New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) Announces Cultural Blueprint Sessions across New York State

Public Forum to Promote Integrated Arts, Economic and Community Development Strategies to be held in Long Island on September 16

The New York State Council on the Arts announced the launch of a series of "Cultural Blueprints" sessions across the state, beginning with Long Island on September 16 at the Huntington Hilton.

Working with Empire State Development (ESD) Regional Offices, I LOVE NY and local arts councils in each region, the Cultural Blueprints sessions will bring together arts professionals, economic development experts, private philanthropists, tourism professionals, public officials, artists, and business, education and community leaders for 5-hour long sessions in each region. The goal of these sessions is to develop a clear articulation of each region's strengths and needs, a statement of key priorities, and the identification of regional and statewide opportunities for the arts to serve as a catalyst for economic development.

"As Chair of the New York State Council on the Arts, I am committed to finding new strategic alliances that will become a lightening rod for economic development as well as a means of strengthening the state's cultural infrastructure.  New York State stands to gain economically, socially and educationally," said Mary Schmidt Campbell. "This is an unprecedented opportunity to identify regional challenges and opportunities for coordinated action by the arts, economic development and philanthropic communities."

Building on ESD's Regional Blueprint process, NYSCA's Cultural Blueprints Sessions will consider the following topics: Infrastructure, Innovation, Intellectual Capital and Workforce Development, International and Global Thinking, Investment and Financial Models, and Image and Identity.

Heather Hitchens, Executive Director of NYSCA said, "In this time of economic contraction, it is more important than ever that we bring together leaders from every sector to spur private-public partnerships, generate sound policy and identify innovative solutions. The Cultural Blueprints initiative is a unique opportunity to promote cross-sector dialogue and collaboration to elevate each region and ultimately, the state as a whole." 

Thomas Ranese, ESD Chief Marketing Officer said, "In addition to contributing $25 billion annually to New York State's economy, arts and cultural institutions play a critical role in attracting visitors to the state: a stronger creative sector means a stronger tourism industry.  Cultural Blueprints provides an important opportunity to identify new strategies for bolstering both sectors, and helping New York to maintain its creative and competitive edge."

The blueprints sessions will kick off in Long Island and then convene in every region of the state, ending with New York City's 5 boroughs in the summer of 2009. The fall schedule is as follows:

 

Tuesday, September 16 –Long Island: Huntington Hilton, Melville          10 am - 3 pm

Thursday, September 18 – Western NY:  WNED, Buffalo                         10 am -3 pm

Thursday, October 2 – Capital Region:  Proctors Theatre, Schenectady                12 pm – 5 pm

Tuesday, October 14th – Central NY: Syracuse/ (location TBD)                11 am – 4 pm

Thursday, October 16th – North Country:  SUNY Potsdam                     10 am – 3 pm

Monday, October 20th – Finger Lakes: Rochester Museum & Science Ctr  11 am – 4 pm

Tuesday, October 28 – Mohawk Valley: Stanley Theatre, Utica               10 am – 3 pm

Wednesday, October 29 – Southern Tier: The Clemens Center, Elmira    11 am – 4 pm

Thursday, November 13 –Mid- Hudson: (location TBD)                                        10 am -3 pm

In addition to the sessions themselves, material about the cultural blueprints, session summaries, background material on each region and regional blogs can be found at  www.culturalblueprints.co.cc. To find out if space is still available for the September 16 meeting, go to the Long Island page of the site.