Arts and Culture

Catawba County Board of Commissioners

January 9, 2017

MOVING FORWARD4.

AGENDA

VISION

CURRENT STATE

PRIORITY OUTCOMES3.

2.

1.

VISION

CULTURE & PLACEMAKING

THE PROCESS

Convening key stakeholders to share aspirations around arts, culture, and community.

COMMUNITY ASPIRATIONS

COMMUNITY ASPIRATIONS

A vibrant community with enhanced awareness of and accessibility to a broad range of cultural opportunities and amenities.

Infuse the concept of Placemaking throughout our programs and services in order to move Catawba County forward as a preferred place to live, work, and visit.

Vision:

County Role:

CURRENTSTATE

QUALITY OF LIFE ASSETS

SALT Block Art Museum Science Center Green Room Hickory Community

Theatre Symphony Choral Society Full Circle Arts Folk Art Festival Footcandle Film Society Local Artists, Performers,

Musicians, & Authors

Arts & Culture Libraries

Education

Community destination and curators of culture –empowering lives and building community by bringing people, information and ideas together

K-12 Schools CVCC/LRU ASU Extension NC Center for

Engineering Technologies

QUALITY OF LIFE ASSETS

Mountain Creek Park Bakers Mountain St. Stephens Park Riverbend Park Municipal and Regional

Parks

Outdoor Recreation

Landmark Society Historical Association

museum, Bunker Hill Covered Bridge, Murray’s Mill, and Harper House

Catawba Valley pottery

History & Heritage

QUALITY OF LIFE ASSETS

Geographic Location

Reinvented Spaces

One hour to mountains, major cities; four hours to the coast.

Moretz Mill The Crossing at Hollar Mill Conover Station Citywalk & Riverwalk

Hickory Metro CVB

GAPS\OPPORTUNITIES

Awareness of cultural assets, events, opportunities.

Placemaking including more urban and rural public art, wayfinding, and streetscapes working within and beyond County institutions – creating a vibrant sense of place.

Diverse entertainment, dining, music, recreation, social and outdoor activities including collaborative space.

STRATEGY

Leverage existing assets through partnerships and collaboration to grow new opportunities and initiatives.

Our Approach:

PRIORITYOUTCOMES

PRIORITY OUTCOMES

Enhance Awareness of Existing Assets

Collaborate to Create Community Vibe

Integrate Culture All Around Us

ENHANCED AWARENESS OF EXISTING ASSETS

Development of brand identity Cohesive marketing and

communications strategy Central information source with

information on events/activities

Strategies

ENHANCED AWARENESS

County branding with NorthStar Newton and Hickory branding

initiatives Discussing collaboration on

centralized information hub with local partners

We’re On It!

COLLABORATE TO CREATE COMMUNITY VIBE

LIBRARIES AS DESTINATIONS3.

RURAL PLACEMAKING2.

MUNICIPAL INITIATIVES1.

CREATE COMMUNITY VIBE

Provide non-financial support to cities in Placemaking, public art, wayfinding, streetscapes, walkability, and bikeability. Newton and Conover

Streetscape Projects Newton and Hickory Public

Art Commissions Hickory Bond Projects Other Initiatives

Municipal Initiatives

CREATE COMMUNITY VIBE

Collaborate to enhance rural arts and Placemaking.

Rural Placemaking

CREATE COMMUNITY VIBE

Rural Placemaking

CREATE COMMUNITY VIBE

Following the Library Strategic Plan, deliberately craft County Libraries into “third place” community destinations.

Libraries as Destinations

CREATE COMMUNITY VIBE

Libraries as Destinations

INTEGRATE CULTURE ALL AROUND US

STORY WALKS4.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS6.

LITTLE FREE LIBRARIES3.

POP-UP LIBRARIES2.ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

1.

ART & SCULPTURE5.

INTEGRATE CULTURE

Support efforts to establish activities and events that address community gaps, including: Entertainment Live music Diverse dining options Cultural, social, and learning

activities Recreation and outdoor

activities

Support Activities & Events

INTEGRATE CULTURE

Bringing culture and learning to the community. Books Tech tools and

connectivity Programming Information on other

County services

Pop-Up Libraries

INTEGRATE CULTURE

Pop-Up Libraries

INTEGRATE CULTURE

Instituting “take a book, leave a book” community exchange points, known as Little Free Libraries.

Little Free Libraries

INTEGRATE CULTURE

Stories inset into recreation through the use of signs along nature trails or downtown corridors.

Story Walks

INTEGRATE CULTURE

Increasing the amount of public art throughout the County to reinforce the sense of place.

Art & Sculpture

INTEGRATE CULTURE

Placement of musical instruments in public spaces to encourage community expression, creativity, and vibrant culture.

Musical Instruments

MOVINGFORWARD

KEY QUESTIONS

PUBLIC ART#1Is BOC interested in establishing policy to set aside funds dedicated to public art as part of County building projects?

KEY QUESTIONS

Do any the ideas presented earlier resonate? What could rural Placemaking look like in Catawba County?

RURAL PLACEMAKING#2

KEY QUESTIONS

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES#3

What is the County’s role in community activities and events?

MOVING FORWARD

1. Revisit existing allocation of County funds.2. Continue work on branding and marketing initiative

in partnership with others.3. Explore Placemaking, arts, and culture strategies

consistent with BOC direction.4. Schedule site visits: Asheville Rivers Arts District &

NC State University’s Hunt Library BOC Recommendations: Asheville River Arts

District, Greenville SC, Forsyth Co., Charleston SC, Chapel Hill, Greensboro

Next Steps

Questions?