FoCo Creates: Arts and Culture Master Plan

Love the focus on equity and inclusion not only as a goal, throughout document.

On the Carnegie Center: Great opportunity to have a black box performance space within a building that can serve the local makers and Foco.

It can serve as: performance space, education center for grants etc, research and collaboration within the science and artistic community, a place for ideas to percolate and grow, ability to house residencies and so many other things.

showcase on public access tv

Did you know FC has a public access TV station in the Carnegie building? - use it to showcase your art -have your non-profit partner for informative videos

Transcend "World Class"

Certainly to some, the term "world class" can refer to professionalism, polish, perfection. To others, the 20th century notion of "world class" could carry with it a sense of elitism or exclusivity. What if we try to transcend the term and just shoot for something with a sense of being seasoned, intentional, collaborative and relevant? Fort Collins creative culture is in a state of becoming. Its 21st century identity as a town of multiple cultures has yet to coalesce. We're just at the beginning. We need to address and nurture that. Who are we? What do we stand for? What do we believe? What boundaries are we exceeding? Let's leave room for exploration and discovery of our collective identity. Make allowances for 21st century change. When Fort Collins finds itself, we can then begin to have an impact upon the world at large. We can take our place as relevant citizens of the world. That would be a great discussion to have. If we try to define ourselves right now, we run the risk of becoming an anachronism. If we pat ourselves on the back for simply having people of different cultures perform in a production of "The Magic Flute," we've missed the mark.

Pop Up Performance Fleet

Instead of expecting the people to come to the arts, bring the arts to the people. A modest fleet of shipping container stages could provide enrichment to underserved neighborhoods and peoples. This could also provide expanded performance opportunities for marginalized and ethnocentric artists (dancers, musicians, actors, performance artists, spoken word artists, etc.) https://www.isospaces.co.uk/portfolio/boxpark-popup-stage-shipping-container/

Showcase World Premieres

Fort Collins to be a city of "firsts" in the arts, let it be international. Dance, music, theater, visual art that invites others into our community.

Neighborhood Art Hubs

Each neighborhood area utilizes a local park/space for pop-up art festivities: performance: street theatre, music, open mic, craft fair, poetry slam, etc.

Provide support for attending arts and culture conferences

Our artists and cultural entrepreneurs need to have access to the latest ideas and developments in order to play their full part in contributing to a thriving arts and culture scene in Fort Collins. Yet few can afford to cover the necessary travel, accommodation and fees. Fort Collins should launch a travel fund that can expand city-wide access to the trends and business practices that are equal to improving the health and fuel the growth of our sector.

Studio Tours of Author Workspaces

Like the artists studio tours, we could do a similar one for authors. There are many in our community, some of who are also artists. This would be one way to connect to creatives and get a chance to talk to authors who typically aren't visible workers. This could be combined with readings or some kind of poetry creation project with the public.

Local Artists Work Wrapped on Transfort Busses

This is a program already active in several cities across the country (I just saw it in Raleigh, NC). This program would be much like the Transfromer Cabinet and Pianos About Town program. Artists would submit a visual image of their work (this could include sculpture, photo, fiber, and many other media that are not allowed for the Transformer and Piano programs) to be wrapped around a city bus. Local non-profits such as FCMOA, C4FAP, and the Museum of Discovery could also submit images to publicize upcoming exhibits,

Accessible and Affordable Studio Space.

The city owns many buildings that are unused because of future plans or buildings with extra office space or atrium space. Allow that space in those buildings, to be used as studio space for local artists. This does several things. It increases visibility. Increases accessibility of the public to artists. It also uses unused space to its capacity. (When the city owns a house or small office building, by having an artist on site curtails graffiti damage to the building). It also is a visible acknowledgement that the arts matter not just to the city but to the people in the city on a personal level. How great would it be if you were an artist and you had a space in a city building. You could impact people directly everyday. Your work would be shown, seen in a safe and encouraging environment. Impacting your neighbors. This could and should be a rotating process, moving artists in and out of these spaces. If the city were to be a leader in this program I can see it moving to the private sector. Places like Broadcom could have an unused space available for a rotating artist program.

Implement a dedicated revenue stream for not-for-profit arts organizations.

A game-changing source of revenue that can truly build and shape the institutions capacity for growth and sustainability. This needs to come from a community desire to INVEST in their cultural and arts institutions. It cannot be just another small project grant award. Proven providers need to be able to budget against staff and programming needs without scrambling each year to simply remain viable. The 501(c)(3) agencies are all underfunded and understaffed.

Culture Night -- Annual culture night out

Host an annual Culture Night. It could be based on the Culture Night model in Belfast and around the world. It is Belfast's largest, most exciting and inclusive cultural celebration. Culture Night brings together over 300 free events across 150 locations in Belfast City Centre in a single day. The event attracts over 85,000 visitors from Belfast, Northern Ireland and beyond. We attended in 2016 and it was one of the most amazing events I've ever been to!