Project Update

The Creative Industries Task Force met at the end of October 2009 and we'd like to update the community on the status of our work to date.

As noted in our first update in June, the Task Force has been working to answer the question, "would the Whitewater Valley area benefit from the existence of a central support organization to promote the arts and culture of our communities?" Of course, there are lots of related questions that come with this: is there a viable funding model that doesn't diminish funding sources already in use by existing arts organizations? Where will the organization be housed, and how will it be structured and staffed? And so on.

We're happy to report that as we've met and talked with arts organizations, economic development leaders, and community members, the concept of an arts council has been embraced and supported widely. This support has given us the incentive to dive into the specific operational questions like the ones above, and so details like creating bylaws, establish a budget for the first few years, and creating equipment lists are all being finalized.

We continue to be keenly aware of the unique concern that existing arts organizations may have about "yet another" arts organization entering the mix, and so we can't emphasize enough that this new organization would not be competing with those entities for funding - it would be sustained through the use of funding sources not already tapped, and (we think) bring great benefit to the community accordingly.

Our current hope and plan is that this new organization can be up and running by the Summer of 2010. We have a lot of work ahead of us before then, and we always invite your feedback and participation in that process - from helping us flesh out the organizational structure to connecting us with potential office spaces, and everything in between. If you have suggestions, questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact Len Clark or any of the other Task Force members.

* Len Clark
* Angie Dickman
* Shaun Dingwerth
* Shane Eddington
* Bob Hansen
* Chris Hardie
* Rachel Hughes
* Lynn Knight
* Ed Thornburg