sustainability. The survey was distributed publicly between May 27 and June 13, 2015 and garnered 493 responses.

The consultant team will conduct a four-hour retreat with the Cultural Plan Steering Committee on Monday, June 22^nd to provide updates, background, a mission/vision draft and continue the iterative process of developing a cultural plan for Lawrence.

Timeline/Overview

May

Conduct stakeholder, community and Steering Committee meetings
Develop survey questions for review by Steering Committee and staff
Distribute survey

June

Analyze meeting and survey results
Draft assets and challenges
Draft mission/vision
Develop Steering Committee retreat agenda
City Commission Briefing

Steering Committee Retreat – June 22, 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at FS #5

Refine mission/vision
Develop goals and strategies
Implementation recommendations

July

Prepare draft plan for Steering Committee review – week of July 20
Draft plan July 24
Present to City and other stakeholders

August

Final plan August 5
Present to City Commission August 18, 2015
Provide final “designed” plan (PDF) and Implementation Matrix in late August

Staff Recommendation

Staff recommends that the City Commission adopt the plan.

Cultural Plan Steering Committee

Katherine Simmons, Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission

John Hachmeister, Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission

Susan Tate, Lawrence Arts Center

Steve Nowak, Watkins Museum

Mary Doveton, Theatre Lawrence

Joshua Falleaf, Acting Dean, College of Humanities and Arts, Haskell Indian Nations University

Saralyn Reece Hardy, Spencer Museum of Art

Bonnie Lowe, The Chamber of Lawrence Kansas

Derek Kwan, Lied Center Executive Director

Ardys Ramberg, Artist

Megan Gilliland representing Destination Management Inc. (CVB & Freedom’s Frontier)

Sarah M. Oatsvall, USD 497 (resigned in June due to move)

Kate Dineen, artist

Bob McWilliams, West Side Folk

Bill Tuttle, University of Kansas American Studies

City Staff:

Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager

Kevyn Gero, Management Intern

Porter Arneill, Director of Arts and Culture