Cultural Policy Review

Cultural Policy Review Report

for the

City of Eugene, Oregon

June 2007

Claudia Bach Marc Goldring

with assistance from

Alan Brown Fred Crafts Jane Culbert

Ingrid Lembach Andrea Mitchell Duncan Webb

and

Mark D. Loigman, City of Eugene Project Manager Theresa Sizemore, City of Eugene Project Support

Table of Contents

Executive Summary i Part I – Introduction 1 Part II – Consultant Findings 12 Part III – A Vision for Cultural Development in Eugene 19 Part IV – Goals and Strategies 22

Goal I 22 Goal II 31 Goal III 36 Goal IV 42 Goal V 47 Part V – Initial Next Steps 55 Appendices Appendix A – List of Participants Appendix B – Details of the Cultural Census Appendix C – Details of the Cultural Facilities Inventory and Assessment Appendix D – Reports from Mayor's Committee Working Groups Appendix E – Initial Protocol for Confidential Interviews

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Executive Summary

Introduction

Eugene’s City Council authorized a “Cultural Policy Review” in the spring of 2005. The Eugene Budget Committee recommended funding for two years in support of the City Council Goal that promotes the Arts and Outdoors, which included the City Council's endorsement of branding Eugene as the “World's Greatest City of the Arts & Outdoors.” The City contracted with WolfBrown in June 2006 to conduct the year-long process. The purpose of the Review was to examine current conditions, services, and gaps in the cultural sector, to identify goals and strategies to strengthen that sector, and to provide options to assist the City in defining its role in support of Eugene’s arts and culture. This Report provides details of that Review and offers a vision, goals and strategies, and an approach to implementation designed to enhance and strengthen the cultural sector. While the City is the recipient of this Report, many strategies can be implemented by other entities. For example, there may be public/private partnerships that involve the City or there may be efforts undertaken, individually or jointly, by cultural or civic organizations, artists, business or community groups, educational institutions, teachers, or many others. The City’s options are fully described in Parts IV and V of this report. As part of this Review, the consultants have: - Conducted a cultural assessment through over 50 confidential interviews and a

dozen focus groups with representatives of all sectors of the community. - Designed and conducted a public process of community meetings, attended by

over 300 individuals. - Conducted an assessment of cultural facilities including both an inventory of

visual and performing arts spaces and on-site review of selected facilities. - Implemented a “cultural census” survey of Eugene residents’ interests in and

priorities for arts and culture that was completed by almost 2,500 individuals.

Executive Summary i

Consultants’ Report, June 2007

- Worked with a specially-appointed Mayor’s Committee that provided community perspectives and feedback.

This Review defines a “road map” for action for the next decade that reflects a vision for cultural development in the community at large. The consultants’ recommendations build on and synthesize community priorities and opportunities for action without being tactically proscriptive about how those priorities are implemented.

Overview of Eugene and the Region

Eugene and the region are in the midst of a long, slow recovery from the impact of significant shifts in its economic base that began in the 1980s. The region has emerged from a difficult period with a more diversified economy than it has had in the past. Population has been growing, although more slowly since 2000. While Eugene is still predominantly white, there is small but growing Hispanic population. The presence of the University of Oregon has played a key role in the evolution of the City through its large student, faculty and staff population, its academic and cultural offerings, and its impact on the economy. In addition, the City’s geographic location, which allows it to serve as a retail and wholesale trade center for central and southern Oregon, contributes to its growth and vibrancy. Eugene residents pride themselves on their independent inclinations, which have at times made collective decision-making a challenge. In general, community and philanthropic leadership tends to be “quiet,” which often means that leaders work behind the scenes rather than take high visibility positions. The level of community involvement is extraordinarily high. This was reflected during the Cultural Policy Review with over 300 people attending community meetings and almost 2,500 individuals completing the “cultural census” survey.

A Perspective on the Value of Arts and Culture

There is an increasingly impressive body of research that highlights the impact of arts, culture, and creativity on the quality of life of a community. Cities large and small across the country are focusing on the ways in which arts and culture can enhance the quality of life. For example:

Executive Summary ii


- National data1 highlight that the nonprofit cultural sector alone contributes over $166 billion annually and includes 5.7 million full-time equivalent jobs.

- Data show, for example, that the price of single family homes jumped 15

percent in a single year after an art museum opened in a depressed mill town in Massachusetts.2

- College Board research indicates that students who took four years of arts

coursework outperformed their peers without that training by 58 points on the verbal portion and 38 points on the math portion of the SAT.3

- A recent initiative in the schools was designed “to improve student achievement

by building connections between the arts and the core curriculum.” After only two years in operation, 2nd grade students scored significantly higher than their counterparts on all standardized tests.4

Overview of Arts and Culture in Eugene

The range and diversity of arts and culture in Eugene is breath-taking – it includes the Oregon Country Fair, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, the Mayor’s Art Show, Art in the Vineyard, the Oregon Festival of American Music, the Oregon Bach Festival, as well as the other Resident Companies of the Hult Center and many, many others. The City boasts a mix of arts, culture, and entertainment that goes well beyond what one would expect in a city of 150,000 people. City government, having operated the Hult Center for 25 years, has played an important role in Eugene’s cultural sector. But while the Hult has added much to the City, it has also absorbed virtually all City cultural support, making it harder to address other community concerns relative to arts and culture. Indeed, many of the issues addressed in the valuable “ArtsPlan” of the mid-1990s remain as challenges to the cultural sector today. Most notably, cultural organizations (in common with their colleagues nation-wide) struggle to identify sources of earned and contributed revenue from a limited base of residents and visitors. With some exceptions, these organizations are under-capitalized with limited paid professional staff. But the challenges extend beyond individual organizations to the sector as a whole. As much as Eugene’s cultural organizations 1 Americans for the Arts, Arts & Economic Prosperity III, June, 2007 (http://artsusa.cog) 2 Opinion Journal, “What MassMOCA has Wrought” July 7, 2004. 3 The College Board, “2005 College-Bound Seniors: Total Group Profile Report” 2005 4 Maricopa Regional Arts and Culture Task Force, “Vibrant Culture – Thriving Economy” 2004.

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contribute to the City’s quality of life, that contribution remains constrained because of the lack of the necessary “connective tissue,” the infrastructure that coordinates communication, collaboration, and joint action within the cultural sector and between the sector and other aspects of the City. This problem is exacerbated by the general lack of awareness of the value of arts and culture. It is important to note that Eugene’s focus on combining its unique cultural and outdoor attributes (an aspiration articulated in the City’s slogan) provides important opportunities for developing more effective partnerships between these two important sectors in order to better position the City to attract visitors.

Key Findings

The consultants identified a number of core issue areas and those have been refined over the course of the Review. Key findings in five issue areas are summarized below, with additional detail provided in Part II of the report.

Leadership and Resources

Cultural leadership in Eugene has been strong but it is difficult to find new, younger individuals to assume leadership roles. This is a national problem but is especially pressing here. It is complicated by the lack of an effective, city-wide local arts agency, an entity that is responsible for facilitating initiatives and coordinating collaborations within the cultural sector as well as being “at the table” for key community processes. Such an entity is often central to building community leadership for arts and culture. Eugene’s “cultural ecology” has been driven in large part by the Hult Center which has made many positive contributions to the community. However the Hult’s current operating model is problematic and until this problem (which has existed since at least 1996) is resolved, it will serve as a brake on the sector, preventing it from reaching its full potential. City of Eugene staff capacity is narrowly focused on the Hult Center and does not address community-wide cultural issues Fund raising in the private sector is challenging and competition among nonprofit organizations in various sectors has become more intense over the last decade. There is, however, some potential for growth in funding for arts and culture, especially if cultural initiatives are coupled with other community priorities, such as downtown development or improved education.

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Education and Lifelong Learning

As Eugene’s public schools have had to cut back on arts education programs, cultural organizations have moved to fill the gap by providing extensive arts learning programming. However organizations’ initiatives are not coordinated and that makes it considerably harder for educators to navigate among the various offerings. This problem is made more complicated because there is a general lack of understanding of the value of arts learning as a basic skill and as a way to enhance learning in all curricular areas. Lane Community College’s integrative arts learning initiative has begun to address this. The University of Oregon and Lane Community College have a vibrant mix of cultural facilities and active programs in the arts and they play an important role in the cultural life of the community. However, there is little coordination between these cultural initiatives and those of the non-academic cultural organizations so that possible synergies and community benefits are less likely to be fully realized.

Cultural Organizations and Artists

Eugene’s professionally managed and volunteer-driven cultural organizations are capable of producing high quality art, as are its professional and avocational performing and visual artists. However, these groups are subject to the same pressures such organizations face across the nation and achieving economic stability for both organizations and artists is difficult. The great majority of nonprofit cultural groups have small or mid-sized budgets and all of them, even those with large budgets (over $1 million) are under-capitalized. This means that they are fragile administratively and less able to address long- and short-term issues. Available performance and exhibition spaces are generally adequate but would benefit from improved maintenance and upgrades. In general, however, few facilities have the full mix of needed spaces for productions or exhibitions and support spaces for rehearsal, set or exhibit construction, and dressing rooms are problematic. Artists and cultural organizations share a need for professional development. Organizations are concerned about capacity building relative to fund raising in general and board development in particular. While funders expressed concern about duplication and a lack of collaboration among cultural groups, there is some evidence that such efforts are underway. One problem is that there is no organization or other mechanism to facilitate collaborations and joint initiatives among cultural organizations in Eugene and the groups do not have the capacity to do it on their own.

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Audiences and Participation

Overall, the cultural census survey results are consistent with national trends that point to increased involvement and interest in more active forms of cultural participation, as well as arts experiences that serve to advance social needs, like spending more time with friends and family. Increasingly, informal venues such as the home, community centers, and places of worship, are playing an important role as a setting for arts and culture. This means that cultural groups must become more flexible in program design and communication to respond to these shifts. Communication about arts and cultural activities and events is fragmented, both for residents and for visitors. There is no central source – either on-line or in print – for sharing information about the sector and its activities. This is a significant hindrance to building new local and tourist audiences and encouraging low-frequency attendees to increase their participation.

Downtown and the Built Environment

The downtown is positioned to employ arts and culture to play an important role as a catalyst for its on-going revitalization. There are many major cultural assets located downtown, including the Hult Center, the new main branch of the Eugene Public Library, DIVA, the WOW Hall, the Shedd Institute, and an informal “gallery district,” as well as a “First Friday” art walk. But for arts and culture to play a more effective role, arts groups will need to be more actively engaged as part of a much larger revitalization initiative, one that includes a strong downtown residential component. Planning and development efforts require cultural sector representation from their inception. Public art, much of it downtown but also in neighborhoods, can play a role in this revitalization as well as illustrate Eugene’s commitment to art and the outdoors. Architectural design, effective signage, and more appealing streetscapes and street furniture will also work to enhance the downtown’s appeal and to highlight the value Eugene places on arts and culture.

A Vision for Cultural Development in Eugene

Participants in the Cultural Policy Review shared their ideas for a vision of Eugene and its arts and cultural landscape for the year 2017. A summary of that vision is presented on the following page.

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“Eugene in 2017 is a nationally renowned center of creativity in general and the arts in particular. Eugene is acknowledged as a leader in cultural opportunities that engage residents and draw visitors. The cultural sector is a source of community pride and its impact is central to the livability and economic vitality of the City. Eugene’s downtown is alive with an appealing mix of creative experiences for people of all ages. The Hult Center, its Resident Companies, and a thriving gallery district provide a downtown anchor for cultural programming. Its schools use the arts effectively for their expressive value and as a powerful tool in teaching and learning. Arts learning is a lifelong pursuit through programs for all ages. The cultural assets of the University of Oregon and Lane Community College are part of the powerful mix that builds the identity of Eugene as a center for the arts. City officials, leaders of public and higher education, the business sector, and arts and culture work together to support Eugene’s cultural sector to enhance Eugene’s livability and the civic pride of its residents.”

Goals and Strategies

Five goals and sixteen strategies have been defined to strengthen and enhance Eugene’s cultural sector so that it can contribute even more to the future vitality of the City. These goals and strategies are described in detail in the body of the Report, which also includes discussions of possible tactics, identification of potential roles for the City of Eugene and other entities, and a description of each strategy’s priority. Goal I To strengthen public and private sector engagement, leadership, and funding for arts and culture in Eugene.

- Strategy I.1: Establish an “Alliance” for arts and culture that will coordinate and strengthen the efforts of the public, private, and nonprofit cultural sectors and foster high-level civic leadership in support of arts and culture.

- Strategy I.2: Define a broader role for the City of Eugene relative to arts and

culture and provide the necessary staff and budgetary support. - Strategy I.3: Establish and fund a dedicated endowment or trust for Eugene’s

cultural organizations to increase public and private sector financial support for arts and culture.

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- Strategy I.4: Conduct a thorough review of Hult Center operations to develop, if necessary, a new mission and implement a new operating model that will support that mission in a long-term, financially sustainable way.

Goal II To provide comprehensive arts learning experiences for Eugene’s children, youth, and adults.

- Strategy II.1: Create mechanisms to deliver more comprehensive and coordinated arts learning for Eugene children and youth through K-12 schooling and extracurricular opportunities.

- Strategy II.2: Enrich the range of and access to arts and cultural learning

opportunities for teens and adults. - Strategy II.3: Build more effective ties between Eugene’s institutions of higher

learning, the City, and cultural organizations and audiences. Goal III To build participation in and audiences for arts and culture in Eugene.

- Strategy III.1: Develop a comprehensive communication mechanism to provide information about Eugene’s arts and culture to residents and visitors.

- Strategy III.2: Implement a coordinated awareness campaign to highlight the

value and strength of Eugene’s arts and culture. - Strategy III.3: Build existing audiences and develop new ones for arts and

culture. Goal IV To strengthen the ability of cultural organizations and artists to serve the community.

- Strategy IV.1: Build the capacity of Eugene’s artists and cultural organizations through coordinated programs of professional development.

- Strategy IV.2: Assist cultural organizations to develop initiatives that respond

to trends in cultural programming.

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Goal V To integrate arts and culture into the fabric of downtown Eugene and other neighborhoods as part of a comprehensive strategy of revitalization.

- Strategy V.1: Integrate arts and culture into planning and development activities in Eugene’s downtown.

- Strategy V.2: Establish approaches to cultural development in the downtown

that dovetail with community priorities. - Strategy V.3: Enhance Eugene’s physical environment through public art in

downtown and throughout the City. - Strategy V.4: Enhance Eugene’s urban environment through the use of

architecture and streetscape design, signage, public spaces, and other amenities.

Initial Next Steps

Once the Report has been presented to City Council, the task of implementation will begin. The consultants propose a “Cultural Policy Review Implementation Task Force” made up of six community leaders (representing business, cultural organizations, and higher education) and reporting to the Executive Director of the City’s Library Recreation and Cultural Services Department. This group would meet frequently to set priorities and make sure that a few, carefully selected initiatives are moving forward. It would present annual reports to the community to detail outcomes and progress. As the proposed Alliance takes shape, this Task Force can become the nucleus of its governing body. Responsibility for coordination and review of implementation would then fall to a sub-committee of the Alliance’s board. Additional details are provided in Part V of the Report.

Conclusion

This planning process has been remarkably participatory. No other community in which the consultants have worked, no matter how large it is, has shown the degree of diligence and passion evidenced by Eugene residents and in particular the members of the Mayor's Committee. Planning is not an easy process. It requires attention to various viewpoints and overlapping perspectives and often puts existing systems and structures into the spotlight. The willingness of all parties involved to

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Executive Summary x

look carefully at issues both large and small has led to the development of a road map that has the engagement and input of a broad cross-section of the community. Not everyone – perhaps no one – will agree with everything in this document. But most participants will find some reflection of the comments that they made at various stages in the Cultural Policy Review. That is what makes this document powerful – its organic growth from the comments of hundreds, and ultimately thousands, of individuals. The consultants believe that the months of review and passionate debate have made this a stronger document that can serve as the first step on a journey to an even more vibrant and exciting cultural sector in Eugene.

Part I Introduction

Background and Context In the spring of 2005, Eugene’s City Council authorized a “Cultural Policy Review.” The Eugene Budget Committee recommended the funding of this Review for two years in support of the City Council Goal that promotes the Arts and Outdoors, which included the City Council's endorsement of branding Eugene as the “World's Greatest City of the Arts & Outdoors.” The purpose of the Review was to examine current conditions, services, and gaps in the cultural sector; to identify goals and strategies to strengthen that sector; and to provide options to assist the City in defining its role in support of Eugene’s arts and culture. In addition, the Review identified options for other community entities – arts groups, civic organizations, business leaders, public school teachers and administrators, college and university adminstration, faculty, and students, among others – to consider relative to arts and culture. In June 2006, the City contracted with WolfBrown, a national consulting firm that specializes in arts and cultural planning for cities and counties, to conduct the year-long Cultural Policy Review. As part of this work, the consultants have: - Conducted a cultural assessment, through a series of confidential in-person and

telephone interviews with more than 50 representatives of all sectors of the community, as well as over two dozen focused group sessions on key topics under consideration. (A complete list of individuals who have participated in the Cultural Policy Review is provided as Appendix A to this volume of the Report.)

- Designed and conducted an on-going public process of community meetings,

attended by over 300 individuals, to discuss issues of concern to the cultural sector and review consultant research. Comments, submitted electronically through the City’s Cultural Policy Review portal, were also collected and reviewed.

- Designed and conducted an assessment of cultural facilities that included an

inventory of Eugene facilities used for cultural purposes. An on-site review of selected performing and visual arts facilities was also conducted.

- Designed and implemented a “cultural census,” a web-based and hard-copy survey of

Eugene residents’ interests in and priorities for arts and cultural activities that was completed by over 2,500 individuals.

Part I Introduction 1


- Worked closely with a twenty-one member committee appointed by the Mayor, including over eight meetings and work sessions.

It is important to clarify at the outset that, while the Cultural Policy Review was initiated to provide guidance on cultural policy issues for the City, the resulting cultural planning document – this report – addresses issues and provides options for other community groups in Eugene as well. A “cultural plan” defines a “road map” for action that reflects the vision for cultural development in the community at large. The consultants’ recommendations are intended to reflect and synthesize community priorities and opportunties for action without being tactically proscriptive about how those priorities are implemented. The consultants would like to take this opportunity to express their gratitude for the work of the twenty-one Eugene residents on the Mayor's Committee (and in particular the Chair, Tina Renaldi, and Vice Chair, David Kelly), as well as the many hundreds of individuals who spent time meeting with the consultants in various formats over the past year, providing a solid grounding in the community. While this Report is the work of the consultants, it is informed by the observations and comments of these individuals. The consultants are indebted to them for countless insights, opinions, and aspirations. They particularly want to thank the Mayor for her consistent attention and support, as well as the staff of the Library, Recreation, and Cultural Services Department, specfically Angel Jones, Renee Grube, Laura Niles, Mark Loigman, Theresa Sizemore, and Billie Rathbun-Moser, without whose assistance this document would be considerably poorer.

What’s in This Report? This report documents the research, findings, vision, goals, and strategies of the Cultural Policy Review. There are five main sections: - Part I, Introduction, provides an introduction to the report, including an overview of

the Cultural Policy Review research and community engagement process as well as general information about Eugene and its cultural sector.

- Part II, Findings, describes the consultants’ findings, based on the complete set of

research data resulting from this Review, as well as their experience in other communities.

- Part III, Vision, offers a vision of what Eugene and its cultural sector will look like in

ten years if the initiatives of this plan are implemented. - Part IV, Goals and Strategies, details five goals and related strategies for the on-

going development of Eugene’s cultural sector, indicating their relative priority, the City’s role, possible community partners and their roles, and an estimate of costs.



- Part V, Next Steps, provides a series of recommended actions for the initial phases of

implementation of the goals of the Cultural Policy Review. In addition to these sections, the consultants provide a chart, at the end of Part V, that lists the goals and strategies in the Review and provides an overview, for each strategy, of its level of priority, the City’s role, potential implementation partners, and an estimate of the City’s costs. Finally, the report has several appendices, including: - Appendix A provides a complete list of individuals who participated in the process. - Appendix B includes the protocol for and a sixty-page discussion of the findings from

the Eugene Cultural Census survey. - Appendix C offers an analysis of the data collected as part of the Cultural Facility

Inventory, a copy of the Inventory protocol, and the Cultural Facility Assessment Reports.

- Appendix D provides the final papers of the five Working Groups of the Mayor's

Committee documenting the work they contributed to this Review. - Appendix E lists the initial questions used during the confidential interviews

conducted for the cultural assessment. Given the length of the appendix material, the final four appendices, B, C, D, and E, are provided separately as a Technical Volume. It contains a wealth of information on the consultants’ research, including protocols, question lists, and detailed findings.

Overview of the Cultural Policy Review

The Role of the Consultants

The consultants have served several roles in this Review. With a strong background in community cultural planning and knowledge of national cultural trends and best practice models, the consultants have undertaken a range of research and evaluation tasks. In addition, having developed community-based cultural plans in dozens of communities, the consultants have designed and implemented a community process that has included a series of facilitated meetings and activities to respond to the unique interests and characteristics of Eugene. This report is the culmination of a process of information gathering, documentation, synthesis, and review that has shaped the consultants’ findings and recommendations for this plan.



The Public Process

From the very beginning of the Cultural Policy Review, every effort has been made to engage the public. A “portal” was established on the City’s web site and information – agendas, meeting minutes, and consultant’s memos and reports – was posted so that it was readily available to residents. The portal provided for two-way communication and public input was distributed to the Mayor's Committee and the consultants on a weekly basis. Two specific components of the public process are discussed below. Mayor’s Committee. At the outset of the Cultural Policy Review, the Mayor appointed a committee of twenty-one Eugene residents who were to serve in an advisory capacity to the Mayor, City Council, and the consultants during the process. This “Mayor's Committee,” the members of which are listed in Appendix A of this report, has met at least every other month (in public sessions that included periods for public comment) and has reviewed documents prepared by the consultants. It is the City’s official body to review the draft Cultural Policy Review documents. At various stages of the process, members have been called upon to conduct informal interviews of residents, speak to local civic and community organizations about the Cultural Policy Review, and perform other tasks related to the Review. Most notably, Mayor's Committee members were active in small “working groups” that developed preliminary vision, goal, and strategies in five key issue areas.5 It is important to note that while this report reflects the direct and indirect input of over 3,000 people as well as the consultants’ research undertaken for this Review and their national perspective, the Mayor's Committee has played a pivotal role in the development of this document. The members’ commitment to their role – and the passion with which they have expressed their opinions – have led to a stronger planning report. Community Meetings. An extensive series of public meetings with the consultants was also implemented. Key sessions included: - An initial orientation session held in June 2006 - A meeting to review the initial draft of the consultants’ situation paper in September

2006 - A series of six community arts and culture “dialogue sessions” held in September 2006

and attended by over 300 people, each devoted to a different issue area relating to arts and culture

- A meeting in November 2006 to conduct focused group sessions and to review findings from the “dialogue sessions”

- A meeting in January 2007 to review the findings of the cultural census and discuss current trends in cultural participation, featuring a leading researcher in the field

5 See Appendix D for the reports submitted by these Mayor's Committee working groups.



- A session in March 2007 to review the consultants’ initial vision, goals, and strategies document

- A session to review and comment on the draft report, held on June 11, 2007. The purpose of these sessions was to ensure that all interested residents had an opportunity to learn about the Cultural Policy Review and provide feedback at various key stages of the process. These community meetings were broadly promoted to the public by the City through advertising and public service announcements on radio, television, and newspapers, as well as through the City’s web site, direct-mail postcards, and other means.

The Research Components

The consultants conducted three major research initiatives as part of the Cultural Policy Review. Key findings from the research are presented in the next section of the report and complete details of the methodologies and findings are included in Appendices B and C. In this section, we present an overview of each component. Cultural Census. The Eugene Cultural Census was a web-based survey conducted in November and December 2006. The purpose of the research was to gain a clearer sense of how Eugene residents participate in, and feel about, the arts. All adult (age 18+) residents of the Eugene area were eligible to participate in the survey. The primary method of data collection was through an online survey instrument and paper copies of the survey were also available for those without Internet access. A wide range of recruitment methods were used to encourage response, including broadcast emails, public service announcements on radio and television, and distribution of paper surveys at key locations throughout the City. The data set includes 1,892 residents of the City of Eugene (76%) and 595 residents of the surrounding area (24%) for a total of 2,487 completed responses. This is an excellent response, based on the consultants’ experience in other communities. This approach to data collection did not involve random sampling, and the results are not designed to be representative of the general population of Eugene residents. Instead, respondents “self-selected” into the study, and the goal was to obtain as many responses as possible from a cross-section of adults whose responses might reliably be compared with one another. Analysis groups were designed based on “low,” “moderate,” and “high” frequency of participation in cultural events. In addition, to offset the bias from self-selection, the sample was weighted to adjust the levels of educational attainment in the survey data to reflect actual levels in the base population. Cultural Facilities Inventory and Assessment. The Cultural Facilities Inventory was sent to about 200 venues including commercial and nonprofit performing and visual arts spaces While the priority was placed on gathering information on those venues that are devoted primarily to arts, culture, and entertainment, an attempt was made to gather information on those venues that provide cultural activities and events as a regular,




ancillary function. The primary focus area of the inventory was the City of Eugene’s downtown and adjacent areas and included outdoor spaces as well as indoor venues. The inventory was completed by 46 groups and provided information on 87 visual and performing arts spaces of all types. Using the list of venues that had responded to the inventory, a group of facilities was chosen for review by the consultants. The following visual and performing arts facilities were included in the Cultural Facilities Assessment Report: - Actors Cabaret of Eugene - Cuthbert Amphitheater - Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts - Hult Center – Jacobs Gallery - Hult Center – Silva Concert Hall - Hult Center – Soreng Theater - John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts - Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art - Lane Community College Art Gallery - Lane Community College

Performance Hall - Lane County Historical Museum - Lane Events Center at the

Fairgrounds - Lord Leebrick Theatre Company - Maude Kerns Art Center - McDonald Theater

- Morse Event Center and B. Ross Evans Chapel, NW Christian College

- Richard E. Wildish Community Theater, Springfield

- University of Oregon Beall Concert Hall - University of Oregon Cultural Forum

(McArthur Court) - University of Oregon Dougherty

Dance Theatre - University of Oregon Erb Memorial

Union - University of Oregon Erb Memorial

Union Art Galleries - University of Oregon Robinson

Theatre - Very Little Theater - WOW (Woodmen of the World) Hall - WOW Hall Lobby Art Gallery

Cultural Assessment. Throughout the course of the planning process, the consultants have conducted individual confidential interviews and small group meetings to enhance their understanding of the cultural sector in Eugene. Potential interviewees were identified by members of the Mayor's Committee and a list of almost 200 individuals was compiled. From this list, the consultants selected an initial group of about twenty individuals with whom to conduct telephone interviews. At other times during the Review, the consultants have conducted in-person interviews and small group meetings with an additional 69 individuals. The findings of the cultural assessment formed the basis of the initial version of the Situation Paper presented in September 2006; more complete and updated findings are presented as part of Part II of this report.

Overview of Eugene and the Region Dramatic shifts in the economic base of Eugene and the region began in the 1980s with a transition away from the dominance of the wood products industry. After a difficult period


that saw many younger residents move away from Eugene, the region’s economy has made a slow and steady improvement over the past decade. While the wood products industries are still present, the economy is considerably more diversified than in the past. Major regional employers include those in higher education, government, and health care, as well as manufacturing and high tech.6 The University of Oregon has played a significant role in the City’s evolution since the turn of the 20th century and that continues today with a student body of over 20,000. Eugene’s geographic position allows it to serve central and southern Oregon as a retail and wholesale trade center and its cultural sector attracts audiences from well beyond the city limits. Eugene’s population has been growing, although more slowly since 2000. While population grew by over 20 percent between 1990 and 2000, it has grown by less than 3 percent between 2000 and 2003, when the population reached about 142,000.7 Lane County’s population of about 335,000 in 2005 has grown at a similar rate. While Eugene’s and Lane County’s population remains predominantly Caucasian (approximately 88 percent in Eugene and over 92 percent in Lane County), the Hispanic population of Eugene has nearly doubled over the past ten years, although that rate of increase is at a lower level than some surrounding areas. The population of foreign-born residents has increased from about 7,000 in 1990 to over 9,000 in 2000. While these increases are significant, the preponderance of the Caucasian population remains. Eugene residents pride themselves on the unique qualities of their community, including the continuing legacy of pioneering settlers and industries that is mixed with the strong academic and alternative-culture influences. The independent inclinations of many Eugene residents have made collective decision-making a challenge. Strongly held political viewpoints and approaches can impede public planning processes in Eugene, sometimes making it harder to reach closure. In general, community and philanthropic leadership in Eugene tends to be “quiet.” This is, in part, because of a perceived “anti-business” bias among some residents. As a result, many business and civic leaders are more comfortable working behind the scenes rather than taking high visibility positions in support of particular organizations, events, or projects. Several state-wide ballot initiatives have had a significant impact on Eugene. Notably, Measure 5 in 1990 limited property tax levels to $15 per $1,000. And in 1996, Measure 47 placed additional limitations on property taxes on real estate. These and other measures have put additional burdens on communities like Eugene. Especially after Measure 47, City support for arts and culture was significantly curtailed. The level of community involvement in Eugene is extraordinarily high. The Cultural Policy Review has been no exception. Throughout this process, and based on their experiences in 6 Data on the local and regional economy provided by the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce. 7 Demographic data is provided by the United States Census Bureau.



communities of a similar size to Eugene, the consultants have been surprised and impressed at the level of involvement of community members. Over 300 individuals attended a series of six “Arts and Culture Dialogues” on key planning issues during September alone; almost 2,500 individuals completed a “cultural census” survey providing extensive information about their involvement in arts, culture, and creativity. This reflects a view among residents that it is important to express their opinions on these matters. The Cultural Policy Review, as an initiative of Eugene’s City Council, necessarily focused on cultural activities within the political boundaries of the City. Nevertheless, there is an emerging sense of a region that includes more than the City of Eugene. In some cases, that region adds just the City of Springfield; in other cases, it extends further. While this Report focuses on the City of Eugene, it is important to keep in mind that cultural participation does not respect political boundaries and building awareness of and audiences for arts and culture might one day suggest a regional approach.

A Perspective on the Value of Arts and Culture There is an increasingly impressive body of national research that highlights the impact of arts, culture, and creativity on the quality of life of a community. Support for arts and culture can be seen as furthering a significant community agenda, in addition to the intrinsic value of various arts disciplines. Cities large and small across the country are focusing on the impact of creative workers on communities.8 This is having a profound impact on how communities understand – and undertake – economic development. Paying attention to the amenities that attract workers rather than industries is a major shift and puts the emphasis more firmly on quality of life considerations. Being an appealing community for creative workers, who have great flexibility in where they live and work, is increasingly important, and arts and culture represents a key tool to attract such workers. Arts and culture can have a direct impact on economic development in a city, shifting how a community is perceived in ways that build real value. For example, in North Adams, a small, economically depressed community in Western Massachusetts, the opening of a museum of contemporary art in an old mill complex has led to revitalization in a range of sectors. Data show, for example, that the price of single family homes jumped 15 percent in a single year after the museum opened.9 According to a recent study on the impact of arts and culture nationally, it was found that the nonprofit cultural industry generates an economic impact of over $161 billion, has over 5.7 million full-time equivalent jobs, and returns about $30 billion in tax revenue to federal,

8 For an overview of this research, review this site: http://creativeclass.com/ 9 Opinion Journal, “What MassMOCA has Wrought” July 7, 2004.


http://creativeclass.com/


state and local government. 10 Such national figures are echoed by data on Eugene’s cultural sector with its strong base of existing arts and cultural amenities For example: - There are a total of over 2,700 people employed in 500 Eugene-based arts-related

businesses, according to Dun & Bradstreet data.11 - Hult Center Resident Companies alone provide an aggregate direct expenditure in the

community in excess of $10 million annually without including ancillary audience spending or the multiplier effect of such spending.12

The value of these creative businesses is a community asset that should not be minimized. A recent study by the National Endowment for the Arts documented the relationship between arts participation and civic engagement. Its findings point to the power of arts and culture to engage residents in many aspects of civic life. One key finding indicates that Americans involved in the arts are more likely to partake in a wealth of civic and social activities.13 Arts and culture can play a significant role in education as well. The relationship, for example, between arts learning and the SAT is well established. College Board research indicates that students who took four years of arts coursework outperformed their peers without that training by 58 points on the verbal portion and 38 points on the math portion of the SAT.14 In addition, longitudinal data on 25,000 students over many years demonstrate that involvement in the arts is linked to lower dropout rates, among other benefits.15 The value of integrating the arts into the full K-12 curriculum is profound. For example, in Tucson, a public/private initiative in the schools was designed “to improve student achievement by building connections between the arts and the core curriculum.” After only two years in operation, 2nd grade students scored significantly higher than their counterparts on all standardized tests.16 According to a study cited in a U. S. Department of Education publication, “…students who were consistently involved in after-school music and theatre programs show significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12…”17 In addition, there is strong anecdotal data suggesting that youth arts

10 Americans for the Arts, Arts & Economic Prosperity III, June, 2007 (http://artsusa.cog) 11 Americans for the Arts, Creative Industries Report, 2007 (http://artsusa.org) 12 Americans for the Arts, The Arts and Economic Prosperity, 2007 (http://artsusa.org) 13 National Endowment for the Arts, Arts and Civic Engagement, 2005, available as a PDF at

http://www.calawyersforthearts.org/neacivic.pdf 14 The College Board, “2005 College-Bound Seniors: Total Group Profile Report” 2005 15 Americans for the Arts, “Impact of the Arts,” citing Catterall, Graduate School of Education and

Information Students, UCLA (http://artsusa.org). 16 Maricopa Regional Arts and Culture Task Force, “Vibrant Culture – Thriving Economy” 2004. 17 U. S. Department of Education and National Endowment for the Arts, “How the Arts Can Enhance

After-School Programs” (http://www.nea.gov)


http://artsusa.cog/

http://artsusa.org/

http://artsusa.org/

http://www.calawyersforthearts.org/neacivic.pdf

http://artsusa.org/

http://www.nea.gov/

http://artsusa.org


programs are effective in engaging otherwise disengaged youth, resulting in improvedesteem, increased skills, and improved school or work be

self-havior.

All of these examples point to ways in which arts and culture can add value in support of key community priorities. It will be helpful to keep in mind the many facets of cultural sector impact while reviewing the strategies in this Report.

Overview of Arts and Culture in Eugene Eugene is uniquely well situated to develop a thriving cultural sector. First, since the City serves as a regional hub for commercial services, regional residents are attuned to what goes on in Eugene. Thus they are likely to consider its cultural and entertainment offerings when making plans. Second, the presence of significant arts programming at the University of Oregon and Lane Community College has provided a range and quality of offerings that add particular luster to what is offered locally. The range and diversity of arts and culture in Eugene is breath-taking: from the Oregon Country Fair to Art in the Vineyard to the Oregon Bach Festival, the City boasts a mix of performing, literary, and visual arts, entertainment, film festivals, and informal, grassroots cultural expressions that go well beyond what one would expect in a city of 150,000 people. Eugene has a mix of professional and amateur artists at all stages of their careers who produce work of all types in all disciplines and media. In addition to an array of visual, literary, and performing arts organizations and activities, there is an impressive assortment of local outdoor events and festivals, including a thriving Saturday Market, and a range of excellent performing and visual arts venues, both downtown and on the campuses of the University of Oregon and Lane Community College. The legacy of Eugene as a nexus for the cultural ferment of the 1960s is memorialized by a sculpture of Ken Kesey in the downtown area and continues to have an influence on alternative arts activities. City government has played an important role in Eugene’s cultural sector, having operated the Hult Center for the past 25 years. The Center’s two theatres and gallery space have contributed to the cultural vitality of Eugene in important ways and continue to be a focal point of community pride and cultural identity. The Hult Center Resident Companies have immeasurably enriched the community’s artistic life and continue to be a cornerstone of the cultural economy in Eugene. A privately funded cultural plan was developed in Eugene in the mid-1990s, called “ArtsPlan.” It provided a wealth of valuable information and useful recommendations that are still relevant and have been reviewed as part of the Cultural Policy Review. Many of the




issues identified a decade ago18 continue to challenge the cultural sector today, along with new factors and issues reflecting changing circumstances and shifting national trends. A significant number of arts organizations and cultural programs in Eugene were founded 25 to 35 years ago and are experiencing developmental transitions common to organizations of that age. And while arts and cultural activities and events thrive in Eugene, cultural organizations, whether professionally managed or run by volunteers, rarely have an easy time of it. Identifying the necessary earned and contributed revenue for on-going operations is challenging for many if not all local organizations, as it is for many nonprofit cultural organizations nationally. The challenges extend beyond individual organizations to the cultural sector as a whole. As a sector, arts and culture in Eugene is lacking the necessary “connective tissue” – the infrastructure that coordinates communication, collaboration, and joint action within the cultural sector. Recent national research19 indicates that the presence of this community cultural infrastructure, this “connective tissue” is a key indicator of a vibrant and sustainable cultural sector.

The Nexus of Arts and Outdoors

The City of Eugene has positioned itself as aspiring to be “The World’s Greatest City of the Arts and Outdoors.” This slogan is strongest when used to point to the unique intersection between the arts and outdoor amenities that the community offers. Such positioning identifies a niche in which Eugene can excel: a unique mix that can appeal to the arts lover and the outdoor enthusiast. The aspiration embodied in the City’s slogan can serve as the impetus for building partnerships among these existing amenities to establish an even stronger brand for Eugene. Many of the initiatives of this Report can be seen as providing opportunities to partner arts and cultural initiatives with programs and activities that relate to the outdoors, sports, and recreation. That is already being done around the Olympic Trials in 2008 and this might serve as a useful and important model for future partnerships.

18 A review of ArtsPlan indicates many common themes, including, for example, financial support for the

arts, coordination and collaboration among arts organizations, and building volunteer participation, among many others.

19 See the recent research report from RAND Corporation Research in the Arts, called Arts and Culture in the Metropolis: Strategies for Sustainability authored by K McCarthy, E. Heneghan Ondaatje, and J. Novak, published in 2007. The study describes eleven communities with strong cultural sectors and assesses the effectiveness of their local arts organizations and their impact on the vitality of the cultural sector. While it focuses on communities considerably larger than Eugene, the consultants believe that its lessons hold true for smaller communities as well.


Part II Consultant Findings

In this section of the report, the consultants present their findings, which draw upon all of the research components undertaken for this project and their national perspective. As noted in the previous section of this report, there are a wealth of community assets related to the arts and cultural sector in Eugene. The findings here focus on those issues that clarify the challenges to the sector and have led to the Goals and Strategies described in Part IV. Additional detail on the consultants’ research – including findings, descriptions of methodologies, and sample protocols – is provided in a 130-page “Technical Volume” that is available for download at the Cultural Policy Review portal.

Leadership and Resources

- Over the years, there have been some individuals in Eugene who have provided outstanding leadership and commitment to the arts and cultural sector. However, as they have aged, newer and younger individuals with that same level of commitment have not emerged to assume leadership positions. While this is a common concern nationally as the baby-boomer generation ages, in Eugene it is exacerbated by a community style that makes undertaking a leadership role challenging, especially in the cultural sector. Many individuals who might assume cultural leadership positions do not view it as attractive. Thus, cultural leadership in Eugene is not strong compared to other cities with comparable levels of cultural activity.

- There is a lack of awareness – among civic leaders and Eugene residents in general –

of the specific ways in which arts and culture can add value to the community. While it is true that there is a strong sense among many people that the arts are important, there is less understanding of the role the arts can play in helping children learn, attracting visitors who might come to Eugene for other reasons but will stay longer to enjoy cultural events, or providing creative business-oriented, problem solving skills to local businesses.

- There is no Eugene-specific, city-wide local arts agency – an organization that has

focused responsibility for advocacy, marketing arts and culture, developing a supportive climate, or coordinating and facilitating access to arts and culture for children and adults. While the City has a division devoted to “cultural services,” its primary function is operating the Hult Center with little capacity to serve the cultural sector in other ways. There is an increasingly strong body of research nationally that

Part II Consultant Findings 12


indicates the importance of such a coordinating entity to the cultural vitality of a community.20

The only existing regional arts agency, the Lane Arts Council (LAC), is facing difficult internal issues that limit its capacity to support Eugene’s cultural groups. Moreover, LAC has responsibility to the entire county so that, even if it does regain its footing, it must balance regional concerns against services and resources to support Eugene’s cultural sector. This, among other factors, has limited the role that this agency has been able to play for Eugene’s cultural sector.

- The City’s engagement with arts and culture has been primarily through its support of the Hult Center. Indeed, the “cultural ecology” of Eugene has been driven by the presence of the Hult. The Center is a beautiful facility and it is in generally good condition. But the Hult’s current operating model is problematic. This is a complex problem that has plagued the Center since at least 1996 and the passage of Measure 47, which forced the City to make difficult funding decisions around the maintenance of critical City services, including the Hult Center. There is simply insufficient funding – earned income or contributed by the City – to sustain the building and the groups that use it.

There are certainly performing arts centers in cities the size of Eugene or smaller that operate effectively.21 The difference is how and to what extent cultural facilities are funded in those communities. The dynamic in Eugene is challenging: City funding for the Hult is tied to the Transient Room Tax (TRT), most local facility users (including some of the Resident Companies) are in a fragile financial state, there is no additional fund raising allowed, and the pool of private sector funders is already stretched. The Hult Center’s operating model has not changed in twenty-five years although the economic reality of performing arts centers is very different today. The operating model must be re-examined and revised as needed.

- While there is some room for growth in private sector funding for arts and culture, it is not substantial. The corporate sector generally sees support for arts and culture as a marketing rather than a philanthropic activity, which may limit the types of initiatives that are considered for support. The competition among fund raisers has greatly increased over the last decade with significant and sophisticated efforts underway in the academic, health care, and social service sectors.

- There is a question regarding whether existing and new funding can sustain the

current range of cultural organizations. It seems unlikely that new private sector funding would be sufficient to support significant new cultural initiatives. This suggests

20 Cf., RAND Corporation Research in the Arts, Arts and Culture in the Metropolis: Strategies for Sustainability,

cited on page 9. 21 Among those worthy of note are facilities in Sioux Falls, SD: Naples, FL; Roanoke, VA; Owensboro, and

Paducah, KY; and Amarillo, TX.



the need for consideration of funding strategies such as reallocating existing resources, developing public/private partnerships, identifying new sources of private sector support, and increasing the public sector’s contribution.

Education and Lifelong Learning

- Most of Eugene’s arts organizations are committed to supporting public school arts education and already provide extensive programming to do that. However, their initiatives are not coordinated, which leads to duplication of effort and a more difficult environment for educators to navigate and select offerings for students. For example, many of the Hult Resident Companies offer school programs and educators express confusion about what is available and how best to integrate offerings into their curriculum. And, since the programmatic costs of providing such programs to the schools are not fully recovered by the arts organizations that provide the services, it represents a significant resource burden for these organizations. In addition, knowledge of the availability of arts organizations’ school program options is varied. This creates uneven usage of programs based on what specific individuals in particular schools know about what is available.

- There is a general lack of understanding – among the general public and many

educators – of the value of arts learning as a creative and expressive skill and as a way to enhance learning in all curricular areas for K-12 students This is a significant problem both for building cultural audiences and for educating youth to think creatively about 21st century challenges.

- Opportunities for students to participate in public school K-12 art classes with

trained arts teachers in music, visual arts, dance, and theater have diminished over the last decade due to funding constraints and educational priorities. Lane Community College’s integrative arts learning initiative (as part of the Oregon Integrative Arts Partnership) is meeting with success in showing ways to use the arts in other curricular areas. Even though there are some notable initiatives to provide art classes and to integrate arts as a tool for learning into the curriculum more effectively, such efforts are somewhat limited through the Eugene school districts.

- Arts advocates have more work to do to articulate the educational outcomes of

learning about and participating in the arts in ways that highlight important community educational priorities. The research is available but it has not been effectively disseminated to either parents or District decision-makers. In addition, there is no City- or District-wide mechanism to focus support for arts training or to educate parents and teachers about its value for all young people and enlist their advocacy.

- The University of Oregon, with a campus community of over 20,000, provides

nationally recognized academic training, and has active programs in fine arts, arts



administration, theater, architecture, music, and other arts and cultural areas. These programs as well as the availability of interns, student projects, an active array of professional arts performances, lectures and exhibitions are part of the educational resources of the community. In addition, the many graduates who stay in the community add to the mix of cultural professionals, avocational artists, and cultural participants.

- Lane Community College, with an enrollment of over 15,000, has significant

performance spaces as well as educational programs in art, graphic design, art history, visual arts, music, dance, and theatre that provide both academic and enrichment access for adult arts learning.

- There is little coordination or partnering among the cultural initiatives of the

University of Oregon, Lane Community College, and the City of Eugene or between any of these groups and Eugene’s non-academically-affiliated cultural organizations. Each seems to function as its own “sphere of influence” with little or no interaction with the others. Scheduling coordination is weak among UO cultural offerings, as well as between UO activities and community cultural offerings, sometimes resulting in unintended scheduling conflicts.

Cultural Organizations and Artists

- Eugene has an abundant mix of professionally managed and volunteer-driven cultural organizations, both of which are capable of producing high quality art. There is also a large community of artists at all stages of their careers, and abundant grassroots cultural activity. there are many more avocational artists (performing, literary and visual arts) than professional ones.

- There are many small and mid-sized organizations with very few large budget (over

$1 million) organizations. Most of these organizations are under-capitalized, which is particularly problematic for the more fragile small and mid-sized groups.

- There is a need for additional professional administrative training and board

training to enhance the management and fund-raising capacity of nonprofit arts groups. In particular, with some exceptions, the boards and staff of arts organizations tend to have relatively limited capacity for fund raising and lack the technical skills needed to carry on an effective program of annual fund raising in an increasingly competitive local environment. This is in contrast to some key nonprofits in other sectors that have markedly improved capacity in this area.

- In general, donors see a great deal of programmatic and administrative duplication

among arts organizations. They also perceive that there is little inclination to consider coordination or consolidation, although there is some evidence that this is changing



with recent projects of note. For example, the Eugene Ballet provides rental options to other cultural nonprofits and from time to time, DIVA and Maude Kerns Art Center collaborate on exhibitions.

- In general, visual and performing arts spaces are adequate but would benefit

from upgrades and some additions. Based on the Cultural Facilities Inventory, performance spaces in Eugene are well used. Over half (56 percent) of the facilities indicated that they were booked for over 60% of their available dates. While this does indicate some room for additional usage, it is likely that many of the available dates are problematic, either for producers or for the intended audiences.

In addition, few facilities have the full mix of ancillary spaces required for productions. For example, only 15 percent have costume shops, 24 percent have green rooms, and 10 percent have scene construction shops. This suggests the need for more and better support spaces. This is also true of exhibition spaces. Of the 25 gallery spaces included in the inventory, 32 percent have exhibition crate storage space and only one has a framing or matting shop. Perhaps more important, of the gallery spaces, only five indicate a “high” level of security and less than half (11) have climate control, two factors that limit the types of exhibitions that can be shown.

The Cultural Facility Assessment confirmed that support spaces were problematic, identifying a shortage of space for rehearsal, set construction and storage, office space, and for the exhibition of local artists’ work. Longer-term, a mid-sized performance venue (900 to 1,200 seats) and additional black-box space were considered worthy of further exploration, based on the on-site facilities review as well as comments of facility users. Additional gallery space could be considered as part of various downtown developments.

Audiences and Participation

- Attendance and participation for arts and cultural offerings do not appear to be growing in the nonprofit sector, and may be declining as a percentage of the population.

- Communication about the arts is fragmented for both residents and visitors. While

there is coverage in some print media, and some organizations have effective communication with targeted audiences, there is no central source for sharing information about the sector as a whole. On-line methods of cultural marketing are very slowly being adopted by cultural groups and are not yet fully developed to national standards.

- Overall, the Cultural Census results are consistent with national trends that point

to increased involvement and interest in active forms of arts participation – making art,



talking about art, collecting and organizing art – as well as arts activities that fulfill social needs, especially among singles, for whom lack of social context is a major barrier. Specifically the Census indicates that:

- High-frequency attendees tend to be older, less likely to have children living at

home, and have much higher levels of educational attainment. - There is a close correlation between personal participation and attendance.

For instance, 34% of higher-frequency attendees say that they earn at least a portion of their income making art, compared to 12% of lower-frequency attendees.

- Informal venues – such as the home – play an important role as a setting for arts and cultural activities, especially among lower-frequency attendees. They are proportionately more likely than high-frequency attendees to use the home as a setting for such activity, illustrating a major challenge for arts organizations: being relevant to constituents in a range of settings.

Downtown and the Built Environment

- Downtown is well positioned to employ arts and culture as a catalyst for on-going revitalization. There are many major cultural assets located downtown, including the Hult Center and the new main branch of the Eugene Public Library, DIVA, the WOW Hall, the Shedd Institute, and others. Downtown art galleries have worked together to establish an informal “gallery district” on and near Willamette Street and the Lane Arts Council coordinates a “First Friday” art walk. Indeed, there is growing evidence of increased arts and cultural activity downtown in the evenings, including events at the McDonald Theatre, a growing live music bar scene, several social dance studios, evening events at the Main Library, active restaurants and coffee houses, and the First Friday art walk.

- Arts and culture can play an important role in the revitalization of Eugene’s downtown.

Because of the scale of the challenge, significant resources will be required and arts and cultural groups will need to be actively engaged as part of a much larger revitalization initiative to deliver the kind of changes people hope for. There are currently few clear channels through which artists and cultural organizations will be integrated into redevelopment efforts. There are clear long-term benefits to active leadership in this arena by and for the City as a whole and the cultural sector in particular.

- Creating and promoting downtown residential development as part of mixed use

developments is an important and promising component of enhancing the vitality of downtown and supporting its cultural assets. City support is a critical factor in assisting this to move forward. Arts organizations and artists can both play meaningful roles in encouraging residential development, as seen in other cities.




- Much of Eugene’s public art is located downtown. Maintenance of the City’s

collection is a concern, and there has been inconsistent attention to management and growth of the collection since its inception in 1981. A newly revitalized Public Art Committee is addressing many concerns, but more work remains to be done to clarify and maximize the role of public art in Eugene. Public art and the City’s Percent for Art Ordinance have not been actively considered as a key mechanism for linking the City’s image of art and outdoors or for greater potential in revitalization efforts in the downtown.

In summary, these findings reflect the many strengths of the community, as well as some significant challenges that the cultural sector faces in strengthening its role and ensuring a sustainable future. In the following section of this report, a vision for the future of arts and culture in Eugene is presented and in Part IV of this report, specific goals and strategies are described to achieve the vision.


Part III A Vision for Cultural Development in Eugene

Participants in the Cultural Policy Review shared their ideas for a vision of Eugene and its arts and cultural landscape for the year 2017. Based on those comments made throughout the planning process, and the input of the Mayor’s Committee, the consultants have synthesized the following vision statements. The vision expressed here is aspirational and reflects priority outcomes for the Cultural Policy Review. In addition to a brief summary statement, it focuses on four distinct areas:

- Leadership and Resources - Education and Lifelong Learning - Cultural Organizations, Participation, and Audiences - Downtown and the Built Environment.

Summary Vision Statement

Eugene in 2017 is a nationally renowned center of creativity in general and the arts in particular. Eugene is acknowledged as a leader in cultural opportunities that engage residents and draw visitors. The cultural sector is a source of community pride and its impact is central to the livability and economic vitality of the City. Eugene’s downtown is alive with an appealing mix of creative experiences for people of all ages. The Hult Center, its Resident Companies, and a thriving gallery district provide a downtown anchor for cultural programming. Its schools use the arts effectively for their expressive value and as a powerful tool in teaching and learning. Arts learning is a lifelong pursuit through programs for all ages. The cultural assets of the University of Oregon and Lane Community College are part of the powerful mix that builds the identity of Eugene as a center for the arts. City officials, leaders of public and higher education, the business sector, and arts and culture work together to support Eugene’s cultural sector to enhance Eugene’s livability and the civic pride of its residents.

Detailed Vision Statements Leadership and Resources. Eugene’s public and private sectors proudly acknowledge the important roles that creativity, culture, and the arts play in the economic, social, and educational fabric of the community. Leaders from all sectors of the community, including

Part III 19 A Vision for Cultural Development in Eugene


business leaders and educators, are visible and enthusiastic advocates and supporters of the arts in Eugene. Furthermore, leaders of the cultural sector are respected community leaders and are “at the table” for initiatives that shape the future of Eugene. New mechanisms for support of the arts have become integrated into the philanthropic landscape and are recognized and applauded in the community. Through these efforts, sufficient human and financial resources are made available to ensure that arts and culture remains a visible and central component of Eugene’s quality of life. Education and Lifelong Learning. Eugene is recognized for providing active learning opportunities in the arts for all ages, with a particular focus on integrating the arts broadly into the K-12 curriculum. This is built on a strong interconnection between Eugene’s higher education institutions and accomplished arts organizations, a commitment to quality public K-12 education, and an adult populace that actively seeks creative learning opportunities. There is an abundance of after-school, community, and amateur arts opportunities. The key education “players” in Eugene – including the University of Oregon, Lane Community College, Northwest Christian College, 4J and Bethel school districts, numerous cultural organizations, artists, and the City’s arts and recreation programs – work together to bring local and regional residents an exciting mix of formal and informal creative learning experiences grounded in arts and culture. The value of learning about and from the arts and exploring creativity is a central component of Eugene’s identity. Cultural Organizations, Participation, and Audiences. Residents and visitors to Eugene find a compelling mix of arts, cultural, and creative programs within easy reach – free and paid, indoor and outdoor, formal and informal. Locally-produced arts are recognized for their excellence alongside celebrated national and international productions. These programs reflect the range and diversity of interests from traditional to cutting edge, and permit participants to enjoy various levels of engagement. In the course of every year, a large number of residents participate because there are arts opportunities that reflect their personal interests in welcoming settings. This is complemented by a strong emphasis on the arts in Eugene schools and a community value that encourages exploring new arts experiences. The wealth of creative activity provides “something for everyone” to experience or participate in. It brings new people to these activities while enticing existing participants to attend more frequently. The strength of arts activities makes Eugene a tourist destination with downtown Eugene providing a strong locus for both residents and tourists participating in the arts. The array of cultural activities is supported and promoted through effective information disseminated to residents and visitors. There is a strong spirit of cooperation, effective coordination, and collaboration among arts and cultural organizations. Artists and arts groups are able to share information and other resources easily and effectively. Downtown and the Built Environment. Eugene’s downtown is the center of cultural and artistic expression for Eugene. Architecturally distinctive, downtown feels safe and




inviting to a broad range of people from throughout the City, the region, and beyond. A large and growing cadre of downtown residents is joined by other regional residents and tourists in taking advantage of downtown amenities. A range of successful businesses supply residents’ basic needs as well as showcasing Northwest art and other quality products that attract local and regional visitors. Downtown is safely navigated by pedestrians and served by convenient parking and public transportation. Community pride and awareness is strong regarding downtown and there is active patronage of the variety of performing, visual, and literary arts events that take place throughout the year. The welcoming environment of well-kept commercial enterprises interspersed with inviting public spaces and public art embodies Eugene’s commitment to the arts and outdoors. Community understanding of the fundamental importance of a successful downtown as a hub to the many neighborhoods in the larger community is high, and this enables effective collaboration between government, for-profit, and nonprofit sectors, which team up to create and maintain successful projects. The success of downtown has spurred greater awareness of the value of arts and culture in Eugene’s neighborhoods. Venues, activities, and public art in various neighborhoods and on the campuses of the University of Oregon and Lane Community College are utilized as strong community cultural assets. Cultural facilities and attractions are easy to find in Eugene thanks to creative permanent signage throughout the City, permanently mounted directories, and maps that can be picked up at businesses and hotels.


Part IV Goals and Strategies

In this section of the report, the consultants describe five goals and related strategies that have emerged from the Cultural Policy Review. Each goal is introduced with a discussion of its rationale. The strategy sections for each goal include a synthesis of tactics developed through the Cultural Policy Review as well as examples of tactics used successfully in other communities. This provides an array of options and possible tools for implementation depending on which partners are able to take action. Part V of this Report provides additional recommendations on approaches to implementation. The priority of each strategy – based on the consultants’ assessment – is also provided, using a 1 to 4 ranking scale, with 1 being the highest priority. The potential role of the City of Eugene and other possible community partners is outlined and an estimate of costs is provided. This figure is provided as a point of departure for implementation planning. The specific costs will very significantly depending on the tactic, schedule, and scope selected for implementation. In order to assist readers in understanding the “big picture” view of the planning document, the consultants have provided a chart on page 59 at the end of Part V that includes, for each strategy, its priority, the City’s role, potential implementation partners, and an estimate of the City’s costs of implementation.

Goal I To strengthen public and private sector engagement, leadership, and funding for arts and culture in Eugene.

Without question, Eugene’s cultural sector, as detailed earlier in this report, is the envy of many cities that are much larger. The range of professional and avocational creative and cultural activities is impressive. With this wealth of creative people and activities in Eugene, it is surprising, then, that arts and culture is not integrated more effectively into the fabric of the community. The problem stems, in large part, from the difficulty of building a strong leadership group for arts and culture and identifying public and private sector funding in Eugene, as described in Part II of this report (cf., page 11). In cities with strong, vibrant cultural sectors – from San Jose to Charlotte and from Dallas to Milwaukee – there is always a powerful link between the cultural sector and the business community, government, foundations, and other key civic sectors. This connection is

Part IV Goals and Strategies 22


usually managed and facilitated by a local organization – a “local arts agency” – that establishes connections among and between these sectors to bring arts and culture more fully into the life of the community. In Eugene, there is no individual or group that can speak for the cultural sector as a whole or that can represent its interests in community-based planning sessions. Indeed, with the exception of Lane Arts Council, which faces a problematic future, there is no individual or group that can facilitate on-going conversations among cultural interests to devise a unified strategy on issues of common concern. Cultural organizations and artists in Eugene generally function as distinct “silos” and the synergies that are possible from on-going dialogue (both within the sector and across sectors) are generally absent. Opportunities for generating additional support are left on the table because the sector is fragmented and not positioned to leverage its assets. Resolving these challenges must be the single most important priority of this plan. Without a profound shift in the way arts and culture is supported – both administratively and financially – the sector will find it difficult to reach its full potential.

Strategy I.1 Establish an “Alliance” for arts and culture that will coordinate and strengthen the efforts of the public, private, and nonprofit cultural sectors and foster high-level civic leadership in support of arts and culture.

Eugene is currently lacking – and is in need of – an organization that can provide leadership to strengthen its arts and cultural sector for the benefit of the whole community, as outlined in the paragraphs above. To establish such a group in Eugene will require considerable effort and will benefit from an incremental approach, since resources are limited. The initial priority can be to establish a group that serves as a liaison with the business community and the City to support mutual economic and community interests and provide advocacy in support of arts and culture. To the extent possible, existing administrative structures ought to be deployed rather than starting out by establishing a new one. It makes sense to start this effort with a focus on establishing stronger connections with the business community. Ultimately, this Alliance ought to move beyond the business sector to serve an important role bringing together a range of interested community parties – representatives of cultural organizations, education (both K-12 and higher education), downtown interests, tourists, City staff, elected officials, neighborhoods, and social service groups – to work on initiatives of common interest, including many strategies in this Report. Such an entity need not be a large organization. In its early stages, this Alliance might be housed within the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce or other civic entity, employing volunteers to provide the necessary coordination and initial programming. Ultimately,



however, it will require a professional staff to oversee its activities. Working in tandem with City cultural staff will be especially important in the early stages (cf., Strategy I.3 on page 26, which discusses changes to City staffing for arts and culture), although there is a benefit to housing these functions outside of City government. The roles of City cultural staff and the Alliance are distinct and, while at times they may overlap (especially during the formative years of the Alliance), they may be described in a general way as follows: - In the broad range of community activities, City cultural staff will serve primarily as the

facilitator and convener, bringing parties to the table and joining in key meetings and planning sessions relative to downtown development or other community issues that have a role for arts and culture.

- The Alliance will serve as the coordinator and programmer, taking a more active role

in service delivery. Its staff, initially volunteer and eventually paid professional, will serve to coordinate the implementation of, for example, the professional development program (cf., Strategy IV.1) or the community-wide awareness campaign (cf., Strategy III.2).

It should be noted that the combination of public and private entities sharing responsibility for aspects of cultural services is a common – and powerful – configuration. Many communities use this model to leverage the unique characteristics of the private and public sectors. The City of San Jose (CA) and the Arts Council of Santa Clara County is one of many examples of this arrangement. In addition to working with the business sector and advocating for arts and culture, the Alliance, ultimately, should be responsible for facilitating many of the initiatives that are proposed in this report. It would provide the missing “connective tissue” that can bind together discrete initiatives into a more effective whole. Since these initiatives would be implemented over a ten-year time span, it is reasonable to assume that the Alliance could grow into its facilitating responsibilities. Specifically, among the important tasks that this body would oversee or facilitate are the following: - Fostering connections, dialogues, and planning among the nonprofit, commercial, and

civic components of the cultural sector. - Providing services to the cultural sector, including, for example, to build the capacity of

arts and culture providers (cf., Strategy IV.1). - Providing services to build the capacity of neighborhood groups and artists, including

serving as “fiscal agent” so that individuals and groups can manage short-term projects without incorporating as nonprofits.

- Highlighting and celebrating the value and accomplishments of Eugene’s cultural sector.

- Undertaking fund-raising initiatives in support of the cultural sector.



It is important to emphasize that there are many bridges that can be built and strengthened in Eugene on behalf of arts and culture. To the extent that work is already being done in this arena, it is undertaken by individual organizations, which is an excellent first step, although such efforts rarely address community-wide issues. What is missing is a mechanism to engage in a broader, more inclusive and on-going conversation that reaches deep into the cultural sector and the community as a whole. Indeed, recent national research22 has pointed to the substantial value of having a single coordinating entity to serve in that role, as well as the other functions described above. Priority23 1 Role of City Assist by convening an Implementation Task Force (cf., Part V,

page 52); representation in the Alliance Possible Partners Chamber of Commerce; business, cultural, and civic organizations Role of Partners Take strong leadership role to assist in initial formation; provide

space and volunteer staff; design initial structure and program; participate in governance

Estimate of Costs Will require City start-up funding of between $15,000 and $50,000. Initial costs will be minimal but a fully fleshed-out Alliance could have a budget ranging from $100,000 to $250,000 by the end of the planning period.

Strategy I.2 Define a broader role for the City of Eugene relative to arts and culture and provide the necessary staff and budgetary support.

There is no question that the City has made a strong and consistent commitment to arts and culture for over 25 years. Building the Hult Center and managing it since its opening is emblematic of its support. Without minimizing the importance of that contribution, it is also true that, with the exception of some programs at City community centers, the City has focused almost exclusively on managing the Hult and the Cuthbert as its support for arts and culture. This support is necessary and must continue. But the cultural sector needs more from the City if it is to reach its potential for adding to the City’s quality of life in other important ways. The consultants have, in the previous Strategy, pointed to additional financial support that might be forthcoming from the City over the coming decade. The City should also look at shifting its staffing relative to cultural services so that there is staff expertise 22 Cf., RAND Corporation Research in the Arts, Arts and Culture in the Metropolis: Strategies for Sustainability

cited on page 9 of this report. 23 The following scale is used to describe priority: 1 = very high; 2 = high; 3 = moderate; 4 = low. Note,

however, that this designation is based on the consultants’ assessment of the relative importance of each strategy and does not necessarily weigh such factors as ease of implementation which might suggest implementing a lower priority option because there is, for example, a ready source of funding.



that can engage with the larger cultural sector. Relationships must exist with a broad range of arts and cultural constituents: artists in all disciplines; cultural organizations’ staff and board members; those who work in the arts as professionals as well as amateurs; participants in traditional, contemporary and emerging forms of cultural expression. The consultants believe one or more new staff positions are required, although it might be possible to create it through reassignment of existing City staff positions. It will be important for this position to be established with a sufficiently high level of authority within the City hierarchy so that it would be appropriate for the individual to be included in key City planning sessions as well as discussions with other civic players in the business sector (particularly leaders in the development and hospitality sectors), at the University of Oregon and Lane Community College, and others. Since the consultants are proposing the creation of an Alliance for arts and culture in Strategy I.1 above, which will ultimately have a paid staff position, it will be important to distinguish between the roles of these two individuals. Because it is likely that the City staff position will be created and filled well before the Alliance has professional staff, the delineation of different sets of tasks is, perhaps, academic. Still, the consultants envision the City’s position as focusing on facilitating, coordinating, and convening, especially initially as various initiative of the Cultural Policy Review are discussed and priorities for implementation are set. As specific projects in support of arts and culture are implemented (for example, the Trust described in Strategy I.2 above or the professional development program described in Strategy III.1 on page 35), responsibility for coordination or operation would likely fall to the Alliance, using either volunteers or paid staff. The consultants’ experience in other communities suggests that it will be important to find an individual for the City’s staff position who has significant professional experience dealing with community cultural issues and is comfortable with policy-level discussions. While it is possible that some of the tasks of the Visual Arts Manager position (cf., Strategy V.3 on page 49) might be undertaken by this individual, care should be taken to make sure that the individual has the key skill sets and field experience necessary for this position. Priority 1 Role of City Review of staff positions within the Cultural Services Division,

implement change as needed Possible Partners None Role of Partners None Estimate of Costs $60,000 to $100,000 annually in City funds, although the positions

might be established through reassigning existing staff and thus the cost might be reduced or eliminated.

Strategy I.3 Establish and fund a dedicated endowment or trust for Eugene’s cultural organizations to increase public and private sector financial support for arts and culture.



Eugene’s cultural organizations face unprecedented financial strains that limit their ability to provide the highest level of programming and service to the community. Such problems are far from unique to Eugene and new models of building the necessary resource base to support arts and culture have been devised in forward-looking communities across the nation. A model that is appropriate for consideration in Eugene is a cultural endowment or trust. This approach, which has been successfully employed in such cities as Charlotte, North Carolina and Seattle, Washington, can provide additional streams of on-going, stable support for cultural organizations. It can also provide professional endowment management that may give enhanced comfort to potential donors. Funding for the Trust would embody the spirit of public-private partnership. The trust concept is grounded in the work of the Mayor's Committee Working Group on Leadership and Resources.24 The trust would be positioned to have a broad and inclusive purview in serving the entire cultural sector. The existing Silva and Hult endowments are limited to support of Hult Center users, but some sort of relationship between those and the trust should be explored To start the Trust, the City would offer an annual challenge grant of $100,000, which would be made available once it was matched 2:1 by new, private contributions. Additional challenges of $100,000 would be made, ideally annually, up to $1 million. The overall goal of the Trust would be between $5 million and $10 million. In addition to this support, the City could commit to providing on-going funding by reallocating some portion of the Transient Room Tax (TRT) that is already designated for arts and culture. Since municipalities are becoming increasingly creative in identifying revenue streams for arts and culture, consideration should be given to alternative revenue streams for City support. While some options may not be feasible in Oregon, among the most worthy of consideration are: - A 30 cent per pack tax on cigarettes in Cleveland, Ohio - A 0.01 percent retail sales tax to fund “cultural and scientific facilities” in the Denver

Metro region - A 0.01 percent county sales tax to fund cultural organizations, the zoo, and recreation

facilities in Salt Lake County, Utah - A 0.5 mill25 property tax levy to support cultural facilities in St. Louis, Missouri - A ½ of 1 percent sales tax on admissions, CDs, tapes, and video rentals in Broward

County (Fort Lauderdale), Florida

24 A complete copy of the reports of all five Working Groups is provided in the Technical Volume of this

report as Appendix E. 25 A mill equals one-tenth of a penny.



- Many communities in Virginia levy a tax of between two and four percent on prepared meals and in some cases, arts programming or facilities benefit from some of the revenues

- A one dollar surcharge on all greens fees at city golf courses in Tucson, Arizona, is set for youth programs, of which one-eighth goes to arts and culture

- A ½ of 1 percent real estate transfer tax to support visual and performing arts groups and renovate a cultural facility in Aspen, Colorado raised over $5 million in 2006.

It should be noted that, with the exception of the reallocation of TRT dollars, this support is seen as new money that increases the City’s commitment to arts and culture. Because these dollars will flow into an endowment, it is an investment in the cultural sector that will pay dividends over many years. The Trust might be established initially as a fund within the Oregon Community Foundation (OCF), which would be responsible for investing its assets, although it ought to have its own governing body (with directors initially appointed by the Mayor and Council) that would be responsible for making funding recommendations. All regranting programs would employ the procedures of the host entity that houses the Trust . An independent trust would require development of specific regranting programs. Ultimately, with a corpus of between $5-10 million, the Trust would provide between $250,000 and $500,000 in funding annually (assuming a standard pay-out rate of 5 percent). While much discussion will be necessary to establish the specific funding categories, the following suggestions should be considered: - Both operating support and project support should be provided, with larger, more

established groups receiving operating support. - A broad, decentralized, and diverse range of cultural organizations, events, and

activities should be supported, in much the way that the Lane Arts Council’s regranting of City funds has done. Consideration should be given to support of grassroots and non-traditional approaches to arts and culture.

- Funding procedures should be kept as simple as possible while still assuring financial accountability.

Building the endowment will require active, aggressive, and on-going fund-raising initiatives among local and regional businesses, foundations, and individual philanthropists. Partnering with the United Way of Lane County may permit using its existing structure to house a program in support of the endowment for arts and culture. This would “jump-start” fund-raising since it could rely on an existing administrative structure. Alternatively, if the resources are available, it would be possible to establish a separate united arts campaign structure. While likely more costly and time-consuming initially, it would allow for considerably greater leeway in setting policies and procedures, which might be advantageous. In either scenario, workplace giving should be considered. Such programs are increasingly common in the cultural sector. For example:



- The Arts Council of Silicon Valley raised $116,000 in 2006 for over 40 small and mid-

sized cultural groups. - The Arts & Education Council of St. Louis raised about one-third of its operating

budget of $3.3 million. - United Arts, a program of COMPAS that provides arts education services to schools in

the Minneapolis/St. Paul region, raised $250,000 in 2005 to support the program. One other option worthy of consideration is to allow Eugene cultural groups to use the Trust structure to build organizational endowment. Organizations with the capacity to do so could solicit individual endowment gifts to place in the Trust for their benefit. For every two dollars raised by an organization, it would receive income from one public dollar up to a specified limit. Some concern has been expressed about the impact of additional fund raising on the efforts of existing cultural organizations. However, the consultants’ experience is that when funds are solicited in support of the cultural sector as a whole – providing, as it were, “one-stop shopping” for donors – it generally releases funds that would not necessarily be available to individual cultural groups. So, while it is true that there is a finite amount of money available to support arts and culture, the Trust mechanism is likely to have a limited impact on existing cultural fund-raising. It will be important, however, to coordinate efforts with existing endowments for fund raising and management, as well as re-granting, to avoid duplication of efforts. Priority 1 Role of City Provision of annual challenge match for ten years; consideration of

possible new revenue mechanisms Possible Partners Cultural organizations, Oregon Community Foundation, Oregon

Cultural Trust, private sector businesses, philanthropists Role of Partners Leadership to establish trust structure and mechanism, and, most

significantly, to conduct fund-raising campaigns Estimate of Costs City would contribute $100,000 annually for 10 years, assuming

match was met; additional fund raising could amount to between $1,000,000 and $10,000,000 over the full planning period. Additional fund-raising costs might be incurred, although fund-raising responsibility would likely fall to the Alliance Board and staff person, when a position is implemented.

Strategy I.4 Conduct a thorough review of Hult Center operations to develop, if necessary, a new mission and implement a new operating model that will support that mission in a long-term, financially sustainable way.



The Hult Center plays a central and well deserved role in the identity of Eugene’s cultural sector, as do its Resident Companies. The Hult’s role has been burdened by financial problems that are long-standing and systemic. While the problem is quite complex, it centers on the Hult’s lack of sufficient financial resources to adequately cover its operating costs. In truth, this is not new information and there is no “magic bullet” solution. The problem has been approached several times in the past but never resolved. The impact of the lack of resolution has been a legacy of concern and, at times, distrust around Hult usage and limited services to the other components of the cultural sector by the City. That dynamic must change. The central role that the Hult Center plays in Eugene – as both a superb performance venue and as a tangible symbol of Eugene’s commitment to arts and culture – can and must be preserved. Its financial difficulties must be addressed for the long-term. Many of the initiatives outlined in this document require the engagement of the City. These initiatives will have a greatly improved chance of City engagement once the situation at the Hult is resolved. It must be given very high priority. The Cultural Policy Review was not designed to develop solutions to the problems of the Hult Center but rather to support a process through which solutions may be identified and implemented within a larger context. To that end, the consultants recommend that the City should consider developing a work scope for a review of Hult Center mission and operations that assumes that everything about its operation is up for discussion. Limitations that were set in the past must be reexamined. This includes but is not limited to, for example: - Establishing a contractual management arrangement with a commercial presenter - Allowing the Hult Center to establish a private-sector fund-raising arm - Increasing City financial support for Hult operations - Developing some form of management arrangements with the University of Oregon or

Lane Community College - Establishing a contractual management arrangement with a nonprofit entity or

consortium of nonprofit groups - Eliminating the preferential treatment for some local arts groups - Shifting the balance of the City’s producing and presenting roles at the Hult. It should be noted that these are not recommendations. Rather, they are listed only to indicate the range of issues to be considered. It will be important, in moving this problem toward solution, to identify and engage a nationally recognized, objective expert in the operations and management of performing arts centers to provide a set of specific recommendations that: - identify the additional resources that are required to stabilize the Hult Center’s

operation - recommend an operating model that will generate those resources (which might include

additional City funding).



One might reasonably point out that over the past years, studies have been done to address these issues. This is true and includes a report from April of 1998 from the Department Advisory Committee for Hult Operations. This report provides a wealth of data for review, and should be one source of information for the consultancy. However, the management of performing arts centers has changed dramatically in the past decade and older studies cannot address this changed environment. Most importantly, recommendations from past studies have not been fully implemented. No matter what course of action is proposed, it is not likely to please all involved parties. Thus it will be important that the City commit to implementing the recommendations of this expert consultancy. It would probably be wise to have a small number of individuals who are charged with overseeing this and to include a deadline for a decision. This will ensure that objective, expert proposals drive a solution that is actually implemented. The existing Cultural Services Advisory Committee (CSAC) will be available to ensure appropriate community input. Priority 1 Role of City Implement a review and decision-making process re Hult Center

operations Possible Partners None Role of Partners None Estimate of Costs The proposed study would cost the City between $40,000 and

$65,000; other costs might be incurred depending on the adopted solution.

Goal II To provide comprehensive arts learning experiences for Eugene’s children, youth, and adults.

The presence of formal and informal opportunities for children and adults to learn about and directly experience arts and culture is a strong indicator of a thriving cultural sector. Indeed, individuals who have experienced arts learning – either through the direct creation of art or through increased knowledge and appreciation – are considerably more likely to be consistent arts attendees. Over the years, however, Eugene public schools’ arts programs have shrunk in response to funding constraints. As a result, Eugene’s arts organizations have stepped up to provide many in-school arts education opportunities. Other types of programs – including after-school and enrichment programs for children, youth, and adults – vary in their availability. There is a bright spot in the initiative of the Oregon Integrative Arts Partnership based at Lane Community College. It is a local example of a national interest in the way that arts can enhance academic learning across the K-12 curriculum.



For Eugene’s cultural sector to thrive, issues of arts and cultural learning must be addressed. That means supporting increased opportunities for arts learning in a variety of settings, including Lane Community College’s initiative, enhancing coordination among public school cultural providers, and building stronger connections between higher education and the community.

Strategy II.1 Create mechanisms to deliver more comprehensive and coordinated arts learning for Eugene children and youth through K-12 schooling and extracurricular opportunities.

At the present time, there is modest access to arts learning in Eugene’s public schools with variation from school to school. Many arts organizations have developed programs to help fill this need but there is insufficient awareness of, and coordination among, these opportunities and the schools. This limits their use by educators and increases the risk of duplication of effort among arts groups. While a few arts organizations have well established relationships with specific schools, there are additional opportunities for increased coordination that would improve access for more children. Past efforts, such as the Arts Umbrella, have focused solely on the performing arts and are not seen as particularly effective by educators.

Consortium/Clearinghouse

There is a need to identify an entity to serve as a clearinghouse and “matchmaker” for those seeking in-school and after-school arts learning opportunities and connecting them to those that provide them. This could be done through a consortium that includes arts and cultural service providers as well as strong representation from the appropriate school districts and individual schools. Such a consortium could be developed under the auspices of the Lane Arts Council (LAC), given its long standing involvement with and commitment to arts in the schools and arts education. As this report is being written, LAC is undergoing a significant reorganization and reconsideration of its role and scope. Its arts education activities appear to be emerging as a core program area. Depending on the outcome of LAC’s planning process, this function could serve as a cornerstone of its revitalized mission. But whatever the future holds for LAC, its arts education initiatives are too important to allow to disappear. Should it not be feasible for LAC to continue its programs or to undertake this new role, some other mechanism to oversee this area must be identified. Finding an existing organization to undertake this responsibility, even temporarily, will be problematic. It is possible that Lane Community College, UO, or even the City might consider serving in this role while another entity was found. Alternatively, the proposed Alliance (cf., Strategy I.1 on page 22) might make this a priority.



The consortium is also an appropriate entity to coordinate information about and support for the value of arts in education and the benefits of funding to provide more certified and highly qualified art, music, dance, and drama teachers in public schools. This advocacy function may take the form of targeted public relations campaign in partnership with the awareness and advocacy campaigns identified in Strategy III.2 of this report (cf., page 36). One goal of such a campaign could be to increase the financial support available for arts learning from the school districts. While it is true that the budgets of schools are under considerable pressure, it is also true that arts learning is a key component of K-12 education and school districts should be encouraged to cover some of the cost of providing this necessary material.

Oregon Integrative Arts Partnership

Eugene has a growing resource in K-12 arts learning through Lane Community College’s piloting of the Oregon Integrative Arts Partnership (OIAP). This program provides teachers and school districts with demonstrated ways to use the arts to enhance academic performance across all disciplines in the curriculum. While the program presently encompasses twelve artists in four schools, only one school is in Eugene – the North Eugene Academy of the Arts at North Eugene High School. The program is expanding and plans for the coming school year call for participation by thirty artists in eight schools, of which two will be in the 4J District and one in Bethel. Integrative arts education is an increasingly important approach to using the arts fully in support of learning goals and to integrate the arts as part of the core curriculum. Eugene’s school districts should be encouraged to participate more fully in this project. Priority 2 Role of City Representation in the proposed consortium (relating to City arts

education programs); consideration of undertaking the LAC role if necessary

Possible Partners Lane Arts Council, school districts, LCC, cultural organizations providing in-school & after-school programs for K-12

Role of Partners Leadership to design and implement consortium structure and program; engage key players including school administrators, teachers, site councils and parents; advocacy in support of arts education in general and integrative arts learning in particular

Estimate of Costs The consortium function, if housed within an existing entity, would cost between $25,000 and $150,000 annually, depending on the range of services; the costs of integrative arts education would vary based on program penetration.

Strategy II.2 Enrich the range of and access to arts and cultural learning opportunities for teens and adults.



Existing cultural activities for adults are more extensive than for teens; however, there is the potential to expand arts learning opportunities for both groups. It is important that an enriched range of offerings, one that reflects the priority interests of residents, be developed. One way to accomplish this is through the City’s Recreation Services Division, which already operates highly effective recreation centers throughout the City. The Division should consider options to expand recreational arts learning opportunities. The Amazon Community Center could serve as an excellent model of the sorts of programs and partnerships that would provide more programming for young people throughout the City, although it may be important to provide such programs downtown for teens rather than at the Amazon Center. The downtown Public Library already plays a central role for informal learning opportunities and may be able to expand these offerings in coordination with the many Eugene arts organizations that serve teens and adults. In general, opportunities for teens should take into consideration ease of access, with a focus on downtown. And, especially for teens, cultural organizations should consider participatory learning experiences (rather than passive observational roles) that are more likely to create direct engagement in cultural activities. It is also important to be relevant to constituents in a range of settings, including the home and other non-traditional venues, including places of worship where a great deal of meaningful arts activity and learning already happens. Churches and social service organizations like the Boys & Girls Club can also become providers of arts learning experiences. While many of these programs may have a cultural component, the primary emphases are often on youth athletics and remedial tutoring. There are ways to integrate arts and culture into these activities (for example, dance training can be invaluable to athletes and arts can support academic learning). By bringing together religious and social service providers with cultural organizations, options that bring a stronger cultural focus to their programming may be possible. The University of Oregon and Lane Community College provide learning opportunities for teens and adults through degree granting programs and community offerings. This is a significant asset available to those who wish to expand their arts learning in a broad array of areas. Greater clarity on what classes, programs, and lectures are open and available to the general population would enhance the ability of the larger community to take part. Priority 2 Role of City Reexamination of existing programming in recreation centers and

the Library Possible Partners Arts and cultural organizations, LAC, LCC, UO, public school

administrators and teachers Role of Partners Leadership to coordinate among service providers; conduct a

reexamination of existing programming; implement new initiatives



Estimate of Costs Costs of necessary coordination are estimated to be approximately $5,000 to $20,000 annually. If reexamination leads to reconfiguration rather than new programming, there are few additional costs. New or additional programs would require additional funds.

Strategy II.3 Build more effective ties between Eugene’s institutions of higher learning, the City, and cultural organizations and audiences.

The institutions of higher learning in Eugene are a key asset that is frequently cited as underutilized by the resident community. While there are “town-gown” challenges that are inherent in building stronger connections among entities with varying missions and priorities, there are areas of intersection that might be more fully developed to provide “win-win” situations for all parties. One way to begin this process is to convene an ad hoc committee with senior, policy-level representatives of the University of Oregon, Lane Community College, Northwest Christian College, the City, and cultural organizations. The initial session could be convened either by the City or UO. The focus of this group, at least initially, would be to improve communication among all key players, so that greater coordination of cultural programming is possible. This might take the form of scheduling and program planning reviews to identify significant conflicts and potential collaborations. In time, such efforts might lead to joint programming or marketing. The prospect of a stronger and more effective alignment between campus and downtown should also be considered. This might involve more ambitious initiatives including consideration of: - Placement of appropriate current or new College and University cultural programs in

Eugene’s downtown, thus increasing visibility and access for audiences. - Locating future College or University cultural facilities in Eugene’s downtown (cf.,

Strategy V.1 on page 45). Additional community concerns have been raised throughout the Cultural Policy Review that this ad hoc committee might review, although consideration by each institution through other channels may be more appropriate. These include: - Community use of University of Oregon campus arts activities, including the Jordan

Schnitzer Museum of Art and performing arts events, are hampered by lack of campus parking options. Cooperative use of neighboring parking lots and enhanced shuttle bus service at appropriate times might be considered.



- Lane Community College is perceived as being inaccessible, although it is a short drive from downtown. A marketing campaign focused on its accessibility and parking has the potential to increase attendance at cultural activities in LCC facilities and thus increase the use of LCC facilities by other cultural entities.

- Community members express lack of clarity on whether or not they are welcome to

participate in specific lectures, workshops, master classes, and conferences hosted by UO. Clearer communication on such offerings will expand the breadth of cultural activity for a broader cross section of the community, as appropriate. And since there are many inexpensive concerts and exhibitions on campus, clarifying their availability to the community would be very useful as well.

Priority 3 Role of City Possible initial convening; ongoing high-level participation Possible Partners UO, LCC, NW Christian College, cultural organizations Role of Partners Leadership to facilitate and coordinate this group; participation and

real engagement by all partners Estimate of Costs Convening and operating this ad hoc committee will cost between

$2,000 and $4,000 annually, although this might be absorbed as in-kind donations by one or more of the partners.

Goal III To build participation in and audiences for arts and culture in Eugene.

One important indicator of a vibrant and growing cultural sector is having more people participating in cultural activities of all types (including visual, literary, and performing arts, as well as heritage and grassroots expressions) more frequently. Stronger audiences for such events and activities will enhance the impact of arts and culture on the entire community and will bring important additional earned income to cultural organizations. The obstacles to building participation are two-fold. Some obstacles are technical in nature: for example, residents and visitors do not have access to needed information about arts and cultural offerings. Others are more attitudinal, in the sense that people do not know the full range of benefits that participation can provide. The existing efforts of individual cultural organizations to build participation can be strengthened if they are consolidated and conducted across the cultural sector as on-going initiatives with joint activities. The strategies discussed below will build cultural participation and address both types of obstacles. They should be seen as distinct but interconnecting initiatives since the components of each will augment those of the others.



Strategy III.1 Develop a comprehensive communication mechanism to provide information about Eugene’s arts and culture to residents and visitors.

It is problematic for residents and visitors to get information on the complete range of Eugene’s arts and cultural activities. Almost 20 percent of respondents to the Cultural Census indicated that they were not aware of what was being offered in Eugene. Clearly, knowing what is available in Eugene is the first step in getting residents and visitors to participate in its cultural activities. At the present time, information about cultural opportunities is fragmented and the burden is on the individual to find out what his or her attendance options are. The Internet is increasingly a key access point for such information. This problem can be addressed through a comprehensive web-based calendar and information system. Many communities have found that is an important investment in building new audiences and strengthening existing ones.26 To be effective, such a system must be complete and up-to-date. That will require aggressive and on-going outreach to cultural program providers to ensure timely submission and consistent updating of events and opportunities. A component of the awareness campaign (described in Strategy III.2 below) should focus on highlighting the availability and value of this resource. Such a system, tentatively called “Eugene CultureSource,” would serve the interested public by providing useful information on up-coming programs. It would include the schedules of the Hult’s Resident Companies as well as the activities of other arts organizations, community generated visual, performing, film, literary, and heritage events, as well as relevant commercial events. As well as helping to grow their audiences, it could serve program providers with a conflict calendar for use when scheduling programs or even fund-raising events. The Convention and Visitors Association of Lane County (CVALCO) has an existing calendaring system that might be appropriate as the foundation of such a mechanism, although additional resources may be needed to establish and maintain its timeliness. Beyond these basic functions, the system might allow for: - Custom searches on specific arts discipline or content topics. - Tie-ins to social networking sites that allow for planning of group attendance at events. - Sign up mechanisms that would allow cultural providers to distribute e-mail messages

about up-coming events. 26 Two excellent examples of web-based calendaring and information systems for arts and culture include

the “Philly Fun Guide” sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (http://www.phillyfunguide.com/) and “Artsopolis” jointly operated by the Arts Council of Silicon Valley and the San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau (http://www.artsopolis.com). Note that this latter system is available for license and is presently in use in almost a dozen communities nationally (http://artsopolis.net).


http://www.phillyfunguide.com/

http://www.artsopolis.com/

http://artsopolis.net/

http://www.artsopolis.com

http://artsopolis.net


- Web logs or other mechanisms to provide opinion, background, or context on specific up-coming cultural events or to comment on Eugene’s cultural sector in general.

- A “creative information commons” component that provides tools for arts and cultural groups and individual artists to communicate with each other about potential collaborations, joint initiatives, and other collective actions.

Priority 2 Role of City Support through listing of City events (at recreation sites as well as

the Hult); initial convener/facilitator Possible Partners Cultural organizations, CVALCO, business leaders, business

community Role of Partners Leadership to establish coalition and coordinate among partners;

define specifications of information systems; design systems to gather and update information; conduct on-going updating and maintenance.

Estimate of Costs Depending on how much database design work is required, system start-up could cost between $25,000 and $60,000. Pro bono services may mitigate these costs. On-going operation will require between $10,000 and $30,000 annually, assuming that cultural organizations are diligent in providing data to the system.

Strategy III.2 Implement a coordinated awareness campaign to highlight the value and strength of Eugene’s arts and culture.

Building the community’s – and the region’s – awareness of the wealth and value of arts and cultural offerings in Eugene is an important pre-condition for building audiences and increasing support. Many residents are not aware of the ways in which the cultural sector plays a key role in Eugene’s economy and quality of life today, and there is a need to raise awareness of the cultural sector’s potential to help shape the future of the community. This was a priority of ArtsPlan; it was important then and it is just as important today. A comprehensive campaign to heighten awareness of Eugene’s cultural sector for residents should focus on a few key messages that highlight the value of arts. This might include portraying the ways in which arts and culture build community pride, revitalize downtowns, aid children in learning, create economic vitality, enhance creativity in work, provide social and learning opportunities, and provide positive activities for youth. In many ways, this component resembles an advocacy campaign in that it is making the case for the importance of the arts. Such an emphasis is appropriate and addresses how arts and culture benefit the full community. Aside from public service announcements and advertising, there are campaign tools that can assist in reaching individuals through work, social, educational, and religious affiliations. Effective techniques include:



- A series of “business round-table” breakfast sessions devoted to addressing key

trends in cultural participation and how those impact businesses and the economy. - A coordinated effort among cultural providers to present brief “cultural sampler”

programs at meetings of civic and religious organizations to highlight cultural activities. - A lecture series that uses nationally- and regionally-renowned visiting artists and

academics to discuss their work and to engage in dialogue about creativity and the creative process.

- An “arts summit” that engages key community and cultural leaders in a conversation about the ways in which arts and culture can enrich the community, using the impressive body of national research, and focusing especially on the role of arts and culture in economic development to make the benefits clear.

- A City Council work session on arts and culture tied to the City’s expressed priority for the arts and outdoors that provides documentation of the impact of arts and culture on the community.

- A speakers bureau of Eugene arts leaders and experts who share their passion for and knowledge about the arts with civic and community groups such as Rotary, garden clubs, faith-based groups, etc.

It will be important to work to gain the support of key local media (electronic, online, and print) services to make sure that as full coverage as possible is achieved. Initial facilitation of this campaign initially will fall to the City, given the capacity of its marketing staff, although other key partners will include the cultural organizations, CVALCO, the Chamber of Commerce, and others. This campaign should also provide abundant connections to the information about cultural offerings and ways to link to the “Eugene CultureSource” communication mechanism detailed in Strategy III.1, above. Another aspect of this campaign is developing a stronger “brand identity” for Eugene as a cultural center. Many cities have built a national identity and developed important tourism promotions around arts and cultural festivals, including, for example, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. The Oregon Bach Festival (OBF) has a similar level of national and regional visibility and is already included in national ads promoting Oregon tourism. OBF and other events and programming – including activities ranging from the Oregon Country Fair to the Oregon Festival of American Music – might serve as the basis of more significant promotional opportunities coordinated with an awareness campaign. Eugene’s slogan linking the arts and outdoors is an important component in developing this identity and connecting this to campaign messaging should be considered. It is important to note that, while some of these initiatives may require professional assistance and financial support, other components can be accomplished as a “grass-roots” effort. Indeed, it will be important to move forward quickly with these activities in order to make the case for the value of implementation of the strategies of this report. Eugene’s cultural sector needs to identify and mobilize champions – respected individuals in the community who will publicly advocate for the value of the sector.



Priority 1 Role of City Possible initial coordination of awareness campaign; active

collaboration with partners Possible Partners Cultural organizations and leadership, proposed Alliance,

CVALCO, Chamber of Commerce, LAC, civic organizations, civic and business leaders, UO, LCC

Role of Partners Leadership to convene interested parties; design campaign; donation of professional marketing services; coordination among partners; implement campaign; active participation of cultural organizations

Estimate of Costs Depending on the specific components and reach of the campaign, costs can range from a low of approximately $50,000 up to well over $200,000. However, the possibility of pro bono contributions by professionals and media outlets may mitigate the cost substantially. City marketing capacity might be employed at an estimated cost of $50,000 as part of the larger campaign.

Strategy III.3 Build existing audiences and develop new ones for arts and culture.

Existing audiences

Eugene already has an audience for cultural offerings, although there is need for growth. Fully 45 percent of respondents to the Cultural Census were “low frequency attendees.” Numerous national studies have shown that individuals who are occasional cultural attendees can be successfully recruited to attend more often because they are already predisposed to participate. It is important for cultural organizations to focus on activities to build participation among these individuals. Increasingly, organizations are offering lectures or other events in advance of a performance or an opening of an exhibition. They are also providing hands-on experiences associated with the event or activity. These are ways that individual cultural organizations can increase engagement with people who already have an interest in their programming. Beyond these individual initiatives, cultural groups can design joint initiatives with one another to develop complementary programs around a theme or to target programming to a specific genre. They might collaborate with local businesses to develop cross-promotions or ticket incentives or discounts. Another potential area for audience growth is accomplished through increased cultural tourism. CVALCO has worked hard to attract tourists and has used Eugene’s cultural assets to do so. While Eugene’s cultural sector currently serves visitors and tourists, there are ways to expand its reach. A coordinated effort among arts providers and tourism



players could result in increased audiences. This might involve designing specific programs or packages that coordinate more closely with tourists’ interests and priorities. Certainly the calendaring system described above will assist in promoting Eugene’s cultural activities to tourists as well. In addition, national agencies promoting tourism activities must be kept fully aware of Eugene’s cultural offerings so that the City’s profile is well understood and Eugene’s cultural organizations can play a more active role, in partnership with CVALCO, in this endeavor.

New audiences

For those individuals who currently do not participate in cultural activities, there are more challenging barriers. The common barriers cited in the Cultural Census, notably “too expensive” and “too busy,” mirror national findings. There are several ways to address these barriers and among the most effective are the following: - Develop joint advertising and promotions to increase attendance at festivals and

outdoor events. Such activities present a lower barrier for individuals because they are frequently free or low cost and do not require a focused time commitment. Since they often have activities that appeal to various ages and interests, they allow for family attendance, which eases the concern about time constraints. Eugene has many festivals, although currently they are clustered in the summer months. There may be merit in exploring ways to extend such programming into the late spring and early fall and, ultimately perhaps year-round. It would be beneficial to develop ways to link festivals to other arts activities in Eugene so that festivals become a “gateway experience” to more frequent cultural participation.

- Create a discounted or free “generic” ticket or “arts passport” for Eugene

residents to be redeemed at a specially-designated series of arts and cultural events. An “arts passport” can be an important tool to get people to try something new and might be a component of the marketing campaign discussed in Strategy III.2 above. This initiative would require significant underwriting but it might have appeal to local businesses as a sponsorship opportunity since there is potential for a strong identity component for the sponsor.

- Promote and highlight the social aspect of cultural participation through special

initiatives. Some successful approaches include: discounted tickets for families or special “grandparents day” promotions; promotional packages combining a cultural event with dining or overnight accommodations; mixers in advance of performing or visual arts events; book clubs connecting to cultural programs; or dedicated pages on arts organizations’ web sites to foster dialogue or create virtual communities.

It should be noted that enhancing arts education experiences for young people, especially in the elementary grades, can, aside from its other benefits, also serve as an important long-



term component of attracting new audiences to arts and culture (c.f., Goal II). Research shows that one of the strongest predictors of arts attendance among adults is a history of arts experiences as a child.

Underserved audiences

There are two audience areas that, according to the Cultural Census, are particularly underserved and should be targeted as planning for new audiences moves forward. These are communities of color, which represent a small but growing population in Eugene, and young adults under the age of thirty. These two groups are not strongly engaged, especially by the nonprofit cultural sector. There is value in making sure that voices from these constituencies are part of future planning and audience development efforts. One way to address this is to build involvement and engagement with cultural organizations. This can be through greater representation on boards of directors or other, ad hoc committees. Additionally, special advisory bodies can be established to provide cultural organizations with information about the programming interests of these two potential audience segments. These convenings, however, must be more than a “one-time effort.” Such relationships are most successful when they are part of committed and sustained efforts. Priority 2 Role of City Representation of underserved audiences on planning committees,

appropriate City staff Possible Partners Proposed Alliance as eventual coordinator of implementation,

CVALCO, businesses (especially hospitality), cultural organizations Role of Partners Leadership to convene partners (in particular cultural

organizations); set priorities among possible initiatives over the ten year planning period; coordinate implementation; design on-going initiatives; conduct evaluation. Individual cultural organizations can take on independent initiatives.

Estimate of Costs Depending on the specific mix of program initiatives and whether in-kind contributions are found, costs could range from $25,000 to $100,000 annually for collaborative initiatives. Sponsorships can offset some costs and specific cultural organizations may initiate programs within the context of their own budget planning.

Goal IV To strengthen the ability of cultural organizations and artists to serve the community.

Eugene’s cultural organizations and artists are the foundation of its cultural sector. Their health and productivity – creatively, financially, and administratively – is central to the growth and success of arts and culture in the City. Eugene must foster a healthy cultural



“ecology,” a fully developed, interdependent system that includes arts and cultural organizations of all budget sizes and stages of development, with a strong and active mix of amateur and professional visual, literary and performing artists. This is a necessary pre-condition for realizing the full benefits of a thriving cultural sector. Artists in Eugene point to significant challenges in developing and sustaining a professional career in the region. Cultural organizations are facing significant challenges as well on several fronts. First, it is difficult for many of Eugene’s cultural organizations to build their capacity to address such areas as board development, marketing, fund raising, or information management. This need has been articulated clearly and frequently in various meetings by individuals, representatives of cultural organizations, and supporters. Second, cultural organizations are being pressed by dramatic changes in consumer behavior and new leisure-time options. New approaches to programming, collaboration, and consolidation will become increasingly important as the trends affecting arts and culture become increasingly apparent in Eugene.

Strategy IV.1 Build the capacity of Eugene’s artists and cultural organizations through coordinated programs of professional development.

Individual Artists Capacity Building

Professional development and training for individual artists can enhance the careers of artists in all disciplines. Currently there are noteworthy efforts through a number of venues including DIVA, Maude Kerns Art Center, and through higher education. More extensive programs have been developed nationally that assist artists in developing the business skills that permit a strategic approach to essential career development issues. Programs such as Washington’s Artist Trust, New York’s Creative Capital, and Cleveland’s Community Partnership for Arts and Culture have developed curricula and programs that receive enthusiastic responses from artists. These should be examined to determine their relevance for Eugene’s artists. Priorities for capacity building for artists might include career planning, grant writing, financial recordkeeping, entrepreneurship, communication, promotion, and artists’ legal concerns. Opportunities to provide peer-to-peer information and support should also be considered. There are local resources that can be expanded to provide such services through organizations such as DIVA, Maude Kerns Art Center, Oregon Crafted, Lane Community College, and the University of Oregon. Opportunities should address the different issues of various artistic disciplines and should consider how best to take advantage of the knowledge and experiences of the many national and international artists who visit Eugene as performers, writers, exhibitors, etc. Since there is some overlap with the issues facing cultural organizations, there may be ways to coordinate (and in some instances combine) artists and organizational training.



Cultural Organizations Capacity Building

Some Eugene cultural organizations function effectively with their present organizational skills. However, many have acknowledged that additional training and professional development for volunteer and professional staff and board members would be helpful. Training of particular relevance at this time includes effective board development, the design and management of new streams of earned income, and techniques to obtain higher levels of individual contributed giving. There is great variation in the type of training that is needed, depending on the size, age, and sophistication of the organization. For example, smaller budget and younger organizations may need assistance in establishing basic financial accounting systems while larger and more established organizations might be focused on more sophisticated financial analyses or the development of an effective board committee structure. A program of professional development for cultural organizations must provide basic and advanced levels of training. The first step in building such a program can be to establish a centralized source of information on existing short- and long-term training programs, including local, regional, and national opportunities. Such initiatives as the Portland-based Technical Assistance for Community Services (TACS) or the national and regional programs sponsored by Americans for the Arts and other national service organizations can provide some initial opportunities for Eugene cultural organizations. Training opportunities connected to the University of Oregon and Lane Community College should also be considered since there is much local expertise that can be harnessed in support of this initiative. In addition, technical assistance programs that are designed for the general nonprofit sector may provide some useful training for cultural nonprofits. Once information on existing sources of professional development is readily available, an assessment of whether developing programs specifically for local consumption is worthwhile. To the extent that it is possible to fill the need without developing new programming, that would be preferred. However, it is likely that at least some programs in specific areas will be unavailable without local development and that should be a priority for the future.

Cultural Organization Information Needs

Operating effectively requires access to information on current consumer trends as well as up-to-date thinking on board development, marketing, or other concerns. Cultural organizations in Eugene should consider ways to aggregate and share important professional information so that it is more readily accessible to all groups. This function might be a more fully-fleshed out “creative information commons,” mentioned briefly in Strategy III.1 above. Or it might take the form of a culturally-oriented “knowledgebase” that provides cultural leaders with access to current professional analyses of trends in cultural participation, administration, earned income initiatives, fund raising, or other areas.



There are several other components that a program of professional development might contain. A program of guest speakers on capacity building topics as well as travel subsidies to national and regional professional conferences would increase access to current information on developments in the cultural sector nationally. Knowledge acquired through participation in national trainings and conferences may be effectively shared through such things as quarterly arts roundtables, monthly “open house” meetings at various cultural venues, or other informal peer-to-peer means to maximize the impact of such experiences. Beyond sharing information, cultural organizations should consider a coordinated research function to allow cultural groups to consolidate their research initiatives to gain a more comprehensive picture of audience demand or other research topics, such as shifts in programming interests (see Strategy IV.2 below). Because the Center for Community Arts and Cultural Policy at UO has strong research capacity, it is possible that local organizations’ efforts might be supplemented by student or faculty researchers. It will be important to develop mechanisms to retain confidentiality of individuals and organizations while ensuring the wide distribution of research findings. Responsibility to coordinate such a program could be housed within an existing organization, perhaps the University itself or the proposed Alliance when it is fully established. These programs would initially be facilitated by the City, although once the Alliance (c.f., Strategy I.2) is in place, it would be the logical coordinator. Keep in mind that program cost is a significant barrier to participation, especially for artists and small, emerging, and informally-structured cultural groups. Thus it will be important for this program to include a system to provide full or, at least partial subsidy for potential participants who can document their need, perhaps through a small grant program through the Trust (c.f., Strategy I.3). Priority 2 Role of City Possibly initial coordination and information gathering. Possible Partners Proposed Alliance as eventual facilitator, UO, LCC, DIVA, Maude

Kerns Art Center, other cultural organizations, technical assistance providers (including business leaders). Center for Community Arts and Cultural Policy at UO

Role of Partners Leadership to convene interested parties; determine priority training areas; identify existing local and regional resources; establish training formats; design comprehensive schedule of programs; coordinate and share research

Estimate of Costs City investment of $10,000 to $25,000 for initial convening and coordination; thereafter costs could range from $25,000 to $75,000 annually, depending on the mix of programs and the subsidy provided to attendees. Research costs would depend on the scope and scale of data and analysis. There is some potential for earned income and pro bono services that might offset some costs.



Strategy IV.2 Assist cultural organizations to develop initiatives that respond to trends in cultural programming.

One key challenge facing Eugene’s cultural organizations results from the confluence of larger cultural changes that all organizations must address. Audience tastes, expectations, and priorities are shifting, but the mix of programs cultural organizations offer their community are generally not keeping pace with those changes. This situation reflects a dynamic that cultural organizations are facing across the nation and Eugene is no exception. Cultural organizations should consider ways to respond to market trends and characteristics to ensure that their programming mix reflects areas of greatest interest to potential attendees. Several of the strategies discussed in Goal III provide guidance for cultural organizations on how to add new or modify existing program elements to appeal to potential audiences. The activities discussed there highlight an increasingly important characteristic in arts participation – the growing strength of the social component for arts audiences. This reflects a national trend toward choosing cultural activities based on a desire to use them to add value through social engagement, especially for younger attendees. This includes on-site as well as off-site or online programming, and is a programming trend that few organizations can ignore. The growing power of virtual communities on the web, multimedia interaction, and the popularity of the “do it yourself” ethic are all factors influencing future cultural programming. In addition, respondents to the Cultural Census expressed strong interest in programming about diverse, non-Western European art forms, including those from the Native American, African American, African, and Latin traditions.27 This echoes a national trend toward interest in global cultural expressions that is generally not tied to personal ethnicity. For example, 11 percent of the survey respondents expressed interest in African culture, considerably higher than the percentage of African Americans in the population. This suggests the inclusion of more culturally diverse programming, which can take many different forms depending on the discipline and focus of the organization. This is not to suggest that organizations shift their program focus as a result of a “fad.” Rather it acknowledges that this is a time of rapidly changing tastes and technologies that require more flexible and rapid adaptation than has been required of cultural organizations in the past. There may also be merit in exploring how trends in outdoor activities (a burgeoning leisure market) may intersect with cultural offerings. Programs or initiative with crossover between the arts and recreational activity in the outdoors may be of particular merit in Eugene.

27 For more information, see details of the Cultural Census on page 52 of Appendix B in the Technical

Volume.



Nationally, cultural organizations have begun to think of their programming capacity more broadly than what is presented to arts audiences in the gallery or on the stage. There is increasing appreciation of creativity as a key requirement for the growth and adaptation of business and this has led to programs linking business with artists and arts groups. Cultural organizations in Eugene should consider developing programs that can benefit the business community. In particular, they should consider designing and marketing workplace creativity training programs for business and government, perhaps modeled on the national Arts and Business Council’s Creativity Connection, and focused on tools for creative problem solving or other critical professional skills. Eugene-area businesses are in the enviable position of operating in the midst of cultural abundance and a program to build workplace creativity could benefit business while providing opportunities for earned income for artists and arts organizations. Priority 3 Role of City Participation in initiatives, as appropriate. Possible Partners Cultural organizations, artists, representatives of the business sector. Role of Partners Leadership to research, design, and implement new initiatives;

identification and solicitation of sponsorships to underwrite initiatives

Estimate of Costs These costs would be borne by individual cultural organizations as new initiatives were integrated into programming. Assuming these replaced existing offerings, costs would not likely exceed existing levels.

Goal V To integrate arts and culture into the fabric of downtown Eugene and other neighborhoods as part of a comprehensive strategy of revitalization.

In cities across the nation, a strong identity for arts and culture is a cornerstone of a vibrant downtown. As Eugene continues the process of revitalizing its downtown, the arts can play a critical role in that process. Arts and entertainment events bring people downtown and contribute to economic vitality; they help support local restaurants and culturally-oriented businesses like book stores, galleries, and coffee shops. But the arts cannot carry the full responsibility for the revitalization of Eugene’s downtown. While the cultural sector can be a more effective player than it presently is, additional support is necessary to sustain and enhance cultural initiatives in the downtown. Arts and culture must be engaged earlier in the development process. The success of the downtown will also require a serious, long-term commitment to establishing a stronger residential focus for the downtown. The benefit of increased residential development goes



well beyond the arts: the presence of “24/7” residents enhances the sense of the downtown’s vitality and safety, as well as adding to the potential audience pool for cultural activities. While building arts and culture in the downtown is a top priority, it is important to acknowledge that residents also want cultural opportunities in their neighborhoods. This plan envisions the downtown as the City’s cultural “hub,” providing programmatic “spokes” to various neighborhoods that have their own cultural events and traditions, with each component building on the other. Public art, street amenities, and signage all contribute to how residents and visitors experience the City. The existing collection of public art is a foundation for enhancing the integration of public art into Eugene’s built environment. A well designed and comprehensive signage program assures that visitors and residents alike know how to find Eugene’s many cultural venues and indicates the importance of arts and culture.

Strategy V.1 Integrate arts and culture into planning and development activities in Eugene’s downtown.

In order for arts and culture to provide the boost to downtown revitalization that everyone would like to see, it will be important to develop mechanisms to integrate the sector’s voice into downtown planning initiatives at the earliest possible moment. Currently representation of the cultural sector in the early stages of downtown planning activities is minimal. This must change.

Downtown Advocacy Group

Arts and culture’s role in downtown revitalization would be well served if there were a strong downtown advocacy group that reflected the range of issues facing the downtown and with strong representation from the cultural sector. Members would come from diverse constituencies and include individuals who understand the realities of development, the arts, as well as social services. They must be committed to decisive action to move plans into reality. Such an entity might be housed within an existing organization, such as Downtown Eugene, Inc. (DEI), the Chamber of Commerce, or, when established, the proposed Alliance. At the time of this report, several potential downtown development initiatives are under consideration and it is likely that other initiatives will come before the public in the near future. Thus establishing a downtown advocacy group is a high priority since engaging arts and cultural interests early in the development process will provide the greatest benefit. The group can work with developers, city planning and development staff, and others to assist in moving initiatives forward and to make sure that the unique concerns of arts and culture are clearly articulated and factored into planning early on. In particular, representation, through the downtown advocacy group, on City of Eugene planning, zoning and other regulatory bodies should be considered in all relevant areas. This kind of



representation has had significant impact in many communities resulting in benefits to the cultural sector and the larger community. There are a range of downtown-related issues that the cultural sector along with the downtown advocacy group might address: For example: - The Saturday Market serves as a significant downtown draw for both residents and

visitors. Expansion or additional year-round initiatives that mix art and commerce downtown could be an important addition to the downtown development agenda.

- During the Cultural Policy Review, it has been noted that youth loitering downtown is

problematic. Many cities have mitigated such behavior by developing creative, arts-oriented programming for youth in the downtown, including drop-in spaces for art making. The possibility of expanding or coordinating the existing efforts of the Boys & Girls Club, DIVA, the YMCA, LRCS, MECCA and Nuestro Lugar might be considered as a way to provide alternative activities for youth.

Development Incentives

Incentives can be a powerful tool to stimulate interest among developers in adding cultural amenities to their downtown projects. Establishing a set of flexible, attractive incentives for developers and property owners to include arts and cultural amenities in their projects could trigger significant change over the next decade. In some communities, such incentives have resulted in significant expansion of arts development, from public art and meeting spaces to the creation of long-term homes for arts organizations. In Roanoke, Virginia, for example, an arts center called The Center in the Square became the focus of a downtown redevelopment project that includes restaurants, shops, and a market for locally grown produce and flowers. Its establishment was aided by incentives to the developers.

Higher Education and Downtown

Integrating the cultural activities of University of Oregon and Lane Community College with non-academic cultural presenters and producers in the downtown would serve to enhance all activities by underscoring the wealth of cultural opportunities and maximizing access. This might be as simple as student ensembles performing at Park Block events or the Saturday Market; or the University of Oregon holding additional public lectures and performances at downtown venues. In time, this integration might be as complex as locating a University or College program or new cultural facility in the downtown area. Lane Transit District would ideally be a partner in such effort since mass transit access by students or other participants would be an important component in the success of such endeavors. Priority 2 Role of City Review planning bodies to ensure inclusion of representatives of

arts and culture; serve as initial convener.



Possible Partners Downtown Eugene, Inc., Chamber of Commerce, City, proposed Alliance, developers, cultural organizations, LCC, and UO

Role of Partners Leadership to convene, establish, and encourage participation in downtown advocacy group; on-going coordination and involvement; engagement in discussions on priority development initiatives that have an impact on downtown; participation on planning and development entities

Estimate of Costs Planning and coordination costs are relatively low, in the range of $1,000 to 2,000 annually.

Strategy V.2 Establish approaches to cultural development in the downtown that dovetail with community priorities.

There is consensus among civic leaders that arts and culture should play a role in downtown development. But while there is support for arts and culture’s role, there is less interest in “stand-alone” cultural projects, according to confidential interviews with civic leaders, philanthropists, and others. The scale of downtown revitalization, the available financial resources, and the complex interrelationships among developers, property owners, City officials, and the public dictates that cultural initiatives are considerably more likely to be successful as part of larger development projects. This approach has several benefits, not least of which is that by piggy-backing cultural components on projects that are already in the development pipeline, they are likely to be built sooner than if they were to start independently. Thus, it would be wise to consider integrating cultural components into downtown capital projects while still early in their planning stages. This will be made easier when the downtown advocacy group proposed in Strategy V.1 is implemented, since this body can track development initiatives and serve as a facilitator of discussions between representatives of the cultural sector, the City, and private developers. Conversely, this body can also provide developers with information on priority cultural needs that might be included in new construction or renovation. One tentative project that would benefit from a strong cultural component is the possible new City Hall facility. Adding a community cultural center as an element of that project could be an important community benefit, one that would dramatically emphasize the role of arts and culture in Eugene. While much would depend on the available space and budget for the facility, a cultural center might include a small, “black box” theatre, though that need (identified in the Cultural Policy Review Facility Assessment ) may be mitigated by the renovation of UO’s Robinson Hall, scheduled for completion in 2008. Dedicated areas for the visual arts might be considered since so many existing gallery spaces – both commercial and nonprofit – are housed in leased facilities, and a City facility would provide an added measure of stability for the exhibition of visual arts.



There may be opportunities for including a cultural component within commercial development as well. This might take the form of artist live/work space. Providing artists with inexpensive studio, rehearsal, and living space downtown would add to the residential feel of the area and create an interesting, vibrant aspect for visitors.28 An initial investigation of this concept is worthwhile and, based on the outcome of such an investigation, targeted goals for artists’ live-work spaces should be considered for development in the downtown over the next decade. It should be noted that, in addition to increasing the residential component of Eugene’s downtown, there is also a need to accommodate visitors in the downtown core. An increased base of visitors will enhance the economic vitality of the entire City, the downtown, and the arts, through increased demand for entertainment, dining, and retail opportunities. It is important for the cultural sector to support initiatives to increase hotel accommodations downtown since current facilities are limited in both capacity and type. Such new facilities might incorporate cultural amenities that would be available to the community, thus broadening their appeal. Priority 3 Role of City Inclusion of representatives of arts and culture in City’s planning re

downtown planning activities Possible Partners Cultural organizations, developers, representatives of community

planning initiatives Role of Partners Coordinate communication and idea-sharing between cultural

sector and developers; research and develop cultural components for development projects; advocacy for the value they add to development

Estimate of Costs Minimal costs associated with required coordination; specific costs would be determined by the particular project and the nature of the cultural amenity.

Strategy V.3 Enhance Eugene’s physical environment through public art in downtown and throughout the City.

The City of Eugene instituted an Art in Public Places Ordinance in 1981. Since that time the City has acquired a collection of over 140 works of art and, over the years, the program has had periods of activity and dormancy. During the past year the City’s Public Art Committee has taken on a more active role. The Committee has crafted an Art Acquisition Policy and a Public Art Collection Deaccessioning Procedure. These important documents are currently being finalized by the Committee.

28 Minneapolis-based Artspace is a consulting firm that provides assistance in assessing the market and

developing mixed use artist live/work projects that meet the needs of both commercial developers and artists.



The Art in Public Places Ordinance stipulates that the collection should be “historically significant.” This quite general statement will not provide sufficient guidance for the Public Art Committee to maximize the potential of a public art program. In cities with exemplary public art programs, a Public Art Plan helps define the vision, direction, and strategy of the program or the collection for a decade or longer. It provides a curatorial focus and offers a solid framework to guide decisions on adding or removing works of art from the collection. In addition, Public Art Plans can address ways to include artists on design teams for capital projects. Eugene’s focus on art and the outdoors suggests that there is great potential to support this through a Public Art Plan. The Public Art Committee should consider developing a Public Art Plan with guidance from a leading professional in the field or through a professional association with such entities as the American’s for the Arts’ Public Art Network or Seattle’s King County 4Culture. An inventory of works in the City’s Collection has been started, including digitizing images of art work as a record and to facilitate providing access via the City’s web site. The completion, on-going maintenance, and updating of this inventory will be critical to planning for the future and will protect the City’s art assets. An inventory of locations for possible future public art placement might also be undertaken and updated as new planning and development takes place in the City. Over the last 25 years the field of public art has become increasingly professionalized. The Ordinance indicates that a Visual Arts Coordinator, employed by the City, should coordinate and facilitate the implementation of the Ordinance. This position should be filled by an individual who has professional expertise in the field of public art and who can bring sufficient influence to work as a peer with colleagues in planning and development, facilities, and other functional areas within City government. In addition to the duties connected with public art, this position could play an important role in: - Encouraging and facilitating the inclusion of art in private development - Developing initiatives to improve Eugene’s way-finding signage - Dealing with other amenities that have a visual impact throughout the community. There are numerous possibilities for expanding access to and knowledge of public art in Eugene. Past work undertaken on a public art map at Lane Community College may prove a foundation for future materials. It is possible that classes in the arts administration or other programs at the University of Oregon can also be involved in developing materials regarding the City’s collection, perhaps in combination with materials highlighting the art and architecture of the campus.



Priority 3 Role of City Hire Visual Arts Coordinator; continue the Public Art Committee;

develop a Public Art Plan Possible Partners Artists, cultural organizations, businesses, neighborhood

representatives Role of Partners Work with the City to implement policies and procedures for public

art; work with the City to develop Public Art Plan Estimate of Costs Visual arts coordinator position is estimated at between $45,000 and

$65,000, plus benefits and ancillary administrative and office-related costs. Developing a Public Art Plan would cost approximately $30,000 to $60,000 depending on scope.

Strategy V.4 Enhance Eugene’s urban environment through the use of architecture and streetscape design, signage, public spaces, and other amenities.

How a community addresses its built environment is an indicator of how it values arts and culture. Many cities, notably Santa Fe, Seattle, and Charlotte, have taken decisive steps to improve the visual experience for residents and visitors, understanding the relationship between esthetic appeal and livability. This includes creating a mix of noteworthy new architecture to supplement the old; the thoughtful design of streets, parks and other public spaces; and more modest but effective elements of signage, street furniture, and other public amenities.29 Developing a coordinated approach to accomplish this will require a partnership among City planning staff, the Public Art Committee, representatives of cultural organizations (in particular, visual arts organizations), and the University of Oregon’s architecture program, among others. It will be important to connect this effort with existing City planning initiatives in these areas.

Improved Signage

A comprehensive approach to signage yields multiple benefits. Downtown arts and cultural faculties, as well as those elsewhere in the community and on various campuses, would benefit from clear signage to improve way-finding and to establish a common visual identity for a network of cultural facilities. A unified visual approach, augmented by clearly indicated access routes from freeways, would assist with way-finding and accentuate the role that the arts play in the community. In addition, signage in the downtown could contribute to the image of Eugene as a vibrant, visually sophisticated City. Retail signage, banners, awnings, trash receptacles, and ancillary

29 The metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona area is an excellent example of using streetscape improvements to

foster more inviting public spaces.




street furniture add a unique element of visual excitement to the downtown streetscape. In order to do this, however, existing municipal signage codes and related regulations would have to be reconsidered to accommodate a more innovative approach in keeping with the vision expressed in this report.

Parks and Plazas

Another key element in enhancing the built environment is public park and plaza spaces, which frequently can serve as a key venue for festivals and other cultural events. To make sure that the arts and cultural components of these spaces are maximized, visual and performing artists and visual design professionals could be included in the early stages of planning and design for new or renovated park and plaza spaces. The use of public art to enhance these spaces is another way to blend Eugene’s dual themes of arts and the outdoors and is worthy of careful consideration. Priority 3 Role of City Review signage codes and propose changes; plan for

comprehensive way-finding signage system and explore public private partnership to implement

Possible Partners Cultural organizations, UO, CVALCO, Chamber of Commerce, DEI

Role of Partners Work with the City to review codes and other public policy issues; convening regarding possible non-City initiatives

Estimate of Costs Many changes would be subsumed within the appropriate City departments’ existing budgets. Additional costs for signage or street amenities beyond the City purview might range from a modest program of under $30,000 to a more major initiative in excess of $100,000.


Part V Initial Next Steps

In this part of the Report, the consultants provide some guidance about the initial steps of implementation of the Cultural Policy Review. While the Review has been conducted by the City of Eugene, which will play a central role in implementation of this ten-year planning document, many of the initiatives in this report can be undertaken through individual organizational action or partnerships of various groups, including cultural organizations, businesses, civic groups, educational and social service institutions, and others.

Reviewing this Report The vision, goals, and strategies in this report grow directly out of the consultants’ research and professional experience, the many community meetings, and the comments of members of the Mayor's Committee at its meetings over the past year. As the designated advisory body to the consultants, it was important to review this report with the Mayor's Committee. To do this, a meeting was held on June 11, 2007. A community meeting was also held on that day. The discussion at that meeting was structured through the use of a consent calendar to ensure that the time was devoted to issues where there is the greatest interest and concern. At the conclusion of the Mayor's Committee meeting, the body voted to “accept” this document, subject to a review of the required revisions by the Chair and Vice Chair of the Mayor's Committee. It is important to note that “acceptance” in this case meant that the report, as revised, accurately reflected the community cultural planning priorities as understood by Mayor's Committee members. It does not mean that everyone agreed with every strategy; rather it suggests that the final form of this document can serve as the “road map” for planning the future of cultural development in Eugene. A City Council session to introduce this document has been scheduled for July 25, 2007. A presentation will be developed summarizing the process and components of the Cultural Policy Review, as well as its findings, goals, and key strategies.

Disseminating the Report The presentation of the Report to City Council marks the transition from planning to initial implementation. The first task will be to share the Report with as many people who

Part V Initial Next Steps 55


have participated in the Cultural Policy Review as possible. Several approaches should be considered: - The full copy of this Report and the Technical Volume should be uploaded to the

Cultural Policy Review portal on the City’s web site. - Thereafter, every individual who attended a community meeting for whom there is an

e-mail address should receive a message indicating that it has been posted and inviting them to review it.

- Individuals who participated in a focused group session or an interview should be e-mailed a copy of the Executive Summary with a “thank you” note and an invitation to download the full document.

- Printed copies of the Executive Summary (as well as sample copies of the complete Report) should be available in such key locations as the Main Library, Community Centers, the Hult Center, City Hall, appropriate locations on the campuses of the College and University, and at selected cultural retail establishments. There should be an indication of how to obtain the full report, electronically or in hard copy.

The Report is public information and the Executive Summary should be distributed to the media in advance of the session with the City Council. As dissemination moves forward, additional contact with representatives of the media will become important.

Development of Materials for Public Dissemination

The Report’s Executive Summary presents a shorter version of the full report and will be useful to provide an overview of the Report for those individuals who are not likely to review the complete document. But there are additional materials that must be abstracted from the complete Report that will provide details in specific, targeted areas for particular constituents. The Report’s five goals address most of these constituencies and specific topics can be broken out of the full document and informative and compelling pamphlets or brochures can be designed. Themes for these might include the following: - How can arts and culture help revitalize downtown Eugene? - How can Eugene’s children get more exposure to and experience with arts and

culture? - What will help sustain our cultural organizations? - How can we make it easier to find out what cultural activities are going on in

Eugene? - How do we build support for arts and culture in Eugene? Each pamphlet should include the summary vision statement to give readers an overview of what successful outcomes would look like at the end of the ten-year planning period. A consistent graphic identity for the pamphlets would help tie these pieces together.



Public Celebration and “Unveiling”

Consideration should be given to developing a celebratory public unveiling of the Cultural Policy Review in the fall. While the Report will be made public considerably earlier, the summer is a slow news time. Additionally, by waiting until the fall, the Cultural Policy Review Implementation Task Force, discussed on page 56 below, will have been convened and may be able to sketch out initial priorities for implementation. A public celebration is a way of engaging the community and reconnecting with many of the 3,000 people who participated in some aspect of the year-long Review. These individuals can be reactivated to become key supporters. They can help spread the word about the Review and what its implementation will mean for Eugene. Just as important, since covering community planning initiatives is not generally a priority for the media, a public event around the Review will be a way to create an important “media moment” and make extensive coverage more likely. Meetings with the editorial boards of print and electronic media should be scheduled and writing “op ed” pieces should also be explored. The celebration can take a variety of forms. In one community, it was held at the annual meeting of the local community foundation, one of the two plan sponsors; in another community, it was a public presentation of the report to the Steering Committee at the downtown performing arts center with children’s art on display; in a third community, it was a specially-called joint meeting of the City Council and County Commission, which had co-sponsored the initiative. What is most important is that a major, newsworthy event is planned. By scheduling this in the fall, there will be sufficient time for planning – both for the event and for a subsequent campaign to acquaint the public with the Review in greater detail.

Initial Steps of Implementation The Cultural Policy Review presents a wide range of initiatives and suggests many partners in implementation, although the City plays a lead role, especially in the initial stages. Implementation will take differing forms depending on the particular set of partners involved. There are three possible scenarios and implementation will look different in each of them: - When the City is the sole party involved in initiating action - When a partnership between the City and some community entity is required to initiate

action - When one or several community groups can initiate action. The consultants provide general guidance below for each of those scenarios, which also reflect their view of the priority with which implementation should be approached.



Initial Steps for the City

The Cultural Policy Review has articulated a significant and expanded role for the City in delivering cultural services. While there is room for discussion and priority-setting among strategies and approaches to implementation, the consultants believe that there are two strategies that the City can act on quickly that will improve the prospects for the successful implementation of many other strategies. These two are: - Strategy I.2, which proposes defining a broader role for the City of Eugene relative to

arts and culture and providing the necessary staff and budgetary support. - Strategy I.4, which proposes conducting a thorough review of Hult Center operations

to develop, if necessary, a new mission and implement a new operating model. These two strategies reflect essentially internal operating issues and the decision-making relative to them involves only the City. Therefore, the Department of Library, Recreation & Cultural Services (LRCS) can convene two separate working groups of four to six appropriate City staff members to address these issues. Both of these issues will involve complex decision-making and consensus-building within the City to move them forward. The sooner they are begun, the sooner they will bear fruit. And taking initial steps to address these issues will be likely to have a significant and positive impact on subsequent Cultural Policy Review implementation efforts.

Initial Steps for the City and the Community

In many cases in this Report, the City is cast as the “convener” or “facilitator” of initiatives that can be undertaken by various other community groups or cultural organizations. In these cases, the City’s role is to bring together interested parties and provide an initial period of administrative support while the convened partners are setting priorities and defining roles. Indeed, this role will be central to the implementation of Report initiatives throughout the ten-year period it covers, although it is especially critical in the early stages. Reflecting that general approach, there are two key strategies that the consultants believe ought to be given priority for implementation. These are summarized as follows: - Strategy I.1, which proposes establishing an “Alliance” for arts and culture. - Strategy I.3, which proposes developing and funding a dedicated endowment or trust

for Eugene’s cultural organizations. While both of these strategies will require substantial work to refine and move forward and many years to fully implement, they represent two “linchpin” strategies. Especially when combined with the other two strategies in Goal I mentioned above, they can provide the necessary infrastructure and resources to build the networks, undertake the coalition-



building, and foster the collaboration upon which much of the ultimate success of the Cultural Policy Review depends. In order to advance these two strategies the consultants recommend establishing a small Cultural Policy Review Implementation Task Force that reports to the Executive Director of LRCS. This committee should be comprised of no more than six senior-level individuals, ideally with the following relationships: - Two business leaders - Two representatives of cultural organizations (either board or staff members) - One representative each from Lane Community College and the University of Oregon. It will be important that the Task Force include among its members at least two individuals who have served on the Mayor's Committee (and may also be members of the Cultural Services Advisory Committee30). This will ensure that there is continuity between this body and the Mayor's Committee. The Implementation Task Force can be charged with reviewing this planning document and setting broad priorities for implementation. It can work with the appropriate City staff to convene community partners and to start the necessary conversations around those priorities. In many communities in which the consultants have developed community cultural plans, the oversight and coordination of implementation of the goals and strategies has been handed over to the community’s local arts agency. No such entity exists in Eugene and that presents a problem. Since the City has capacity in the area of cultural services, especially if strategy I.2 is implemented, establishing the Implementation Task Force within the City is a logical approach. Its role can extend beyond Strategy 1.1 and 1.3 to include assessment of subsequent priorities, as possible, and serve to encourage other implementation partners to take action. In addition, this Task Force might serve as the nucleus of a governing body for the Alliance proposed in Strategy I.1, even if that entity is initially housed within another, existing organization. Thus, its efforts would serve a double purpose – both starting the process of implementation and building a governance structure for the Alliance. The Cultural Policy Review Implementation Task Force would likely meet monthly, and perhaps more often in the first year, to set priorities and make sure that a few, carefully selected initiatives are moving forward. It would present an annual report to the community that details the progress that was made in turning strategies into outcomes. As the proposed Alliance takes shape, the Implementation Task Force can morph into the founding board of directors. When the Alliance’s operations are sufficiently robust to 30 The Cultural Services Advisory Committee is a nine-member body, appointed by the Cultural Services

Director, that advises management at the policy level and conducts an annual review and update of the Cultural Services Business Plan. Members serve as advocates and representatives of the Cultural Services Division in the community.



sustain it, the Review implementation oversight and coordinating function can be handled by a sub-committee of that board.

Initial Steps for Community Partnerships

While the City’s role as convener of implementation partners will assist interested groups and individuals to come together around specific initiatives, there are many aspects of this Report that can be undertaken by one or several cultural, educational, civic, or social service organizations working together or on their own. Here is a process that the consultants have seen work effectively in other communities: - An organization delegates an individual board member to review the Cultural Policy

Review report. Ideally, this will be someone who has been involved in the Review, either through the Mayor's Committee or other connection to the year-long process.

- This individual reviews the document and reports back to the board about potential

initiatives that are in alignment with the organization’s mission. (For example, a cultural organization might consider participation in a joint marketing initiative; an educational institution might consider assisting with the coordination of arts learning opportunities; a social service organization might consider integrating additional arts programming into its offerings.)

- The organization’s board establishes a small committee to determine whether there are

other interested parties and what the next steps should be. This is an opportunistic approach in that it relies on organizations to focus on actions that are in the Report but that address priority interests and concerns that they want to address in any case. Keep in mind that there are many initiatives that can move forward without much additional discussion, including, for example, the “Eugene CultureSource” calendaring system described in Strategy III.1. And the benefits of swift action on implementation far outweigh the potential costs of overlapping initiatives.

Collaborative Implementation Relationships

The consultants believe that the best model for Eugene is one that works toward a single, City-wide local arts agency, proposed in the Report as the Alliance (cf., Strategy I.1), that is ultimately responsible for overseeing or operating all or most of the arts-related initiatives outlined in this document. This approach is a significant shift for Eugene and will require an incremental approach over the ten-year plan period. It is clear that, initially, many of the programs outlined in the Report will be housed within other entities or conducted in an ad hoc fashion. There are many ways that various strategies will take root in the community. Listed here are some possible relationships that can lead to implementation that extend outside of the City of Eugene’s roles as identified above. These are based on current conditions, concerns, and



interests voiced during the Review and are not intended to reflect a commitment on the part of any organization to a specific role at this time. - The community “Alliance” for arts and culture would initially focus on building

connections with the business community and would be housed within the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce.

- The arts trust would be part of Oregon Community Foundation, although it would

require a sufficiently independent structure to accommodate an active fund-raising program. By the end of the plan period, this responsibility could be housed within the proposed Alliance, which might have responsibility for both fund raising and granting of funds.

- The coordination of K-12 arts education offerings and the consortium activities in

support of arts education would be overseen by the Lane Arts Council, assuming it is able to regain its footing.

- The liaison with higher education would involve a high level coordinating body

convened by the City or UO. By the end of the planning period, this group could be coordinated by the Alliance.

- The related functions of marketing, advocacy, and awareness-building would be

coordinated by a committee comprised of representatives from the civic, business, and cultural organizations that are participating, coordinated by CVALCO.

Summary Chart of Goals, Strategies and Implementation To aid understanding of this complex mix of groups and functions described throughout this Report, the consultants provide a summary chart of goals, strategies and implementation. It includes, for each strategy, the consultants’ assessment of the role of the City, the level of priority (with “1” being highest and “4” being lowest), potential implementation partners, and an estimate of the cost to the City. In the body of the Report, the consultants have provided rough estimates of the costs of implementation for each strategy. Such costs will vary significantly based on the tactics and scope selected for implementation. The chart below refers only to those costs that might be assumed by the City of Eugene. It should be noted that funding for the implementation and on-going operation of these strategies will likely come from three sources – the public sector (primarily the City), the private sector (individuals, foundations, and businesses), and earned income of cultural nonprofits. While there may be some specific initiatives that would be of interest to national or regional funders (including, for example, Lane Community College’s integrative



arts initiative), the consultants’ experience suggests that such funding is highly competitive and relatively uncommon. Goal I To strengthen public and private sector engagement, leadership, and funding for arts and culture in Eugene. Strategy I.1 Establish an “Alliance” for arts and culture that will coordinate and strengthen the efforts of the public, private, and nonprofit cultural sectors and foster high-level civic leadership in support of arts and culture.

Role of City Level of Priority

Potential Implementation Partners

Estimate of City’s Cost

Convene Implementation Task Force; representation in the Alliance

1 Chamber of Commerce; business, cultural, and civic organizations

$15,00-$50,000 to assist start-up

Strategy I. 2 Define a broader role for the City of Eugene relative to arts and culture and provide the necessary staff and budgetary support.




Review of staff positions within the Cultural Services Division, implement change as needed

1 None $60,000 - $100,000 annually, if additional positions required

Strategy I.3 Establish and fund a dedicated endowment or trust for Eugene’s cultural organizations to increase public and private sector financial support for arts and culture.




Provision of annual challenge match for ten years; consideration of possible new revenue mechanisms

1 Cultural organizations, Oregon Community Foundation, Oregon Cultural Trust, private sector businesses, philanthropists

$100,000 annually for 10 years; additional fund raising

Strategy I.4 Conduct a thorough review of Hult Center operations to develop, if necessary, a new mission and implement a new operating model that will support that mission in a long-term, financially sustainable way




Implement a review and decision-making process re Hult Center operations

1 None $40,000-$65,000 for study

Goal II To provide comprehensive arts learning experiences for Eugene’s children, youth, and adults. Strategy II.1 Create mechanisms to deliver more comprehensive and coordinated arts learning for Eugene children and youth through K-12 schooling and extracurricular opportunities.




Representation in the proposed consortium (relating to City arts education programs); consideration of undertaking the LAC role if necessary.

2 Lane Arts Council, school districts, LCC, cultural organizations providing in-school & after-school programs for K-12.

Minimal (unless undertaking LAC role)

Strategy II.2 Enrich the range of and access to arts and cultural learning opportunities for teens and adults.






Reexamination of existing programming in recreation centers and the Library.

2 Arts and cultural organizations, LAC, LCC, UO, public school administrators and teachers.

Minimal – reconfiguration of existing programming.

Strategy II.3 Build more effective ties between Eugene’s institutions of higher learning, the City, and cultural organizations and audiences.




Possible initial convening; ongoing high-level participation.

3 UO, LCC, NW Christian College, cultural organizations.

Minimal.

Goal III To build participation in and audiences for arts and culture in Eugene. Strategy III.1 Develop a comprehensive communication mechanism to provide information about Eugene’s arts and culture to residents and visitors.




Support through listing of City events (at recreation sites as well as the Hult); initial convener/ facilitator.

2 Cultural organizations, CVALCO, business leaders, business community.

Minimal costs of initial convening

Strategy III.2 Implement a coordinated awareness campaign to highlight the value and strength of Eugene’s arts and culture.




Possible initial coordination of awareness campaign; collaboration with partners

1 Cultural organizations, proposed Alliance, CVALCO, Chamber of Commerce, LAC, civic organizations, UO, LCC.

$50,000 could come from existing City marketing budget

Strategy III.3 Build existing audiences and develop new ones for arts and culture.




Representation of underserved audiences on planning committees, appropriate City staff

2 Proposed Alliance as eventual convener & facilitator, CVALCO, businesses (especially hospitality), cultural organizations

Minimal

Goal IV To strengthen the ability of cultural organizations and artists to serve the community. Strategy IV.1 Build the capacity of Eugene’s artists and cultural organizations through coordinated programs of professional development.




Possible initial coordination and information gathering.

2 Proposed Alliance as eventual facilitator, UO, LCC, DIVA, Maude Kerns, cultural organizations, technical assistance providers (including business leaders).

$10,000-$25,000 for initial coordination

Strategy IV. 2 Assist cultural organizations to develop initiatives that respond to trends in cultural programming.



Role of City

Level of Priority



Participation in initiatives, as appropriate. 3 Cultural organizations, artists, reps of business sector

Minimal

Goal V To integrate arts and culture into the fabric of downtown Eugene and other neighborhoods as part of a comprehensive strategy of revitalization. Strategy V.1 Integrate arts and culture into planning and development activities in Eugene’s downtown.




Review its planning bodies to ensure inclusion of representatives of arts and culture; serve as initial convener.

2 Downtown Eugene, Inc., Chamber of Commerce, proposed Alliance, developers, cultural organizations, LCC, and UO.

Minimal

Strategy V.2 Establish approaches to cultural development in the downtown that dovetail with community priorities.




Inclusion of representatives of arts and culture in City’s planning re downtown planning activities.

3 Cultural organizations, developers, representatives of community planning initiatives.

Minimal

Strategy V.3 Enhance Eugene’s physical environment through public art in downtown and throughout the City.




Hire Visual Arts Coordinator; continue the Public Art Committee; develop a Public Art Plan

3 Artists, cultural organizations, businesses, neighborhood representatives

$45,000-$65,000 for coordinator; $30,000-$60,000 for Public Art Plan.

Strategy V.4 Enhance Eugene’s urban environment through the use of architecture and streetscape design, signage, public spaces, and other amenities.




Review signage codes and propose changes; plan for comprehensive way-finding signage system and explore public private partnership to implement.

3 Cultural organizations, UO, CVALCO, Chamber of Commerce, DEI.

Minimal costs within existing Departmental budgets

Conclusion This planning process has been remarkably participatory. No other community in which the consultants have worked, no matter how large it is, has shown the degree of diligence and passion evidenced by Eugene residents and in particular the members of the Mayor's Committee. Planning is not an easy process. It requires attention to various viewpoints and overlapping perspectives and often puts existing systems and structures into the spotlight. The willingness of all parties involved to look carefully at issues both large and small has




led to the development of a road map that has the engagement and input of a broad cross-section of the community. Not everyone – perhaps no one – will agree with everything in this document. But most participants will find some reflection of the comments that they made at various stages in the Cultural Policy Review. That is what makes this document powerful – its organic growth from the comments of hundreds, and ultimately thousands, of individuals. The consultants believe that the months of review and passionate debate have made this a stronger document that can serve as the first step on a journey to an even more vibrant and exciting cultural sector in Eugene.


Appendix A List of Participants

The following individuals have participated in the Cultural Policy Review over the course of the past year. Affiliations are provided for identification purposes only and were accurate at the time of contact.

Mayor’s Cultural Policy Review Committee

Kitty Piercy Mayor Tina Rinaldi, Chair Program Manager, UO Dept. of Arts and Administration David Kelly, Vice Chair Faculty, Lane Community College; Former City Council

Member Bill Blix Artist; Chair, Public Art Committee Kirk Boyd Artistic Director, Willamette Repertory Theatre Cheryl Crumbley Director of Marketing and Communications, United Way Alan Evans Prichard, Evans & Elder, Inc.; Member, Arts Foundation of

Western Oregon Board Mindy Linder Local Theatre Artist, Marketing Intern Jerry McDonnell Chair, Cultural Services Advisory Committee Kazem Oveissi Owner, Oveissi and Company Gretchen Hult Pierce Cultural Services Advisory Committee; Member, Arts

Foundation of Western Oregon Board Richard Scheeland Former Cultural Services Director Tim Smith Cultural Services Advisory Committee Betty Snowden Hats Off with Betty, Real Estate Agent Rex Stevens Cultural Services Advisory Committee Yvonne Stubbs Cultural Services Advisory Committee Mary Unruh Executive Director, Downtown Initiative for the Arts Kari Westlund Executive Director, Convention and Visitors Association of

Lane County Rick Williams Chair, Art and Applied Design, Lane Community College Marguerite Zolman Cultural Services Advisory Committee

Staff

Angel Jones Interim Assistant City Manager Renee Grube Interim Director, Library, Recreation and Cultural Services

Dept. Laura Niles Interim Director, Cultural Services Division

Appendix A List of Participants A.1


Mark Loigman Cultural Policy Review Project Manager Theresa Sizemore Cultural Policy Review Project Support Billie Rathbun-Mosier Manager, Marketing and Public Relations

Interviewees and Focus Group Participants

Irene Alltucker Executive Director, Lane Relief Nursery Hilary Anthony Oregon Country Fair Suzanne Arlie Arlie and Company Bridget Baker Director, Corporate Public Relations, Register-Guard Ruth Bascom Former Mayor of Eugene Douglas Beauchamp Interim Director for Lane Arts Council Alan Beck Board President, Willamette Repertory Theatre Stacey Bierma Board Member, Downtown Eugene, Inc. Laura Blake-Jones Assoc. Dean of Student Life, University of Oregon Caroline Boekelheide Arts Advocate Andrew Bonamici Associate Librarian, Knight Library, University of Oregon Steve Boulay NewSpace Entertainment, Inc. – Broadway in Eugene Kirk Boyd Artistic Director, Willamette Repertory Theatre Linda Brady Senior Vice President and Provost, University of Oregon Brandt, Sara Charitable Gift Planner, Oregon Community Foundation Ben Brinkley Formerly Lane Arts Council, University of Oregon Francis Bronet Dean, Architecture and Allied Arts, University of Oregon Rachael Carnes Director, Spark Plug Dance Studio Carolyn Chambers CEO, Chambers Communications Mark Clarke Artist, Karin Clarke Gallery Carole Daly Senior Director of Development, University of Oregon Kirsten Diechman Public Art Consultant Jeff Eaton Executive Director, Oregon Mozart Players Jon Erlandson Director, Museum of Natural and Cultural History George Evano Marketing Director, Oregon Bach Festival Ron Farmer Marketing President, Bank of America Laurel Fisher Retired, Arts Supporter Robert Fraser Board President, Oregon Bach Festival Dave Frohnmayer President, University of Oregon Joseph Gilg Development Director, Theater Arts, University of Oregon Dan Giustina Giustina Resources Riley Grannan Managing Director, Eugene Ballet Company Bobby Green Lane County Commissioner Patricia Hall RISHA Arts Judith Hankin Instructor, Hamlin Middle School, Springfield School

District Kim Hanson Instructor, Thurston High School, Springfield School

District Rosaria Haugland Rosaria P. Haugland Foundation



David Hauser President, Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce Hank Hoell Executive Vice President, Liberty Bank Jane Holloway Lane County Fair John Jaqua Attorney, Arts Advocate Angel Jones Interim Assistant City Manager Miriam Jordan Executive Assistant and Facility Rental Manager, Jordan

Schnitzer Museum of Art Darrel Kau Coordinator, EMU Cultural Forum Bob Keefer Writer, Register-Guard Kit Kesey Kesey Enterprises Carolyn Kranzler Board President, Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts Patty Krier Museum of Natural and Cultural History Rebekah Lambert Former Manager of Eugene Symphony, Arts Advocate Beth Little General Manager, Eugene Saturday Market Carrie Matsushita Lane Events Center Doug McKay McKay Investments Tyalr Merrill Program Specialist, Eugene Public Library Lee Michaels Chair, LRP/JSMA Destry Moore Willamette High School, Bethel School District John Musumeci Arlie and Company Ken Nagao Asian Celebration/Kite Festival/ Oben & Taiko Festival Laura Niles Interim Director of Cultural Services, City of Eugene Jerril Nilson Board President, Eugene Ballet Company Brian Obie President, Obie Industries, 5th Street Public Market Jan Oliver Assoc. VP for Institutional Affairs, University of Oregon Alice Parman Consultant Karen Pavelec Maude Kerns Art Center Kathy Pengelly 4j School District Gretchen Hult Pierce President, Hult & Associates; Hope Pressman Former President, Eugene Arts Foundation; Recipient,

Governor’s Award for the Arts Matt Purvis Downtown Events, Inc. Ed Ragazzino Founder, Eugene Festival of Musical Theatre Jim Ralph Executive Director, John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts Steve Remington Oregon Truffle Festival Diane Retallack Artistic and Executive Director, Eugene Concert Choir Betsy Richenbach President, Board of Friends, Oregon Bach Festival George Russell Superintendent, 4j School District Royce Saltzman Executive Director, Oregon Bach Festival Roger Saydack Regional Vice President for Legal Affairs and Business

Transactions, PeaceHealth Leslie Scott Director, Oregon Country Fair Sandy Shaffer City of Eugene Recreation Karen Shaw Development Director, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art




Betty Soreng Director Emeritus, Eugene Symphony; Arts Supporter Craign Spilman Artist, Eugene Public Art Committee Janet Stewart Assistant Dean, School of Music, University of Oregon Andrew Toney Former Director, Lane Arts Council Meg Trendler CVALCO David Turner Former Executive Director, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of

Art Mary Unruh Director, Downtown Initiative for Visual Arts Rebecca Urhausen Adelante Si/Fiesta Latina Terri Warpinski Vice Provost, Academic Affairs, University of Oregon Kari Westlund President and CEO, CVALCO Steve Wildish Vice President, Wildish Companies Rick Williams Division Chair, Art and Applied Design, LCC Paul Winburg Executive Director, Eugene Symphony Casey Woodard Executive Director, Woodard Family Foundation

Cultural Policy Review Community Meeting Participants

Diana Abernathy Aimee Allen Alice Allen Sissy Anderson Owen Arnold Bjo Ashwill Ruth Atcherson Rosemarie Atencio Annika Backstrom E. Baes Doug Beauchamp Conniee Bennett Leslie Bennett Barbara Bergreen Joanne Berry John Bigelow Bill Bishop Anne Blandini Doug Blandy Jan Bohman Sandy Bonds Judy Bossuat Betsy Bostwick Cathy Bradner

Janis Brew Alex Brokaw Frances Bronet Mona Bronson Suzanne Bunker Robin Burk Rachel Byers Len Calvert Rubi Cammarota Holly Campbell Ellen Cantor Eric Carey Bruce Carlson Gaylene Carpenter Mike Carpenter Dottie Chase Kelly Cheeseman Sarah Collins Julie Coven Elaine Coyle Ann Craig Dave Crory Gwen Curran James Dean

Laura DeGuisti Elizabeth Dehn Corlier Delf Bob DeVine Patricia Dewey Richard Dietzel Dick Doering Jennifer Donahue Maggie Donahue Sue Douglas Don Drake Heidi Driden Paul Dustrud Rose Ellis Caitlin Elwood Michelle Emmons Mary Erickson Mel Erickson Robin Erickson Nam Eunju Beth Evans Jennifer Fanyak Clare Feighen Gary Fernylee


JoJo Ferreira Meredith Ferrell Gary Ferrington Sinde Fitz Greg Fitzgerald Gale Fiszman Dona Forrand Sherry Franzen Matt Friday Larry Fried Annie Fulkerson Ann Fuller Barbara Gates Carolyn Gates Larry George Mary Ginnane Fred Gorelick Kim Goodwin Riley Grannan Olga Grecova Brad Hachten Patti Hachten Randall Haffner Karm Hagedorn Lori Hager Nancy Hager Louisa Hamacheck Victoria Harkovitch Barb Harris Bob Hart R. Hecht Andrea Heid Don Hein David Helton Angela Henderson Peter Herley Sabrina Hershey Bob Hibschman Brooks Hickerson Charles Hirsch Erik Hoffman Tia Holliday Mary Ann Holser Melania Hoskinson

Scott Huette Julie Hulme Lorraine Ironplow Sterling Israel Yelena Ivoishaora Jair Karen Jamando Karen Januszewski Tara Jecklin George Jeffcott Tonja Jenson Leola Jewett Burton Johnson Kim Johnson Rachel Johnson Marilyn Judkins Bong Jaw Kang Donet Jin Kang Sharon Kaplan Julia Katz Gordon Kaswell Reva Kaufman Mary Sue Keating Kris Kirkeby Eleanor Knapp Rob Kohler Cynthia Kokis Marilyn Kolodziejcz Barbara Koostra Cina Kraft Carolyn Kranzler Wanda Lan Linda Larson Kum Ja Lee Larry Leverone Louisa Lindsey Patti Lomont Dick Lonnox John Loomis Amber Lunch Laurel MacMillan Art Maddox Mike Magee Mark Major

Rosalia Marquez Theresa May Amy McAllister Sarah McClure Sally McIntyre Caroline Passerotti Jude McKay Melinda Mendenhall Brenda Meray Herb Merker Cathy Meyer Ellen Mitchell Mikl Anne Miller Loren Mohler Robert Moore Ayanna Moriguchi Dale Mueller Bob Nelson Laura Niles Nicola Noetic Debra Nunez Gwyn O’Connell Thomas Oommen Teri Page Maylian Pak Angela Palandi Will Paradis Art Paz Phyllis Peara Sylvie Pederson Jacob Pegg Karen Pelleter Naomi Pena Kathy Pengelly Michael Peterson Tenold Peterson Richard Pettigrew Carol Philips Laura Phillips April Piccola Byard Pidgeon Matthew Pilcher Julie Pimentel




Jan Pincus Robert Ponto Chris Pontrelli Harry Price Ginevra Ralph Kris Redmond Diane Retallack Tony Reyneke R. Richardson Judy Riedl Jim Roberts Julia Robertson Jerry Ross Robert Rubinstein Janice Rutherford Stas Rutkowski Paul Safar Martin Sage Andreas Salzman Diedre Sandrick Judy Sawyer Arlene Schneider Hy Schneider Katie Schumm Marieke Schuurs Harold Schyberg Diane Sciacca Stephanie Sears Bill Shreve Sandy Silverthorne Patricia Skipper Ally Slayden Gayle Smith Madeline Smith Sally Smith Angela Snyder Barton Snyder Benson Snyder Martha Snyder Beverly Soasey Kevin Stacy Jane Steercart Suzi Steffen Randy Stender

Indra Stern-Hayward James Stewart Eric Stilwell Debbie Summers Sido Surkis Ross Sutherland Michelle Swanson Tara Sweeney Lynne Swift Gina Tafoya Violette Tarpinian Wayne Taubenfeld Anne Teigen Kartz Ucci Steve Vaccri Hilary VanderVere Nathan Vaughan Zachary Vishanoff Al Villanueva Judy Volem Sid Voorhees Alison Voss David Wade Kate Wagle Terri Warpinksi Wei-Ping Wang Yuan Wang Richie Weinman Dan Welton Dave Whitlow Pam Whyte Betty Williams Jerry Williams Craig Willis Shea Wills Paul Winberg Robin Winfree-Andrew Jennifer Winters Mary Ann Woody Scott Wylse NaYoung Yoon Elaine Yost Laura Young

Cultural Policy Review

for the

City of Eugene

Technical Volume

Volume 2 of 2 May 2007

CONTENTS

This volume includes the four appendices to the Cultural Policy Review. These are:

o Appendix B – Cultural Census o Appendix C – Cultural Facilities o Appendix D – Working Groups o Appendix E – Cultural Assessment Protocol

Note that Appendix A – List of Participants is bound into the first volume of this Report.

Appendix B Details of the Cultural Census

This appendix provides details of the cultural census. The final report, in Power-Point format, is followed by the protocol that was used.

1 Eugene Cultural Census Report

Eugene Cultural Census

Research Commissioned by the City of Eugene, Oregon

December 2006


Contents3 Summary of Findings6 Survey Methodology & Response7 Weighting and Limitations of the Data8 Definition of Analysis Groups9 Demographic Profile of Respondents13 University Affiliation14 Incidence of Professional Artists 15 Frequency of Attendance17 Use of Various Venues and Settings for Arts Activities19 Participation Profile of Eugene Area Adults21 Five Modes of Arts Participation – A Framework for Analysis46 Art and Craft-Making Activities50 Other Cultural Activities51 Interest in Other Cultures53 Barriers to Attendance56 Attitudes About Arts and Culture Offerings, Public Support58 Sources of Information about Cultural Activities60 Appendix: Survey Protocol


Summary of Findings

• Over 2,500 Eugene area adults completed a comprehensive survey about their cultural attitudes and involvement. This report provides details of their responses.

• Overall, the results are consistent with national trends that point to increased demand for more intense experiences, including more active forms of arts participation – making art, talking about art, collecting and organizing art. The survey indicates demand for arts activities that fulfill social needs, especially among single adults, for whom lack of social context is a major barrier.

• For arts organizations, there are many implications and challenges. These include offering more intense, customized and participatory experiences, but also finding ways to be relevant to constituents in a range of settings, including the home and other non-traditional settings where a great deal of meaningful arts activities happen, according to the findings.

• For the purposes of analysis, respondents were grouped into three categories, based on their combined frequency of attendance at free and ticketed arts programs (including museums and galleries). Among the most significant findings of the census are:

– High-frequency attendees tend to be older, less likely to have children, and have much higher levels of educational attainment. Respondents in the oldest age cohort are most likely to be satisfied with the number and quality of existing arts programs. This has implications for potential audience growth.

– A close correlation was observed between personal participation and attendance. For instance, 34% of higher-frequency attendees say that they earn at least a portion of their income making art, compared to 12% of lower-frequency attendees. In other words, people who do arts activities, support community arts programs. This underlines the importance of arts education.

– Informal venues – including the home – play an important role as settings for arts and cultural activities, especially among lower-frequency attendees. They are proportionately more likely than high-frequency attendees to use the home as a venue such activity, illustrating a major challenge for arts organizations: being relevant to constituents in a range of settings.


Summary of Findings – Continued

– As might be expected, respondents were most likely to cite “too expensive” as a barrier to attendance (about a third of all respondents), with a clear correlation to income level, followed by “too busy,” although this is not really a barrier, but rather an indication that arts activities are less of a priority than other activities.

– Since there is little difference between the income levels of high and low level attendees, the barrier may be of “relevance” rather than cost.

• Respondents were asked to indicate their level of involvement in, or the centrality of, a wide range of specific arts activities. For each activity, five response items were available: 1) it’s a vital activity for me, 2) I enjoy it occasionally, 3) I used to, but don’t any longer, 4) I haven’t, but would like to try, or 5) I’m not interested.

– Among the literary arts activities, ‘reading fiction or nonfiction’ is by far the most pervasive activity, while a quarter of all respondents indicated an unfulfilled interest in ‘meeting with a book club.’Together with other results, this points to a significant amount of unfulfilled interest in doing arts activities in a social setting.

– Among the theatrical activities tested, relatively few respondents indicated current involvement in acting or theatrical design, although a healthy amount of unfulfilled interested was reported, especially among low-frequency attendees (17%).

– Attending live stage plays and musicals was cited as “a vital activity” by about 20% of all respondentsand over half said that they ‘enjoy it occasionally;’ while a third of respondents said they’d like to attend dinner theatre, but don’t (32%).

– Among the dance activities tested, about half of respondents indicated that they enjoy attending various types of dance performance at least occasionally, though few report any sort of dance attendance as “a vital activity.”

– About a third of all respondents enjoy social dancing at least occasionally, and fully 38% indicated an unfulfilled interest in “taking lessons for social dancing” – yet another indication of interest in active and socially-based arts activities.


Summary of Findings – Continued

– Among the music activities tested, respondents were most likely to cite “buying music CDs” (a form of curatorial participation) as “a vital activity” (30%), followed by “attending popular music concerts” (21%); about half of all respondents enjoy “downloading music from the Internet” at least occasionally, suggesting a shift from observational to curatorial participation in music.

– Personal participation in art and craft-making activities exceeds observational participation (visiting museums and galleries), again illustrating the high value that consumers place on active, personal involvement.

– Significant unfulfilled interest was reported for “taking visual art classes” (21%), with the highest levels of interest reported for photography.

– Watching movies at home is the most popular of the other cultural activities tested (90%), while gardening is an activity for about 60% of all respondents.

• In sum, results of the cultural census paint a detailed picture of how Eugene area residents express themselves creatively, and the many ways that they participate in the arts. While many of Eugene’s existing arts offerings are observational in nature, consumers are demanding more inventive, interpretive and curatorial experiences that involve some level of personal creative expression or aesthetic judgment.

• With respect to attitudes about public support, a majority of respondents agree that public funding of arts and cultural programs is a good investment, including expanded arts education programs for children.


Survey Methodology & Response

• The Eugene Cultural Census was conducted in 2006 as part of the City’s Cultural Policy Review process.

• The overall purpose of the research was to gain a clearer sense of how Eugene residents participate in, and feel about, the arts.

• All adults (age 18+) who are residents of the Eugene area (not just limited to the City of Eugene) were eligible to participate in the survey.

• The primary method of data collection was through an online survey; paper copies of the survey were also available, for those without Internet access. The time window for survey response lasted from November 13 to December 8, 2006.

• Promoting participation in the survey was the responsibility of the city. • A wide range of recruitment methods were used to encourage response, including broadcast

emails, public service announcements on radio and television, and distribution of paper surveys at key locations throughout the City.

• Respondents who indicated they are under 18 years of age, who live outside the Eugene area, or who had taken the survey more than once were excluded from the data set. After these adjustments, the final data set includes a total of 2,500 valid responses, including 85 from paper copies of the survey.

• The data set includes 1,892 residents of the City of Eugene (76%) and 595 residents of the surrounding area (24%).


Weighting and Limitations of the Data

• The approach to data collection did not involve random sampling, and the results are not designed to be representative of the general population of Eugene residents. Instead, respondents self-selected into the study, and the goal was to obtain as many responses as possible from a cross-section of adults.

• Respondents to surveys of this nature tend to be those with a pre-existing interest in the subject matter (i.e., arts and culture). This is called ‘bias from self-selection.’

– The primary manifestation of this bias is in higher levels of educational attainment among survey respondents, compared to all adults in the area.

• To offset this bias, weights were applied to adjust the levels of educational attainment in the survey data to actual education levels in the base population (using census data). Thus, responses from those who reported lower levels of educational attainment (i.e., high school graduate, some college) received higher weights, while responses from those who reported the highest levels of educational attainment (i.e., graduate study) received lower weights. In the graphs and tables that follow, all results are weighted, except as noted.

• While the use of weights partially offsets the bias from respondent self-selection, there are other forms of bias in the data, including bias from under-representation of those without Internet access, even though a paper version of the survey was available.

– In comparison to the base population, the data set under-represents the highest age cohort (65+) and also the lowest income cohort (under $25,000 annual household income). Weighting for educational attainment partially offsets this bias. But these cohorts are still under-represented in the survey data.

• In light of these limitations, the reader is cautioned not to use the survey data to generalize about all Eugene residents. Rather, the data may be used to characterize differences between cohorts.


Definition of Analysis Groups

• To facilitate analysis, respondents were classified into one of three frequency cohorts based on their aggregated responses to the following questions:– How often do you attend free live performing arts programs in Eugene, on an

annual basis?– How often do you attend ticketed live performing arts programs in Eugene, on

an annual basis?– How often do you attend art museums or galleries in Eugene, on an annual

basis?• Throughout the report, results are analyzed by these three cohorts:

Unweighted Weighted1) high-frequency attendees 27% 20%2) moderate frequency 39% 35%3) low-frequency attendees 34% 45%


Demographics (Unweighted Data)Higher Freq.

Attendees (n=675)

Moderate Freq.

Attendees (n=982)

Lower Freq. Attendees

(n=843)

GenderFemale 61% 66% 68%Male 39% 34% 32%

Age18-24 3% 5% 10%25-34 10% 15% 22%35-44 15% 17% 22%45-54 26% 28% 25%55-64 32% 25% 18%65+ 14% 10% 3%

Area of ResidenceEugene 86% 83% 76%Surrounding Area 14% 17% 24%

Length of ResidenceA year or less 3% 3% 6%1 or 2 years 5% 8% 9%3 to 5 years 12% 13% 12%6 to 10 years 13% 14% 12%11 to 20 years 22% 22% 20%More than 20 years 46% 40% 40%

Educational AttainmentHigh School 1% 2% 6%Some College 16% 22% 31%Earned a College Degree 27% 29% 29%Graduate Study 56% 47% 33%

RESPONDENT DEMOGRAPHICS BY

ATTENDANCE COHORT (UNWEIGHTED DATA)

• Approximately 65% of all respondents are female, which is typical for surveys of this nature.

• With respect to age, one can observe clear differences between cohorts. High frequency attendees are twice as likely as low-frequency attendees to be over age 55 (46% vs. 21%). Conversely, low-frequency attendees are much likelier to be younger (32% under age 35, compared to 13% for high frequency attendees).

– Results illustrate the challenges associated with gaining the participation of younger adults in traditional arts events

• High frequency attendees are more likely to live in Eugene, compared to the surrounding area, which probably relates to distance/drive time.

• Even from the unweighted data, one can observe the dramatic correlation between frequency of attendance and educational attainment.


Demographics, continued(Unweighted Data)

Higher Freq. Attendees

(n=675)

Moderate Freq.

Attendees (n=982)

Lower Freq. Attendees

(n=843)

Annual Household IncomeUnder $25,000 14% 13% 18%$25,000 to $34,999 13% 12% 11%$35,000 to $49,999 16% 17% 16%$50,000 to $74,999 25% 22% 25%$75,000 to $99,999 16% 18% 15%$100,000 to $149,999 9% 12% 11%$150,000 or more 7% 6% 4%

Race/EthnicityAfrican American 0% 0% 2%Asian American 2% 2% 3%Hispanic/Latino 1% 2% 2%White, not Hispanic 91% 89% 86%Native American 1% 1% 2%Mixed Race or Other 5% 5% 5%

Marital StatusMarried 62% 67% 65%Single/never married 16% 16% 21%Divorced or separated 17% 13% 11%Widowed 5% 3% 2%

Presence of Children in the HHYes 22% 28% 34%No 78% 72% 66%

RESPONDENT DEMOGRAPHICS BY

ATTENDANCE COHORT (UNWEIGHTED DATA)

• The unweighted demographic data illustrates how income levels are much less correlated with frequency of attendance compared to educational attainment. In fact, there is little difference between the income levels of higher-frequency vs. lower-frequency respondents.

– In a way, this contradicts a later finding that cost is the greatest barrier to increased attendance, and instead suggests that relevance is the underlying issue.

• Only insignificant differences were observed with respect to race, marital status and frequency of attendance.

• However, a significant difference was observed with respect to presence of children in the household (34% of low frequency vs. 22% of high frequency attendees), indicating that many parents with young children drop out of the formal arts system.


Affect of Weighting on Income and Ethnicity

HOUSEHOLD INCOME: SURVEY DATA VS. CENSUS DATA FOR EUGENE CITY

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Under $25,000

$25,000 to $34,999

$35,000 to $49,999

$50,000 to $74,999

$75,000 to $99,999

$100,000 to $149,999

$150,000 or more

2006 Survey - Unweighted 2006 Survey - Weighted 2000 U.S. Census

RACE/ETHNICITY - SURVEY RESULTS VS. CENSUS DATA FOR EUGENE CITY

88%

12%

87%

13%

88%

12%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

White, not Hispanic All Other Races

2006 Survey - Unweighted 2006 Survey - Weighted2000 U.S. Census

• The chart at left compares weighted and unweighted income data with actual income data from the 2000 census. Residents in the lowest income cohort are under-represented in the sample, even after weighting.

• Race figures in the survey data, on the other hand, are quite representative of the base population (approx. 88% white).


Respondent Home ZIP Code (Unweighted Data)

• The chart at left compares the top ten ZIP Codes of survey respondents with the actual number of households in each ZIP, in order to see which ZIPs are over- or under-represented in the survey sample.

• ZIP Codes 97405 and 97403 are over-represented in the sample, while ZIP Codes 97477, 97487 and 97424 are under-represented in the sample.

– These results are most likely to related to the underlying education levels in these ZIP codes (i.e., ZIP Codes with higher education levels are more likely to be over-represented in the sample)

PERCENT COMPOSITION BY ZIP CODE: SURVEY VS. ACTUAL HHOLDS

1%6%3%4%

3%

11%

4%

13%

9%

3%

9%

10%

15%

17%18%

16%37%

17%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Survey Respones, Top10 ZIPs

Actual # of Hholds(Census)

97405

97401

97402

97404

97403

97477

97478

97408

97424

97487


University Affiliation

AFFILIATION WITH UNIV. OF OREGON, LCC or NW CHRISTIAN COLLEGE, BY ATTENDANCE COHORT

62% 65% 61% 63%72%

28% 24%24% 25%

18%

9% 11% 15% 12% 10%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

LowerFrequencyAttendees

ModerateFrequencyAttendees

HigherFrequencyAttendees

Total Sample,Unweighted

Total Sample,Weighted

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p

Neither Student or Faculty Current Student Faculty

• University of Oregon, Lane Community College and Northwest Christian College students and faculty comprise 37% of the total sample. After weights for educational attainment are applied, the proportion falls to 28%.

• The ratio does not change significantly across the frequency cohorts, except that faculty are somewhat more likely to be high frequency attendees (15%) vs. low frequency attendees (9%).

• The same data, when examined within the affiliation categories, reveals that students are much less likely than faculty to be high frequency attendees (20% vs. 31%, respectively).


Incidence of Professional Artists

DO YOU EARN A PORTION OF YOUR INCOME FROM PERFORMING OR CREATING ART?

12%

24%34%

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

Lower FrequencyAttendees

Moderate FrequencyAttendees

Higher FrequencyAttendees

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p

• In order to ascertain the presence of working artists in the sample, respondents were asked if they earn a portion of their income “from performing or creating art.”

• Results clearly illustrate the close correlation between personal participation in the arts as an artist and frequency of attendance. Fully a third of high frequency attendees said that they earn a portion of their income making art.

– Most likely, this also reflects a bias in the sample towards artists (i.e., people with an interest in the subject matter). Regardless, it also suggests that encouraging personal participation in the arts is a long-term strategy for audience development.


Frequency of AttendanceFREQUENCY OF ATTENDANCE AT FREE AND PAID

PERFORMING ARTS EVENTS and MUSEUMS, BY WHITE/NON-WHITE (WEIGHTED)

16% 16%7% 9%

40% 35%

30%36%

41% 33%

25%21%

32%

34%

22% 27%

11%10% 6%

11% 7% 8%

26%20%

17%

11%13%

15%8% 14%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

White Nonwhite White Nonwhite White Nonwhite

Freq. of Attendance: FreePerf. Arts Events

Freq. of Attendance: PaidPerf. Arts Events

Freq. of Attendance: Museums and Galleries

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p

Never 1 or 2 times a year 3 to 5 times a year 6 to 10 times a year 10+ times a year

• Overall, results show that a relatively small percentage of culturally active adults attend arts events at a very high frequency.

• When comparing frequency of attendance by ethnicity, several patterns are evident:

– Nonwhite audiences report attending free events more frequently than whites

– Whites attend paid performances at higher frequency levels than nonwhites

– Frequency of attendance at museums and galleries is similar across the two groups

• Among the implications here is the important role that free, outdoor arts events play in engaging a more diverse cross-section of the community.


Frequency of Attendance, by Home Area

FREQUENCY OF ATTENDANCE AT FREE AND PAID PERFORMING ARTS EVENTS and MUSEUMS,

EUGENE VS. NON-EUGENE RESIDENTS (WEIGHTED)

12%30%

6% 13%

41%

32%

28%

39%39%

42%

26%21%

34%

24%25%

15%14%10%

6%11% 8% 5%

31%17%

17%11%

10%15%9% 6%

0%10%

20%30%

40%50%

60%70%

80%90%

100%

Eugene Surroundingarea



Freq. of Attendance: FreePerf. Arts Events

Freq. of Attendance: PaidPerf. Arts Events

Freq. of Attendance: Museums and Galleries

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p

Never 1 or 2 times a year 3 to 5 times a year 6 to 10 times a year 10+ times a year

• While cultural policy is fundamentally a political process, patterns of cultural participation do not respect political boundaries.

• As would be expected, respondents who live in the areas surrounding Eugene participate at somewhat lower frequency levels that Eugene residents.

• Still, their participation levels can be high.


Use of Different Venues and Settings for Arts Activities

% CITING "REGULARLY USE" OF DIFFERENT VENUES AND SETTING

FOR ARTS ACTIVITIES, BY ATTENDANCE COHORT

(WEIGHTED)

Higher Freq. of

Attendance

Moderate Freq. of

Attendance

Lower Freq. of

Attendance

Your home 41% 30% 22%Places of worship 12% 7% 9%Community centers 19% 13% 6%Public and private schools 19% 15% 9%Bars and clubs 20% 16% 5%Libraries and book stores 35% 27% 13%Theaters and concert halls 70% 56% 19%Art museums 28% 16% 3%Natural history and historic museums 10% 6% 2%Art galleries 39% 18% 4%Outdoor facilities and parks 48% 44% 30%Northwest Christian College 0% 1% 1%Lane County Community College 11% 8% 3%University of Oregon 29% 18% 6%

• Respondents were asked to indicate the various venues and settings, both traditional and non-traditional, where they do arts activities. As expected, incidence of use of all types of venues and settings is lower for low-frequency attendees. However, several interesting patterns are noted.

– Theaters and concert halls are the dominant settings among the high- and moderate frequency groups, by a wide margin, followed by outdoor facilities and parks.

– In contrast, respondents in the lower frequency cohort are most likely to utilize outdoor facilities and parks, followed by the home.

• Lower-frequency respondents are more likely to use libraries (13%) and places of worship (9%) for arts activities than they are museums (3%), art galleries (4%) or University of Oregon facilities (6%).

• Overall, results here point to one of the fundamental challenges facing arts policy-makers in Eugene, which is how to provide arts and cultural programs in a range of settings, both formal and informal, that are relevant to a diverse constituency.


Use of Different Venues and Settings, by Income Cohort

% CITING "REGULARLY USE" OF DIFFERENT VENUES AND

SETTINGS FOR ARTS ACTIVITIES, BY INCOME COHORT (WEIGHTED)

Under $25,000

$25,000 to

$34,999

$35,000 to

$49,999

$50,000 to

$74,999

$75,000 to

$99,999

$100,000 to

$149,999

$150,000 or more

Your home 36% 27% 27% 27% 28% 32% 24%Places of worship 14% 5% 8% 9% 8% 8% 6%Community centers 14% 16% 10% 10% 8% 12% 4%Public and private schools 21% 13% 13% 9% 13% 12% 12%Bars and clubs 29% 18% 11% 8% 7% 7% 4%Libraries and book stores 32% 29% 21% 22% 15% 21% 13%Theaters and concert halls 35% 45% 39% 46% 46% 39% 64%Art museums 19% 12% 12% 9% 11% 16% 16%Natural history and historic museums 9% 4% 4% 4% 3% 3% 7%Art galleries 21% 18% 15% 13% 12% 25% 15%Outdoor facilities and parks 33% 42% 44% 40% 42% 35% 23%Northwest Christian College 0% 0% 0% 1% 1% 1% 0%Lane County Community College 8% 5% 7% 6% 7% 6% 2%University of Oregon 30% 13% 14% 9% 11% 13% 18%

HOUSEHOLD INCOME • Distinctly different patterns of use are evident across the income cohorts.

• For example, respondents in the Under $25,000 cohort reported the highest incidence of use of a number of informal settings, including the home, libraries and bookstores, bars and clubs, and places of worship.

• Given the large number of students in the lowest income cohort, it is not surprising that they report high use levels for school facilities, as well as bars and clubs.

• The overall pattern is quite evident: respondents in the lower income cohort are more likely to use informal venues and settings for arts activities.


Arts Participation Profile of Eugene-Area Adults


Centrality of Arts Activities

• A large portion of the survey was devoted to profiling respondents according to an extensive list of arts activities within each of the major artistic disciplines (literary arts, music, dance, theatre, visual arts and crafts).

• The following slides present overall results within each discipline, as well as break-downs for each activity by frequency cohort, so that we can compare the activity profiles of respondents who are very active culturally with those who are not.

• For each activity, respondents were asked to select one of five response items:– Not interested– Haven’t, but would like to try– Used to, but don’t any more– Enjoy it occasionally– A vital activity for me

• It is important to note that these response items do not represent a continuous numerical scale, but rather are categorical in nature. The purpose of these response items is to capture the centrality of each activity to the respondent, including indicators of latent and former interest, as well as activities that are of current interest.

• Results paint a detailed picture of the kinds of arts activities that are vital to Eugene-area adults, as well as those activities that could be vital.

• As you read through the results, consider whether each activity is inventive, interpretive, curatorial, observational or ambient (based on the ‘five modes of participation’ framework, next slide). Also consider the degree of latent interest (i.e., “haven’t but would like to try”).


Five Modes of Arts Participation, Based on Level of Creative Control

• Inventive Participation engages the mind, body and spirit in an act of artistic creationthat is unique and idiosyncratic, regardless of skill level.

• Interpretive Participation is a creative act of self-expression that brings alive and adds value to pre-existing works of art, either individually or collaboratively.

• Curatorial Participation is the creative act of purposefully selecting, organizing and collecting art to the satisfaction of one’s own artistic sensibility.

• Observational Participation encompasses arts experiences that you select or consent to have.

• Ambient Participation involves experiencing art, consciously or unconsciously, that you did not select.

AM

OU

NT

OF

CREA

TIV

E CO

NTR

OL

NO

NE

TOTA

LN

ON

E


Attending Live Dance Performances

Dancing

Everyday Movement

Making Dances Watching Videos on TV

Street Dance

Watching Figure Skating

Therapeutic Movement

Acting

Writing Plays

Directing

Production Design

Attending Live Stage Plays

Going to the Movies

Watching Drama on TV

Role PlayingIn Business

Street Performances

Reading Plays

Theater Clubs

Attending Live Musicals

Going to Live Concerts

Composing

Performing

Arranging

Sounds in NatureFree Outdoor Concerts

Collecting MusicBackground Music

DownloadingMusicListening to Music on the Radio

Listening to Recordings

Map of Involvement Opportunities VISUAL ARTS

DANCETHEATER

MUSIC

Making Art

Collecting Art

Visiting Museums and Galleries

Home Decorating

Seeing Art in Nature

Experiencing ArchitectureViewing Public Art

Decorating Your Body

Seeing Designs inEveryday Objects

Going to Openings

Gardening

Being a Docent

Hear Music in Church


Centrality of Arts Activities: LiteraryCENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: LITERARY ARTS

(TOTAL SAMPLE, WEIGHTED)

56% 59%

73%

47%

33%

56%

6%

31% 28%

56%

21%9%

19%

11%

12%

26%

9%8%

18%

10%

4%

10%

14%

10%

13%12%

9%24%28%

30%

41%39%

14%8% 12%

5%

57%

7%13%

4%

11%

4%

9%16%

5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Write originalfiction ornonfiction

Write orperform ly rics,poetry or rap

Write scripts orscreenplay s

Write essay s Write in journalor blog

Meet w ith abook club

Read fiction ornonfiction for

pleasure

Read poetry Read essay s Read scripts,screenplay s,

etc.

Not interested Haven't but would like to try Used to but don't any longer Enjoy it occasionally A v ital activ ity for me


Centrality of Arts Activities: Literary

CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: LITERARY ARTS WRITE ORIGINAL FICTION OR NONFICTION, WRITE OR PERFORM POETRY,

WRITE SCRIPTS OR SCREENPLAYS (BY ATTENDANCE COHORT)

61% 57%46%

81%67% 65% 66%

55%48%

19%20%

26%

14%

21% 24%8%

11%

10%

10%12%

7% 4%

11%13%

10%

11%3% 5%

14%15%

21%

6% 11%

10%

8%9%5%5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Write original fiction or nonfiction Write scripts or screenplays Write and/or perform lyrics,poetry or rap

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p

Not interested Haven't but would like to try Used to but don't any longer Enjoy it occasionally A vital activity for me

• Among the inventive literary activities, latent interest exceeds existing interest for ‘writing original fiction or nonfiction’ and for ‘writing scripts or screenplays’ among all frequency groups

• More people are currently engaged in ‘writing and/or performing lyrics, poetry or rap,’ especially those in the highest frequency cohort.



CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: LITERARY ARTS WRITE ESSAYS, WRITE IN A JOURNAL OR BLOG

(BY ATTENDANCE COHORT)

33% 35% 31%

56%

15% 8% 14%

10%

11%13%

13%11%

10%

11%10%

26%

20%25%

31%

9% 5% 10% 12%

43%34%

17%

27%30%

18%13%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Write in journal or blog Write essays for business orpleasure

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p

Not interested Haven't but would like to try Used to but don't any longer

Enjoy it occasionally A v ital activ ity for me

• Comparatively, centrality levels are much higher among all frequency cohorts for ‘writing in a journal or blog.’ Further analysis suggests that students are much more likely than non-students to cite this as being ‘a vital activity’ (19% vs. 11%, respectively), which is one reason why it is so high across all three frequency cohorts. Still, this is the only literary activity that is not heavily driven by education levels.

• Relatively large percentages of respondents report some interest in ‘writing essays for business or pleasure,’ suggesting that the business environment is an important setting for this creative outlet.

• Relatively low levels of latent interest were reported for these activities.



CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: LITERARY ARTS BOOK CLUBS, READ FICTION OR NONFICTION FOR PLEASURE, READ POETRY


62%52%

8% 5%

40%25%

19%

9%

8%8%

11%

14%14%

5%

35%

28% 26%

37%

43%44%

3%

50%62% 66%

9%15%

47%

31%25%

25%

11%

7%

12%

4%7%7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Meet with a book club Read fiction or nonfiction for pleasure Read poetry

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p


• ‘Reading fiction or nonfiction for pleasure’is clearly the dominant mode of literary participation among respondents across all frequency cohorts. In contrast, ‘reading poetry’is something that people are more likely to ‘enjoy occasionally,’ if at all.

• Of primary interest here are the high levels of latent interest in ‘meeting with a book club.’ While this points to unfulfilled interest in literature, it suggests something far more important, which is a shift from the solitary observational mode of participation (i.e., reading alone) to a social interpretive mode (i.e., discussion with others).



CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: LITERARY ARTS READ ESSAYS, READ SCRIPTS, SCREENPLAYS, ETC.


40%

19% 18%

67%

48%42%

10%

7% 5%

16%

18%21%11%

11%

7%

11%9%

44%

8%

18%20%

6% 5% 7%

13%

43%

35%

23%18%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Read essays Read scripts, screenplays, etc.

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p



• Reading essays is a vital or occasional activity for about half of respondents, ranging from 40% for those in the lowest attendance cohort to 67% for those in the highest cohort. This is closely correlated with education levels.

• A relatively high level of latent interest was observed for ‘reading scripts, screenplays, etc.’ – suggesting some potential at the intersection of literary arts and theater, and perhaps an implicit interest in doing so socially(i.e., reading plays in groups), with a different person reading each part.


Centrality of Arts Activities: Theatre

CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: THEATRE ARTS (TOTAL SAMPLE, WEIGHTED)

60%67%

76%

9% 11%20%

17%17%

12%

5%7%

32%

15%

6%

7%7%

13%

60% 55%

29%

19% 20%6%

10%4%5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Acting(performing forother people)

Theatricaldesign

Stagedirection, stagemanagement

Attend livestage plays

Attend livemusical theatre

Attend dinnertheatre



• Overall, respondents reported a high level of centrality for observational participation in theatre, including attendance at stage plays and musicals.

• Interestingly, a very high level of latent interest was reported for ‘attend dinner theater.’

• With respect to the inventive and interpretive modes of theatre participation, centrality levels were extremely low except for some level of latent interest (e.g., 17% for ‘acting’), which suggests demand for community theatre programs.



CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: THEATRE ARTS ACTING, THEATRICAL DESIGN, STAGE WORK (BY ATTENDANCE COHORT)

67%51%

73%83%

73% 67%

17%

16%

17%

16%

12%

12%15%

12%

15%

7%14%

12%

4%10% 8%10%

5%7% 4%

6%

55% 58%64%

18%19%

19%

5%6%5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Acting (performing for other people) Theatrical design (costumes, lighting, sets) Stage Direction, StageManagement

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p


• Centrality levels for inventive and interpretive theatre participation (e.g., acting, theatrical design) are relatively low.

• Levels of latent interest are consistent across the cohorts, and in all cases exceed the levels of current participation, even for respondents in the lowest frequency cohort.

• This, combined with the earlier finding of latent interest in reading scripts, suggests some level of unfulfilled interest in participatory theatre activities.



CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: THEATRE ARTS ATTEND STAGE PLAYS, MUSICALS OR DINNER THEATER


15%5%

26%18% 14%

7% 10%

4%

40%

26%23%9%

5%

7%

7% 7%

8%

15%18%

57%

59%

57%

44%

23%

33% 39%

8% 8%

24%39%

8% 7%

15%4%8% 5%4%

5%

62%

61%

36%25%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Attend live stage plays Attend live musical theater Attend dinner theater

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p


• Centrality levels for observational participation in theatre rise dramatically across the frequency cohorts, with the exception of ‘attend dinner theatre,’ for which respondents in the lower frequency cohort expressed a very high level of latent interest (40%).


Centrality of Arts Activities: Dance

CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: DANCE(TOTAL SAMPLE, WEIGHTED)

37% 31% 32%40%

31%

38%

11%10%

16%

18%

20%

18% 15%

18%

13%9%

8%

8%

7%

29%39% 38%

30%37%

6% 6% 5% 4%

37%

90%

59%63%

13% 19%

6%16%

4%4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Take ballet ormodern dance

lessons

Take lessons injazz, tap, orethnic dance

Take lessonsfor socialdancing

Participate inorganized

dancecompetitions

Go out socialdancing

Attend balletperformances

Attendmoderndanceperformances

Attend jazz ortap dance

performances

Attend ethnicdance

performances


• Among the disciplines, respondents reported very low centrality levels for participatory involvement in dance, and moderate levels of centrality for observational participation, with anywhere from 30% to 37% saying that attendance at different types of dance performances is something that they ‘enjoy occasionally.’

• A high level of latent interest was observed for ‘taking lessons for social dancing’ (36% of all respondents), another example of unfulfilled interest in social and participatory arts activities.



CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: DANCETAKE DANCE LESSONS (BY ATTENDANCE COCHORT)

71%59%

42%34% 34%

13% 18%

19% 42%

36% 33%

12%

21%

13%19%

20%

11%

18% 17%

7% 4% 8%4%

11%8%

7%

56%48%

66%

13%14% 22%

22%

4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Take ballet or modern dance lessons Take lessons in jazz, tap, or ethnic dance Take lessons for social dancing

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p


• Although we observe very low levels of current engagement in dance lessons, we observe a relatively high level of past activity in this area (i.e., ‘used to, but don’t any more’), suggesting some level of familiarity with the art form.

• High levels of latent interest in ‘taking lessons for social dancing’ were reported across the frequency cohorts, with respondents in the lowest cohort reporting the highest level of latent interest (42%). This is perhaps the clearest indication of unfulfilled interest in any form of active participation amongst respondents.



CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: DANCE COMPETE, GO OUT DANCING SOCIALLY


90% 88%

42%

6% 6%

12%

9%

18%

17% 19%

34%29%

34% 30%

90%

10%

6%24%

4% 6% 12%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Participate in organized dance competitions Go out social dancing

% of

Ana

lysis

Grou

p



• While very few people report any interest in participating in organized dance competitions (which, presumably, requires a high level of proficiency), larger percentages of respondents reported some level of centrality for social dancing, with roughly 30% to 40% of respondents indicating that they enjoy it at least occasionally, and another 10% saying that they’d like to try it. These centrality levels are only somewhat related to the frequency cohorts, indicating broad interest.



CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: DANCE ATTEND BALLET OR MODERN DANCE PERFORMANCES


45%

18%

47%

11%

11%

21%

14%

12%

11%

8%

11%

9%

52%45%

55%

22% 16%24%

8% 9%

15%

24%

41%

32%

11%7%11%10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Attend ballet performances Attend modern/contemporarydance performances

% of

Ana

lysis

Grou

p



• Centrality levels for ‘attend ballet performances’ and ‘attend modern/contemporary dance performances’ are moderately high, though not vital, and increase substantially with the frequency cohorts.

• Modern dance, particularly, is least central to the lowest frequency group, though they report significant levels of latent interest in this art form, as well as for ethnic dance (next page).


Centrality of Arts Activities: DanceCENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: DANCE

ATTEND JAZZ/TAP OR ETHNIC DANCE PERFORMANCES(BY ATTENDANCE COHORT)

54%

25%

44%

19%

19%

23%

19%

6%

10%

7%

11%

8%

42% 40%53%

32%18%22%

16%

14%

9%

26%

35%

21%7%8%7%4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Attend jazz or tap dance performances Attend ethnic danceperformances

% of

Ana

lysis

Grou

p



• Again, attending jazz/tap and ethnic dance performances received low “vital” ratings and high “occasional” ratings among the moderate- and high-frequency groups

• These are some of the least popular subgenres for respondents in the lowest-frequency cohort; however, ethnic dance shows the highest level of latent interest among all dance subgenres for this group.


Centrality of Arts Activities: Music

CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: MUSIC(TOTAL SAMPLE, WEIGHTED)

70% 74%

36%

71%61%

23%

39%

10%

27%18%

5%

35%

13%12%

15%

10%

12%

11%

15%

4%

11%16%

2%

5%

37%

13%17%

11%

10%

11%

11%8%

7%

4%

7% 2%

42%

30%

55%

42%47%

56%

33%

7% 4% 6%14%

6%21%

8% 12%

30%16%

12%

4%4%5%6%

4%5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Writing,composingor arranging

music

RecordingOriginalMusic

Takingmusic

lessons

Play ing in acommunityorchestra or

band

Singing in acommunitychorus orchurchchoir

Attendclassical

musicconcerts

Attend liv eopera

Attendpopularmusic

concerts

Attend folkmusic

concerts

Attendw orldmusic

concerts

Buy ingmusic CDs

Dow nloadmusic fromthe Internet




CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: MUSICCOMPOSING OR ARRANGING MUSIC, RECORDING

ORIGINAL MUSIC (BY ATTENDANCE COHORT)

61%

79%66%

13%

11%

11%4% 4%

5%5%

8%

4%5% 8%

4% 7% 8%

76%68% 71%

14%14%

12%5%

6%

8%

8% 10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Composing or arranging music Recording original music

% of

Ana

lysis

Grou

p



• As might be expected, inventive forms of music participation (i.e., composing or arranging music) are only central to a relatively small percentage of people, although the levels of latent interest nearly equal the levels of existing participation.



CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: TAKE MUSIC LESSONS, PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY BANDS AND CHOIRS


29%

76%

59%66%

59% 54%

14%18%

8%

10%15%

11%

37%

12%13%

14% 14% 17%23%

4% 4%5%

4% 8% 5% 5% 8%

41%35%

72%

16%

13%

9%36%

41%

10%5%

6%

3% 6% 6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Take music lessons Play ing in a community orchestra or band Singing in a community orchurch choir

% of

Ana

lysis

Grou

p


• Very few adults are currently taking music lessons, although a very large percentage of them ‘used to, but don’t any longer’ (about 40%), and another 15% say that they’re interested in taking music lessons, but haven’t tried it.

• It is interesting to note that levels of current participation in community ensembles (orchestras, bands, choirs) are lower than current levels of inventive participation (composing, arranging), although many people used to do these activities, but don’t any more.

• From a policy perspective, this begs the question “How can we re-engage people in activities that they used to do?”



CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: MUSICATTEND CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERTS, ATTEND OPERA


35%

12%

12%

6%

19%

14%

11%

13%

10%

8%

10%

12%53%

21%

34%

40%

5% 4% 7% 11%

48%

26%35%

5%17%

9%

44%

35%

27%18%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Attend live classical music concerts Attend live opera performances

% of

Ana

lysis

Grou

p



• Attending classical music concerts is a vital activity for 27% of respondents in the highest frequency cohort, but only 5% of those in the lowest cohort. Many more enjoy it occasionally.

• Low levels of latent interest were reported, suggesting that most people who like classical music are already participating in it at some level.

• Opera is less central of an activity, with about 25% to 50% reporting some level of current attendance. Respondents in the lowest cohort reported a significant level of latent interest (19%).



CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: MUSICATTEND JAZZ AND FOLK MUSIC CONCERTS


37%

18%

7%

6%

16%

9%

4%

11%

8%

12%

9%

14%

53%

33%

48%51%

12% 16%

37%

15%22%

17%26%

10%

45%

32%

15%12%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Attend jazz concerts Attend folk music concerts

% of

Ana

lysis

Grou

p



• Centrality levels for attending jazz and folk music concerts were quite similar, with the largest percentage of respondents reporting occasional attendance, and very few respondents reporting latent interest.

• It’s interesting to observe that somewhat higher levels of centrality were reported for attending classical music concerts compared to attending jazz or folk music concerts.

• Note that pattern here of higher levels of latent interest among respondents in the lowest frequency cohort. What barriers might account for this unfulfilled interest?



CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: MUSICATTEND WORLD AND POP MUSIC CONCERTS


25%

24%

12%

5% 6%

8%

8%13%

9% 9%

56%57%

54% 54%

16%24% 26%

14% 9% 11% 10%9%

7%

41%

51%

17% 22%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Attend world music concerts Attend popular music concerts

% of

Ana

lysis

Grou

p



• Overall, centrality levels for attending world music concerts are the same as for attending classical music. This reflects a larger trend in American culture - a shift in ideal from desiring to be a fine arts sophisticate to being a world cultural citizen – being able to appreciate the art of many cultures.

• Among the various observational music activities, respondents in the lowest frequency cohort reported the highest level of latent interest in attending world music concerts (24%).

• This, combined with similar results for attending ethnic dance performances, suggests potential for engaging a wider cross-section with programs reflecting diverse, nonwestern cultures.

• Attending popular music concerts remains the dominant form of observational participation.



CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: MUSICDOWNLOAD MUSIC, BUY MUSIC RECORDINGS


34%

11% 14%

13%4%

4%

9% 7%5%

25%

63%50%

52%

16%21%

35% 39%

33%42%

8%4%

5%

36% 33%

15% 16%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Download music from the Internet Buying music CDs

% of

Ana

lysis

Grou

p



• Collecting and organizing music for personal use is a significant form of curatorial participation in music. Two forms of participation were measured in the survey: downloading music from the Internet, and buying music CDs.

• Note that centrality levels for downloading music are slightly higher for respondents in the lowest frequency cohort. About half of all respondents reported that this form of participation is either a vital activity or something that they enjoy occasionally.

• Centrality figures for buying music CDs are about twice those of downloading music. In fact, this is the dominant form of music participation. Can music organizations play a role in helping citizens expand and enjoy their personal music collections?


Centrality of Arts Activities: Visual Art and Crafts (Summary)

CENTRALITY OF ARTS ACTIVITIES: VISUAL ARTS AND CRAFTS (TOTAL SAMPLE, WEIGHTED)

31%25%

40%

24%13%

21%

7%

9%

11%

7%

20%14%

7%

7%

28%

45%

56%

7%14% 17%

12%

31%

21%

9%

26%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Taking visual artclasses

Art or craftactivites on my

own

Art or craftactivities with

children (any)

Collecting art formy home

Visiting artmuseums and

galleries



• Centrality levels for visual art and crafts activities are relatively high, with highest interest expressed in inventive participation (doing art or craft activities on my own). Of all the inventive activities, this is clearly the dominant form of creative expression (26% ‘a vital activity’). In fact, compared to ‘visiting art museums and galleries,’ doing art and crafts activities on my own’ is more likely to be a vital activity by a ratio of 5 to 3.

• A significant amount of latent interest was observed for “taking visual art classes’ (21%), while another 20% of respondents indicated that they ‘used to, but don’t any longer.’

• About as many respondents reported that ‘collecting art for my home’ is a vital activity (14%) as did ‘visiting art museums and galleries’ (17%).


Centrality of Arts Activities: Visual Art and Crafts

CENTRALITY OF OTHER ARTS ACTIVITIES: VISUAL ART AND CRAFTS TAKING ART OR CRAFT LESSONS, COLLECTING ART FOR MY HOME, VISITING

ART MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES (BY ATTENDANCE COHORT)

37%31%

18%

38%25%

6% 2%

22%20%

18%

13%

10%10%

10%

4%4%

17%

26%6%

6% 9%

11%

4%2%

27% 38%

53%44%

51%

67%

47%

4% 5%17%

28%

4%

19%

44%

10%14%

20%

21%19%

9% 11%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

LowestFreq.

ModerateFreq.

Highest Freq.

Taking art or craft-making classes Collecting art for my home Visiting art museums andgalleries

% of

Ana

lysis

Grou

p


• Latent interest in ‘taking art or craft-making classes’ are consistent across the frequency cohorts, at about 20%.

• ‘Collecting art for the home’ is far more central to respondents in the moderate and high frequency cohorts, compared to those in the lowest cohort. How can arts organizations help people collect and display art in their homes, if this is a valued form of curatorial participation?

• Respondents in the highest frequency cohort are far more likely than those in the moderate and lowest cohorts to say that ‘visiting art museums and galleries’is a vital activity (44% vs. 19% and 4%, respectively).


Centrality of Doing Art or Craft Activities with Children

• About two-thirds of parents with children under 18 in the household reported that ‘doing art or craft activities with children’ is a vital (22%) or occasional (47%) activity, suggesting a high level of centrality for this activity among parents.

• Doing ‘arts and craft activities on my own’ is a vital or occasional activity for about half of respondents in the lowest frequency cohort, and for 70% of respondents in the highest cohort (not shown), suggesting that this is a widely accessible form of participation. Presence of children in the household has little effect on the centrality of this activity.

• Generally low levels of latent interest were observed for all of the participatory forms of engagement in art-making, except for ‘taking art or craft-making classes.’

CENTRALITY OF OTHER ARTS ACTIVITIES: VISUAL ARTS AND CRAFTS

ART OR CRAFT ACTIVITIES ON OWN OR WITH CHILDREN (BY PRESENCE OF CHILDREN)

19%

49%

25% 25%

4%

11%

5% 8%7%8%

13%

39% 28%

22% 23%

16%

20%

47%

27%

4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

ChildrenUnder 18

No Children ChildrenUnder 18

No Children

Art or craft activities with children (any) Art or craft activites on myown

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p

Not interested Haven't but would like to try Used to but don't any longerEnjoy it occasionally A v ital activ ity for me


Art and Craft-Making Activities

INCIDENCE OF RESPONDENTS WHO INDICATE THAT THEY "ENJOY" DOING VARIOUS ART AND CRAFT-MAKING ACTIVITIES (BY ATTENDANCE COHORT)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Photo

grap

hy

Paint

ing, d

rawi

ng

Cera

mics

(pott

ery,

etc.)

Texti

le ar

ts

Sewi

ng, m

aking

cloth

ing

Jewe

lry m

aking

Grap

hic de

sign

Sculp

ture

Movie

-mak

ing

Woo

dwor

king

Callig

raph

y

Illustr

ation

Print

makin

g

Doll-

or or

name

nt-ma

king

Graff

iti ar

t

Auto

detai

ling

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p

Lowest Frequency Attendees

Moderate Frequency Attendees

High Frequency Attendees

• Photography is the most popular art and craft-making activity across all frequency cohorts (about two-thirds of all respondents), indicating how the revolution in digital photography has created widespread interest in this art form.

• While many activities are equally enjoyable to respondents in all three attendance cohorts, there are some notable disparities, including painting and drawing, graphic design and sculpture.



INCIDENCE OF RESPONDENTS WHO INDICATE THAT THEY "ENJOY" DOING VARIOUS ART AND CRAFT-MAKING ACTIVITIES (BY WHITE/NON-WHITE)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Photo

grap

hy

Paint

ing, d

rawi

ng

Cera

mics

(pott

ery,

etc.)

Texti

le ar

ts

Sewi

ng, m

aking

cloth

ing

Jewe

lry m

aking

Grap

hic de

sign

Sculp

ture

Movie

-mak

ing

Woo

dwor

king

Callig

raph

y

Illustr

ation

Print

mak

ing

Doll-

or or

name

nt-ma

king

Graff

iti ar

t

Auto

detai

ling

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p

White, Non-Hispanic (n=2,162)

All Respondents of Color (n=276)

• Generally, respondents of color reported slightly higher levels of interest in the various visual art and craft-making activities, especially ceramics, jewelry-making, movie-making and auto-detailing.

• Due to the relatively small sample size of non-White respondents, it is not possible to separately analyze data on African-Americans, Asians or Hispanics.



INCIDENCE OF RESPONDENTS WHO INDICATE THAT THEY "ENJOY" DOING VARIOUS ART AND CRAFT-MAKING ACTIVITIES (BY GENDER)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Photo

grap

hy

Paint

ing, d

rawi

ng

Cera

mics

(pott

ery,

etc.)

Texti

le ar

ts

Sewi

ng, m

aking

cloth

ing

Jewe

lry m

aking

Grap

hic de

sign

Sculp

ture

Movie

-mak

ing

Woo

dwor

king

Callig

raph

y

Illustr

ation

Print

makin

g

Doll-

or or

name

nt-ma

king

Graff

iti ar

t

Auto

detai

ling

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p

Female (n=1,619) Male (n=856)

• As might be expected, women reported significantly higher levels of interest in most art and craft-making activities, especially textile arts, sewing, jewelry-making, calligraphy and doll-making.

• The notable exceptions are movie-making, woodworking and auto detailing, which are more appealing to men than women.

• Sculpture, graphic design and print-making are preferred equally by men and women.



INCIDENCE OF RESPONDENTS WHO INDICATE THAT THEY "ENJOY" DOING VARIOUS ART AND CRAFT-MAKING ACTIVITIES (BY AGE COHORT)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Phot

ogra

phy

Paint

ing, d

rawi

ng

Cera

mics

(pot

tery,

etc.

)

Grap

hic d

esign

Texti

le ar

ts

Sewi

ng, m

aking

clot

hing

Jewe

lry m

aking

Sculp

ture

Illustr

ation

Movie

-mak

ing

Woo

dwor

king

Callig

raph

y

Print

makin

g

Graf

fiti a

rt

Doll-

or o

rnam

ent m

aking

Auto

det

ailing

% of

Ana

lysis

Grou

p

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

• Looking at the data across age cohorts, one can observe a distinct trend towards higher levels of interest among younger respondents, particularly illustration, movie-making and graphic design (all technology-based crafts, to some extent), but also painting or drawing and sculpture (not technology-based).

• Generally, interest levels fall off dramatically for the 65+ cohort, even though they may have more time for such activities.

• As might be expected interest levels in graffiti art are much higher for the youngest respondents.


Involvement in Other Cultural Activities

INCIDENCE OF INVOLVEMENT IN VARIOUS OTHER CULTURAL ACTIVITIES (BY ATTENDANCE COHORT)

83% 88

%

63% 67

%

67%

85%

93%

54%

55%

67%

77%

93%

39%

27%

60%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Going out tomovies

Watchingmovies at

home

Visitinghistory

museums

Attendinglectures

Gardening

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p

Highest Frequency Moderate Frequency Lowest Frequency

• High levels of involvement were reported for some other cultural activities, particularly ‘going out to the movies,’ although even more people report involvement in ‘watching movies at home.’

• Over half of all respondents reported involvement in gardening as a creative outlet (about 60%).

• Attending history museums and attending lectures, both out-of-home activities, are significantly more popular among respondents in the highest frequency cohort, once again suggesting that at-home cultural activities are a key part of the cultural system, especially for people with lower levels of interest in formal arts activities.


Interest in Geographically-Based Cultures

Lowest Frequency

Moderate Frequency

High Frequency

47% 61% 68%

% of Respondents Indicating an Interest in the Art and Culture of

One or More Specific Countries or Parts of the World

Country/ RegionApprox.

Frequency% of

SampleAfrica 281 11%Europe 242 10%Japan 213 9%Mexico 183 7%Asian 162 6%Italy 162 6%France 141 6%China 120 5%England/U.K. 110 4%Latin America 107 4%India 96 4%Ireland 93 4%South America 81 3%Germany 64 3%Russia 53 2%Spain 53 2%

Countries or Parts of the World Cited Most Frequently (Top 15

Answers, from Verbatim Responses)

• Respondents were asked if they are interested in the art and culture of any specific countries or parts of the world. Responses ranged from 47% for those in the lowest frequency cohort to 68% for those in the highest frequency cohort.

• A follow-up open-ended question invited respondents to indicate specific counties or parts of the world. The most common response was “Africa”(11%). Many specific African countries were also listed (particularly Zimbabwe and South Africa). The next most frequent response as “Europe” (10%) followed by “Japan” (9%) and “Mexico” (7%).


Interest in Cultures That Are Not Geographically-Based

INTEREST IN SPECIFIC CULTURES NOT LIMITED BY GEOGRAPHY(BY ATTENDANCE COHORT)

52%

44%

41%

34%

28%

26%

22%

19%

13%

42%

34% 36

%

31%

20% 22%

21%

14% 15%

33%

24% 29

%

14% 15%

12% 14

%

10%

18%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Nativ

e Ame

rican

Latin

Asian

Afric

an

Afric

an-A

meric

an

Arab

or M

iddle

Easte

rn

Gay o

r Les

bian

Hip

Hop/c

ontem

pora

ryur

ban

Faith

% o

f Ana

lysis

Grou

p

High Frequency

Moderate Frequency

Lowest Frequency

• On average, the largest numbers of respondents indicated an interest in Native American cultures, followed by Latin and Asian cultures (a pre-coded list was provided, unlike the previous question, which was open-ended).

• Here one see higher interest levels for “African” cultures than “African-American” culture.

• Interest levels decrease dramatically across the three frequency cohorts, with the exception of faith cultures (i.e., “a culture primarily defined by faith”), which is higher those in the lowest frequency cohort (18%).


Barriers to Attendance

PERCENT CITING "MAJOR REASONS" FOR NOT ATTENDING ARTS AND CULTURAL EVENTS MORE OFTEN


35%

26%

11%

5% 4%

32%

23%

15%

7% 5% 7%

33%

24%

10%

6% 6%

8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Too

expe

nsive

Too

busy

Not i

nter

este

d in

what

's of

fere

d

No o

ne to

go

with

Tran

spor

tatio

n,pa

rking

Not a

ware

of w

hat's

going

on

Dist

ance

or d

rive

time

is a

prob

lem

Wea

ther

unce

rtaint

ies

Pref

er o

ut-o

f-tow

nev

ents

Safe

ty c

once

rns

Disa

bility

High Frequency Moderate Frequency Lowest Frequency

• Respondents were provided with a list of reasons whey some people don’t attend arts and cultural events more often, and asked to indicate which are major or minor reasons.

• By a wide margin, the top two “major reasons” were “too expensive” and “too busy,” with no variation across the frequency cohorts.

• Comparatively, other reasons for not attending more often were cited by much smaller percentages of respondents.


Barriers to AttendancePERCENT CITING "TOO EXPENSIVE" AS A "MAJOR REASON"

FOR NOT ATTENDING MORE OFTEN (BY INCOME COHORT)

55%

52%

33%

29%

24%

19%

8%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Under$25,000(n=362)

$25,000 to$34, 999(n=272)

$35,000 to$49,999(n=372)

$50,000 to$74,999(n=553)

$75,000 to$99,999(n=355)

$100,000 to$149,999(n=188)

$150,000 ormore (n=91)

• How does household income affect the cost barrier?

• Very clearly. The percentage of respondents reporting that cost is a “major reason” for not attending more often decreases consistently as household income increases.

• “Too expensive” was cited as a “major” reason by six times as many respondents in the Under $25,000 income cohort, compared to the “$150,000 or more” cohort.

• How does marital status affect the social context barrier?

• Again, very clearly. Divorced or separated respondents were many times more likely than married respondents to report that lack of social context is a “major reason”for not attending more often.

• This points to a major reason why many people do not take advantage of cultural offerings: because no one invites them to go.

PERCENT CITING "NO ONE TO GO WITH" AS A "MAJOR REASON" FOR NOT ATTENDING MORE

OFTEN (BY MARITAL STATUS)

2%

12%

21%

9%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Married Single/nevermarried

Divorced orseparated

Widowed


Barriers to Attendance

• Further analyses by age cohort reveals some interesting patterns.

• Respondents in the 18 –24 age cohort (which includes many students) were much more likely to cite “too busy” and “not aware of what’s going on”as “major reasons” for not attending more often.

• Respondents in the 65+ age cohort were much less likely than younger respondents to cite “too busy” as a barrier, presumably reflecting occupation status (i.e., some are retirees).

• About 8% of respondents in the oldest age cohort cited “transportation or parking” as a barrier.

PERCENT CITING "MAJOR REASONS" FOR NOT ATTENDING ARTS AND CULTURAL EVENTS MORE OFTEN (BY AGE COHORT)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Too e

xpen

sive

Too b

usy

Not in

teres

ted in

what

's off

ered

No on

e to g

o with

Tran

spor

tation

,pa

rking

Not a

ware

of w

hat's

going

on

Dista

nce o

r driv

etim

e is a

prob

lem

Wea

ther

unce

rtaint

ies

Prefe

r out-

of-tow

nev

ents

Safet

y con

cern

s

Disa

bility

18-24 (n=157)

25-34 (n=396)

35-44 (n=446)

45-54 (n=661)

55-64 (n=605)

65+ (n=212)


Arts and Cultural Values

AVG. RATINGS FOR AGREEMENT WITH ARTS AND CULTURAL VALUE STATEMENTS (BY ATTENDANCE COHORT)

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

Satisfied withthe number

and quality ofarts programs

available

Communityneeds more

diversecultural

programs

Arts andculturalactivities

offered don’tinterest me

Spending taxdollars on arts

and culturalfacilities is a

goodinvestment


and culturalorganizations

is a goodinvestment


educationprograms is a

goodinvestment

Schoolsshould provide

moreclassroom

education inthe arts

After-schoolcultural

programsreduce crimeand keep kidsout of trouble

Avg.

Rat

ing (1

=Disa

gree

a L

ot,

5=Ag

ree

a Lo

t)

Lowest Frequency Moderate Frequency High Frequency

• Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with a series of value statements relating to arts and culture.

• As might be expected, those in the highest frequency cohort reported the highest levels of agreement with most of the statements, with one notable exception: the lowest frequency group was much more likely to agree that “arts and cultural activities offered don’t interest me.”

• In addition to other barriers, this suggests a relevance gap in the current offerings.

• Here it is important to remember the limitations of the data set, especially the bias towards those who are culturally active.


Arts and Cultural Values

AVG. RATINGS FOR AGREEMENT WITH ARTS AND CULTURAL VALUE STATEMENTS (BY AGECOHORT)

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

Satisfied withthe number

and quality ofarts programs

available

Communityneeds more

diversecultural

programs

Arts andculturalactivities

offered don’tinterest me


and culturalfacilities is a

goodinvestment


and culturalorganizations

is a goodinvestment


educationprograms is a

goodinvestment

Schoolsshould provide

moreclassroom

education inthe arts

After-schoolcultural

programsreduce crimeand keep kidsout of trouble

Avg.

Rat

ing (1

=Disa

gree

a L

ot,

5=Ag

ree

a Lo

t)

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

• Further analysis reveals that respondents in the oldest age cohort are more likely to be satisfied with the number and quality of arts programs. Overall, however, more respondents disagree with this statement than agree, suggesting more dissatisfaction than satisfaction with local arts programs.

• Younger respondents were more likely than older respondents to agree that local arts and cultural activities don’t interest them.

• For the other statements, levels of agreement did not vary much by age cohort.


Information Sources

AVERAGE RATING FOR USEFULNESS OF INFORMATION SOURCES (BY ATTENDANCE COHORT)

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

Euge

ne W

eekly

Publi

c ra

dio

Regis

ter-G

uard

Post

card

s

Broc

hure

s

Email

s fro

m c

ultur

alor

gs

Cultu

ral o

rgs'

webs

ites

Euge

ne W

eekly

webs

ite

Othe

r rad

io

Telev

ision

Regis

ter-G

uard

webs

ite

Avg.

Rat

ing (1

=Not

Use

ful,

5=Ve

ry U

sefu

l)

Lowest Frequency Moderate Frequency High Frequency

• Respondents in the high frequency cohort are most likely to get cultural information from Eugene Weekly (in print) and public radio; both of which were cited much less often by the lowest frequency cohort.

• Television is the most prominent source of information on cultural events for the lowest frequency group. They are also more likely to use “other radio.”

• Interestingly, websites were rated comparatively lower, both those of the news outlets and those offered by cultural organizations.


Information Sources

AVERAGE RATING FOR USEFULNESS OF INFORMATION SOURCES (BY AGE COHORT)

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

Euge

ne W

eekly

Publi

c ra

dio

Post

card

s

Regis

ter-G

uard

Telev

ision

Broc

hure

s

Euge

ne W

eekly

webs

ite

Email

s fro

m c

ultur

alor

gs

Cultu

ral o

rgs'

webs

ites

Othe

r rad

io

Regis

ter-G

uard

webs

ite

Avg.

Rat

ing (1

=Not

Use

ful,

5=Ve

ry U

sefu

l)

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

• Younger respondents were less likely than older respondents to cite all forms of print and direct mail, as well as television.

• The Register Guard (in print) is the most useful source of information about arts and cultural activities for respondents in the 65+ age cohort.

• The Eugene Weekly, in print, was cited equally by all age cohorts.

• Generally, respondents in the lowest age cohort are harder to reach: they reported lower levels of usefulness for many of the sources.

• Electronic sources (web site, email from cultural organizations) were cited most frequently by respondents in the 35 – 44 age cohort.

• Overall, results are consistent with national trends indicating a shift away from traditional media toward viral and ‘peer-to-peer’ marketing strategies that fuel word of mouth.


Appendix: Survey Protocol

City of Eugene Cultural Plan

Cultural Census – Online Survey Protocol, v6

Research Goals The online survey is a vehicle for community input on issues relating to arts and culture in Eugene. Eligibility is limited to Eugene residents, although we will allow responses from residents who live outside of Eugene, and report them separately. The survey effort is a “census” to indicate a broadly distributed opportunity to communicate with the City. Efforts will be made to gain cooperation from a large cross-section of residents, including those who are not current arts and cultural event attendees. Results will be used to better understand patterns of artistic preferences, patterns of participation and attitudes about the arts in general. This information will inform the planning process, along with other information gathered by the consultants. Email Invitation Language Subject Line: Special Request from the Mayor Dear Friends, On behalf of the City of Eugene, I’m writing to ask if you would take a few minutes to complete the 2006 Eugene Cultural Census, a survey about your cultural interests and activities. Your answers will help to ensure a vibrant creative life for all in our community. At the end of the survey, you may enter a drawing to win ten gift certificates to local restaurants. To participate in the survey, click here. Kitty Piercy Mayor If the hyperlink above is not active, paste this URL in your browser address line: Survey Greeting Page [City logo] Thanks for participating in the Eugene Cultural Census! We appreciate your involvement in this research, which is part of the Cultural Policy Review the City is undertaking. For details on this effort, please follow the link at the end of the survey. Eugene residents age 18 and over are eligible to take the survey. Multiple responses from the same individual are not allowed. Your answers are anonymous and confidential, so please be as candid as possible. Let’s get started…

Eugene Cultural Census, draft 6, page 2 of 9

Page 2 of 9

Online Survey Page 1: Respondent Screening

1. Have you taken this survey before? (mandatory) Yes (We ask that you do not take the survey multiple times. Please close your browser window to exit the survey. No 2. Do you currently live in Eugene, or outside of Eugene in the surrounding area? (select one )(mandatory) Eugene Area surrounding Eugene Other (Only residents of the Eugene area are eligible to take the survey. Please close your browser window to exit the survey.) 3 What is your home ZIP code? 97401 – 97490 4. How long have you lived in the Eugene area? A year or less 1 to 2 years 3 to 5 years 6 to 10 years 11 to 20 years More than 20 years 5. Indicate if you are a student or faculty/staff member at the University of Oregon, Lane Community College, or Northwest Christian College. (select all that apply) Current student Faculty or staff (current or retired) Neither 6. In your own words, please tell us what are your most important creative activities. [comments box] 7. Do you earn a portion of your income from performing or creating art? Yes/No You have completed Part 1 of 7. Click Submit to continue.


Page 3 of 9

Online Survey Page 2: Patterns of Cultural Attendance

Please tell us a little about your cultural attendance. 8. Approximately how often do you attend free live performing arts programs in Eugene, on an annual basis? Never 1 or 2 times a year 3 to 5 times a year 6 to 10 times a year More than 10 times a year 9. Approximately how often do you attend ticketed live performing arts programs in Eugene, on an annual basis? Never 1 or 2 times a year 3 to 5 times a year 6 to 10 times a year More than 10 times a year 10. Approximately how often do you attend art museums or galleries in Eugene, on an annual basis? Never 1 or 2 times a year 3 to 5 times a year 6 to 10 times a year More than 10 times a year 11. How frequently do you use the following places or venues for participating in or attending arts and cultural activities? (select one for each item) Response Choices Never use Occasionally use Regularly use Response Items Your home Places of worship Community centers and recreation centers Public and private schools Bars and clubs Libraries and book stores Theaters and concert halls Art museums Natural history and historic museums Art galleries Outdoor facilities and parks


Page 4 of 9

Northwest Christian College classrooms or cultural facilities Lane County Community College classrooms or cultural facilities University of Oregon classrooms or cultural facilities 12. Do you use any other places or venues for participating in and attending arts and cultural activities? You have completed Part 2 of 7. Click Submit to continue.

Online Survey Page 3 – Arts Interests

Please tell us about your interests in different artistic activities. Your answers will help us understand how area residents express themselves creatively. Response Choices for the Following Set of Questions: Not interested Haven’t, but would like to try Used to, but don’t any longer Enjoy it occasionally A vital activity for me 13. How active are you in the following reading and writing activities? (select one answer for each line) Write in a journal or blog Write and/or perform lyrics, poetry or rap Write essays for business or pleasure Write original fiction Write scripts or screenplays Read fiction or nonfiction for pleasure Read poetry Read essays Read scripts, screenplays, etc. Meet with a book club 14. How active are you in the following theatre activities? (select one answer for each line) Acting (performing for other people) Theatrical design (costumes, lighting, sets) Stage direction, stage management Attend live stage plays Attend live musical theatre Attend dinner theatre 15. How active are you in the following dance activities? (select one answer for each line) Take ballet or modern/contemporary dance lessons Taking lessons in jazz, tap, or ethnic dance


Page 5 of 9

Take lessons for social dancing Participate in organized dance competitions Go out social dancing at clubs, parties, etc. Attend ballet performances Attend performances of modern/contemporary dance Attend performances of jazz or tap dance Attend performances of ethnic dance You have completed Part 3 of 7. Click Submit to continue.

Online Survey Page 4: Arts Interests, Continued 16. How active are you in the following music activities? (select one answer for each line) Writing, composing or arranging music Recording original music Taking music lessons Playing music at home Playing in a community orchestra or band Singing in a community chorus or church choir Download music from the Internet Buying music CDs Attend opera performances Attend classical music concerts Attend jazz concerts Attend folk music concerts Attend concerts featuring the music of diverse world cultures Attend concerts by popular music artists (rock, pop, country, etc.) 17. How active are you in the following visual arts and crafts activities? (select one answer for each line) Taking visual art or craft-making classes Doing visual art or craft activities on my own Doing visual art or craft activities with children (any) Collecting art for my home Visiting art museums and galleries 18. Which of the following types of art and craft-making activities do you enjoy? (select all that apply) Ceramics (pottery, etc.) Sculpture Doll-making or making ornaments Sewing, making clothing Textile arts (weaving, knitting, needlepoint, quilting, rug hooking) Calligraphy Graffiti art or tagging Graphic design Illustration


Page 6 of 9

Painting or drawing Take pictures/photography Making movies Jewelry making Auto detailing Printmaking Woodworking Other: Please specify 19. Which of the following other types of cultural activities do you enjoy? (select all that apply) Go to see movies Watch movies at home Go to history museums Attend lectures Gardening Other, please specify You have completed Part 4 of 7. Click Submit to continue.

Online Survey Page 5: Cultural Frame Now, please tell us about your cultural interests. 20. Do you take a special interest in the art and culture of one or more specific countries or parts of the world, other than the United States? Yes/No 21. If Yes, which countries or parts of the world? (list up to three) [three one-line comments boxes] [this data will need to be cleaned and post-coded] 22. Do you take a special interest in one or more specific cultures that are not limited by political boundaries? (select all that apply) Hip Hop/contemporary urban culture African-American culture African cultures Native American cultures Latin cultures Asian cultures Arab or Middle Eastern cultures Faith cultures (i.e., a culture primarily defined by faith) Gay or lesbian culture 23. In what other cultures do you take a special interest?


Page 7 of 9

[comments box] You have completed Part 5 of 7. Click Submit to continue.

Online Survey Page 6 – Policy Questions 24. How important to you are each of the following reasons why you don’t attend arts and cultural programs more often than you do now? (select one for each item) Scale (1-5) 1 = Not Important 5 = Very Important Response Items Not interested Too busy/not enough time Too expensive, tickets cost too much Not aware of what’s going on No one to go with Transportation, parking Disability or lack of mobility Distance is too far, drive time too long Safety concerns Weather uncertainties (too hot, too cold, too rainy, etc.) Prefer to attend out-of-town events 25. Are there other reasons why you don’t attend arts and cultural programs more often than you do now? 26. How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? If you cannot answer an item, just skip it. Scale Disagree a lot Disagree a little Agree a little Agree a lot [Randomize Items] I’m satisfied with the number and quality of arts programs that are available to me and my family. Our community needs more cultural programs for people of diverse ethnic backgrounds. The types of arts and cultural activities offered in our community don’t interest me. Spending tax dollars on arts and cultural facilities is a good investment. Spending tax dollars on arts and cultural organizations is a good investment. Spending tax dollars on arts education programs for children is a good investment. Schools should provide more classroom education in art, music, drama and dance. After-school cultural programs are a good strategy to reduce crime and keep kids out of trouble.


Page 8 of 9

27. How useful do you find each of the following sources of information about upcoming cultural events? (select one for each item) Scale (1-5) 1= NOT USEFUL 5 = VERY USEFUL Brochures in the mail (received months in advance) Postcards in the mail (closer to the performance date) Public radio stations (KLCC, KWVA, KWAX, KRVM) Other radio stations Register-Guard newspaper Register-Guard web calendar (registerguard.com/eventfinder/search.php) Eugene Weekly newspaper Eugene Weekly web calendar (eugeneweekly.com/2005/02/24/calendar.html) Television stations Emails from cultural organizations Cultural organizations’ web sites You have completed Part 6 of 7. Click Submit to continue.

Survey Protocol – Online Page 7 - Demographics To finish, please tell us a little about yourself. This information is confidential. 28. Your gender? Female / Male 29. Your age? Under 18 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75+ 30. Are there any children under age 18 living in your home? Yes/No 31. Your marital status? Married Single/never married Divorced or separated Widowed


Page 9 of 9

32. Which of the following best describes your race/ethnicity? (select one) African American Asian American Hispanic/Latino White, not Hispanic Native American Mixed Race or Other 33. What is the last level of school you completed? Some High School Completed High School Some College or Associates Degree Bachelors Degree Graduate Study G. Your annual household income? (select one) Under $25,000 $25,000 to $34,999 $35,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $74,999 $75,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 or more You have completed Part 7 of 7. Click Submit to finish the survey.

Survey Protocol – Online Page 7 – Drawing Entry Thanks so much for your assistance with the Eugene Cultural Census. Would you like to be entered in a drawing to win ten gift certificates to local restaurants? Yes/No If “Yes,” enter your name and email address (or telephone) in the spaces provided. This information will only be used to select and notify a winner. Name: [One line comments box] Email address (or telephone): [One line comments box]

Closing Page Thanks so much for answering our questions! Remember that you can learn more about the Cultural Policy Review - and get information on the results of this survey when it is completed - by pasting the following link into your browser: www.eugene-or.gov/CulturalPolicyReview

Appendix C Details of the Cultural Facilities Inventory and Assessment

This appendix provides details of the cultural facilities inventory and assessment. It includes the following components:

- The protocol used for the cultural facilities inventory - The report on performing arts facilities - The report on visual arts facilities - A summary of statistics from the forty-six inventory respondents.

Note that the completed inventory forms are available from the Cultural Services Division of the City of Eugene.

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We need your help in developing an inventory of arts, cultural, and entertainment facilities!

The City of Eugene has undertaken a Cultural Policy Review. As part of the fact-finding for that process, we are gathering information about the range of existing arts, cultural, and entertainment facilities in Eugene. Our priority will be to focus on those venues that are devoted primarily to arts, culture, and entertainment, although we will also gather information on those venues that provide cultural activities and events as an ancillary function. The inventory will have a primary focus on the City of Eugene’s downtown and adjacent areas and will include outdoor spaces as well as indoor venues. For the purposes of this inventory, we will collect information on spaces that are used for arts and cultural activities or events whether produced or presented by commercial or nonprofit groups and including bars, clubs, and other entertainment venues as possible. By filling out the following questionnaire, you will assist us in this work. If you have any questions, please contact CPR Project Manager, Mark Loigman at 682.5307, [email protected]. Please return this survey by Friday, October, 27, 2006 via e-mail to: [email protected]; or by regular post to Cultural Policy Review, City of Eugene Cultural Services, One Eugene Center, Eugene, Oregon 97401. Please leave blank any questions that are not applicable to your situation and use additional pages as necessary. Your participation in this process is greatly appreciated. By providing us with this information you are helping the City of Eugene understand how to better support our rich arts and cultural scene. Thank you for taking the time to fill this out!

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General Information

Name of facility: Address: Contact Person (with title): Telephone: Fax: Email: 1. Name of organization or entity responsible for this facility: 2. Brief description of your facility, its mission, and the nature of its activities: 3. Describe your role:

Owner Manager Other (describe)

4. Indicate the organizational status of your facility (check all that apply):

Nonprofit Part of a larger nonprofit organization Commercial/for-profit Other (please explain)

5a. Describe the individuals or groups who are the primary (most frequent) presenters of arts/cultural/entertainment events in your facility. 5b. Describe the individuals or groups who are the secondary (less frequent) presenters of arts/cultural/entertainment events in your facility. 6a. Are your facilities available for rent for public events? Yes No 6b. How do you go about renting and booking your facility? 7a. Do you have ADA access? Yes No 7b. If no, what are your plans to provide it? 8. Do you offer discounted rental rates for nonprofit users? Yes No 9. Facility condition (select one) Excellent Good Fair Poor 10. Future plans/needs for your facility:

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Performance Spaces

The following questions pertain to your performance spaces (including film and lecture usages). If you have more than one such space, please complete page 4 and/or 5. If you have no performance spaces, please skip this section and go to page 6. Performance Space #1 1. Name of space/hall: 2. Estimate of annual usage level

A. Annual use days booked: B. % of available days booked: 3. Space/hall capacity: Permanent seating (#) plus flexible seating (#) = Total capacity 4. Stage configuration (check one):

Proscenium Thrust Flexible (black box/other unstructured space) 5. Space/hall characteristics (check all that apply)

Balcony Lobby Handicapped accessible 6. Stage dimensions (in feet) A. Height B. Width C. Depth 7. Floor material (check all that apply) Spring wood Marley surface available 8. Orchestra pit configuration (check one) Fixed Mechanized Pit seating capacity None 9. Equipment availability (check all that apply) Lighting equipment Piano Risers Audio/sound equipment Film/video capability

Multi-media/digital projection 10. Ancillary spaces (check all that apply) Costume shop Scene shop Laundry facilities Green Room Dressing rooms Box office Reception/banquet space (capacity: reception banquet )

Bar/concession area Gift shop Classroom(s) Office space(s) Conference room(s)

11. Other amenities (check all that apply) Air conditioning Elevator Parking ( Free Paid)

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Performance Space #2 If you have no other performance spaces, proceed to page 6. 1. Name of space/hall: 2. Estimate of annual usage level







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Performance Space #3 If you have no other performance spaces, proceed to page 6. 1. Name of space/hall: 2. Estimate of annual usage level







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Gallery/Exhibition Spaces

The following questions pertain to your gallery/exhibition spaces. If you have more than one such space, please complete version 2, 3 and/or 4 below and on the following page. If you have no gallery spaces, you have completed this survey. Gallery Space #1 1. Total square footage devoted to exhibition space: 2. Do these spaces have climate control? Yes No 3. Do these spaces have wiring for media-based presentations? Yes No If yes, please describe. 4. Type of lighting: 5. Level of security High Medium Low 6. Amenities and ancillary spaces (please check all that apply)

Framing/mat shop Construction shop Loading dock Crate storage Kitchen Gift shop Classroom(s) Office space(s) Conference room(s) Lecture theatre ( Fixed Movable) Parking ( Free Paid)

Gallery Space #2 1. Total square footage devoted to exhibition space: 2. Do these spaces have climate control? Yes No 3. Do these spaces have wiring for media- based presentations? Yes No If yes, please describe.

4. Type of lighting: 5. Level of security High Medium Low 6. Amenities and ancillary spaces (please check all that apply)


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Performing Arts Facilities in Eugene Eugene has a large inventory of performing arts and entertainment facilities, per the following chart. These facilities are fairly well distributed around the community, as per the map presented as Appendix A. Name Capacity Capacity2 Capacity3

McArthur Court 7,000

Cuthbert Amphitheater 4,500

Hult Center 2,500 500 225

NW Christian College 1,900 220

Lane Events Center 1,500 806

The Shedd 806 250 175

McDonald Theater 800

Erb Union, UO 600 151 180

Beall, UO 520

Lane CC 490 100

WOW Hall 450

Robinson, UO 389 85

Wildish Community Theater 284

Dougherty Dance, UO 250

Very Little Theater 220

Actors Cabaret 110 75

Lord Leebrick 94 The condition of cultural facilities in Eugene is uneven. The Hult Center is in excellent shape after 25 years of active use. Other facilities are in poor condition, most notably the WOW Hall. And others, from the Shedd Institute to the McDonald Theater have significant capital improvement needs and opportunities. Let us now review the most significant of these facilities in alphabetic order, considering what they are, what condition they are in, who they serve and how well they do that. Actors Cabaret of Eugene The Actors Cabaret of Eugene is a producing theater company founded in 1981. The Actors Cabaret building was built in 1950 and added to in 1972. The facility, which was once a restaurant and bar, now has two performance spaces. The Cabaret Stage is a dinner theater with 110 seats. It has a small triangular stage 15’ by 30.’ It has no separate lobby or box office area. For support spaces, there are a couple of dressing rooms and plenty of storage. The activity level is two to three days a week, year-round with one performance per day.

The second space, the Annex, is a 75-seat proscenium theater wedged in a corner. The theater, with its 24’ by 12’ stage, is very tight and low. It is currently being used by the Cabaret’s Youth Academy, which is using it for four shows this year and eight next year. The Cabaret is an occasional renter of the Hult Center, but their experience there has been mixed. The facility is in poor condition and is jammed to the rafters with costumes, props and other items. It is very much the project of its two founders, and it is used only by this one organization, but has found an important niche with its Youth Academy. Cuthbert Amphitheater

The Cuthbert is a 4,500-person capacity outdoor amphitheater with a covered stage. The physical structure is simple and effective. There is an area close to the stage for chairs, several rows of benches, then a sloped lawn behind that. The site in Alton Baker Park is excellent, with ample parking, space for amenities, and close proximity to downtown, the University and highways. The City has been spending some money to improve these facilities, but much more could be done to add backstage support and address the challenge of the river entrance.

The Cuthbert is owned by the City and was operated for years by the Hult Center. Operations have recently been assumed by a team made up of David Leiken and Kit Kesey. Kesey also operates the McDonald Theater. Leiken operates the Roseland Theater in downtown Portland as well as running Double Tee Promotions, which brings many of the major touring acts into the Northwest. In 2006, the first year of Kesey operations, the Cuthbert hosted 12 shows with big-name touring music acts such as Bonnie Raitt, String Cheese, Los Lobos and Lyle Lovitt. All but two of these shows were produced in-house. Compare this to 2005, when the City presented only 4 concerts with a total attendance of 3,200. Kesey has a 5-year agreement with the City with additional renewable five-year options. The Cuthbert represents a tremendous community asset that could be improved significantly with some additional expenditures. Hult Center The Hult Center is the crown jewel of Eugene’s cultural facilities. It is a world-class facility that has been home to most of the significant cultural organizations and programs in the City over the past 25 years. The Center is owned and operated by the City of Eugene and is home to eight resident companies. The building is very busy with 700 to 725 events a year between the five spaces of the Silva Hall, Soreng Theater, Studio, Jacobs Gallery

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and lobby. The largest space is Silva Concert Hall, which seats 2,481 and has a very large stage and backstage area that can accommodate a wide range of programs. The hall is well-equipped with lighting, sound and rigging that can support the needs of virtually any user. Most recognized by its “basket weave” ceiling, the hall is primarily used for Broadway and by the larger of the resident companies. Live Nation (previously Clear Channel) has been the presenter of Broadway for many years in the facility. Last year, the hall was booked for 190 days.

The Soreng Theater seats 498 and is an asymmetrical, open-ended and flexible theater. The space can be used as a traditional concert venue, a proscenium stage by use of sliding portal pieces, or a thrust stage theater by adding the pit cover. Activities include speakers, recitals, choir and chamber music, theatrical performances, and dance events. The Willamette Repertory Theatre is the most active user of the space, which was booked 183 days last year.

The Studio, the most flexible space, is 3,000 sq ft and can seat 225 theater-style. It is used for rehearsals, small performances, recitals, lectures and special events, and was booked 163 days last year. There is no fixed stage or backstage area, but there is a modest supply of performance equipment to support events there. The Jacobs Gallery, located underneath the main lobby, hosts rotating exhibits of regional artists as well as special events. It covers 2,000 square feet and has some additional support areas (kitchen, storage, office). The Cultural Services Division expense budget for fiscal 2007 (the largest part of which is for Hult Center operations) is $4.9 million, funded largely through the City via a hotel tax. The following graph shows the growth in that Transient Room Tax over the past 13 years, represented by the blue line. The pink line starts with the actual TRT receipts in 1994 and then escalates by 4% a year to approximate the rate of inflation through these 13 years. This suggests that the level of receipts are the same now as they were in 1994 on a current basis.

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TRT Receipts

$600,000

$800,000

$1,000,000

$1,200,000

$1,400,000

$1,600,000

$1,800,000

FY94 FY95 FY96 FY97 FY98 FY99 FY00 FY01 FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07

There are two other features to this operating structure that are critical to its operations. First of all, the TRT represents the City’s principal investment in the arts and culture of Eugene. Thus, there are high expectations that the annual allotment of TRT revenues will yield substantial benefits to the community as a whole, not just the Hult Center. Secondly, the TRT receipts together with some additional City funding and the provision of services (payroll, benefits administration, collections) represent the only means to make up the difference between earned income and operating expenses. As part of a City department, the Center is unable to raise money from the private sector to support operations. And there is tremendous resistance to the possibility that the Center might compete with resident groups for contributed financial support. In this position, the Hult Center is obliged to manage costs very closely and push for higher levels of earned income. Budget squeezes have essentially forced them to cut back on presenting activity, and they are forced to sustain operations on the backs of a set of fragile non-profit users whose own prospects are shaky. The related dynamic at the Hult Center is the tension and conflict between the Center and the resident companies for which the Center was built. This is not an uncommon problem, and there are many cases of ongoing conflicts that continue today (for example in Portland). One critical issue within this conflict is whether the Hult Center is the right size facility for its users. The following chart shows capacity performances, attendance and percent of capacity sold for the resident companies in the last fiscal year in the Hult Center. Resident Hult Performances FY06 Attendance % of Capacity soldEugene Symphony 13 22,161 78%Bach Festival 16 10,889 39%Or. Fest of Am Music 11 7,684 38%Eugne Concert Choir 6 3,106 35%Eugene Ballet 11 15,393 56%Eugene Opera 7 5,807 43%Oregon Mozart Players 6 3,265 65%Willamette Rep 40 6,997 36%

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This is a dire situation. These groups are not bringing enough activity to the building. And they are not selling enough tickets when they get there. While we don’t have all the data, we can speculate on causes and effects. Facility costs are high, and the Center is obliged to generate earned income from its users. In turn, those users are financially squeezed and are able to invest less in programming and marketing, which thus reduces their earned income and also hurts fundraising efforts. This in turn forces more cutbacks, putting the groups in downward spiral of less money for less work for fewer audiences. In short, this is not a sustainable situation. One new bit of recent news for the Hult Center is that John Ballard and Steve Boulet have bought back their market from Live Nation, meaning that they will be the Broadway presenter for 2007-08 and thus able to develop a stronger and more creative partnership with the building. John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts is a nonprofit community arts center, music school and performing arts venue. Originally a Baptist Church, the building has three performance venues. The 806-seat Jaqua Concert Hall was originally the church’s sanctuary. It is busy about 35% of available days, with ¼ of those days being rentals. The Great Hall is a converted gym with a capacity of 250, with 150 for dinner. This space is host to many dinners, both rentals and for in-house events. The Recital Hall has a capacity of 175, dining for 80. It is a converted chapel with a small platform stage, best for small music recitals, films, and lectures. All of the spaces are available for rent. While it is fairly busy, they are usually able to accommodate most people who request space. The space is good for dance, meetings, special events, and music, but not great for theater. The organization, which grew out of the Oregon Festival for American Music, has been in its current building for four years. The facility is managed by the Institute, which presents mostly music, along with other cultural events. Education programs consist of mostly music instruction with some dance classes. The Institute also hosts an Elderhostel program. The emergence and development of this organization has been a positive development for Eugene. It provides low-cost access to moderate-quality facilities, supporting the development of small groups, and providing additional educational opportunities. Lane Community College Performance Hall The Performance Hall at Lane Community College seats 490 and has a fan-shaped auditorium with a large working stage. The theater was

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built twenty years ago and has a full fly tower, good scene shop and storage spaces and an adequate backstage. The theater is moderately busy, hosting music, dance and theater fifty nights a year plus rehearsals and some class activity. Although the Community College would eagerly rent out the venue to the community, it is very rarely available. This fall, three outside groups will use the facility. The Blue Door Theater, also on campus, is a black box theater space and classroom. The theater has 100 seats, and is used more frequently as a classroom than for student productions. It is not very popular as a rental facility. The Community College also has music practice rooms and a band room, choral room, and a recording and music lab. These facilities are in excellent condition, and the College would like to make those available in the summer for camps and other educational opportunities. There is also a dance studio which is very busy and would be available for rent in the summer. Finally, there is the Media Arts Center, with classrooms, a photography studio and several other teaching spaces. The College is also considering the possibility of a new arts center that might include fine and media arts as well as music and dance; this is still in the very early stages of discussion. These facilities are well used almost exclusively by students. Maintenance and upkeep of facilities is limited given a lack of funding for the entire institution. Overall, the College has very popular fine and performing arts programs that work in facilities that are crowded and less than ideal. Financial constraints at the State level make in unlikely that the College will be able to continue growth of programs, let alone development and maintenance of facilities. Rick Williams, Chair of the Division of the Arts at the College, has responded to this challenge by starting the Integrative Arts Learning Initiative in partnership with local school districts and other elements of the community to deliver the arts to schools and make it a core learning activity for all citizens. This is a very smart idea, a means to enhance the meaning and value of the arts and thus attract new support from all levels of the community. Lane Events Center at the Fairgrounds The Lane Events Center is the newest building at the Lane County fairgrounds close to downtown Eugene. The Center includes an Exhibit Hall and Performance Hall, and also four large meeting rooms. The Exhibit Hall is a flat trade show space of 37,000 square feet. The Performance Hall is a 22,000 square foot facility with a 61’ by 30’ proscenium stage with no fly tower. It is a flat floored concrete hall, with chairs set up on the floor. The theater-style capacity is 1,500, and a banquet style setup holds 1,000. The Center is mostly used for trade shows and banquets, or for lectures and awards. The Performance Hall is not equipped with AV equipment and has limited potential from a theatrical perspective. Nevertheless, it is occasionally used by outside renters with limited resources and technical requirements.

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The Fairgrounds also includes an Auditorium, which was built in 1950. It seats 806, and has no stage or fixed seating. It is usually rented for farmers market and trade shows. One additional space, the Wheeler Pavilion, was built in 1958. It is a round building of 11,000 square feet, with a large flat floor space. This also hosts banquets and trade shows. A few shows use all of the buildings, but most do not. The Performance Hall is the space most in demand, but only rarely used for arts and entertainment, as the venue was not built with good acoustics. The facilities used to do a lot more before the Hult Center opened. As cultural venues, it is certainly possible to imagine that these various spaces could be improved and used more for arts and entertainment programming, particularly for larger concerts. However, the organization and limited resources of the Fair Board and the County suggest that this is unlikely to occur. Lord Leebrick Theatre Company The Lord Leebrick Theatre Company was founded in 1992 and produces a season of five to six shows per year. The Company seeks to provide provocative theater leaning to contemporary and re-imagined classical productions. The 94-seat theater has a 28 x 28 foot, ¾ round stage, with virtually no backstage area. There is a small lobby with a very small concession booth. The theater has no rehearsal or education program space, no dressing rooms, no scene shop and no storage space, which severely limits production time. The Company is trying to grow its education programs; as of now, classes in acting, improvisation and playwriting are offered for youth and adults and have become very popular. The theater is available for rent to outside groups. Recognizing the limitations of the current space and the growth potential of its education and late-night programs, the company has been searching for a new home and is currently in discussions with the owner of a slightly larger building behind the current facility. They are planning a retreat shortly to consider the feasibility of a capital campaign to buy this space. They are certainly to be commended for their progress in this very small space, and encouraged in their search for a larger home. McDonald Theater The McDonald Theater is a 1928 vaudeville house which showed mostly film through the year 2000. It is owned by a local family who have invested little over the years. Kit Kesey Enterprises obtained a long-term lease on the

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property, remodeled the theater and reopened it in September 2000. Kesey has another fifteen years on this lease. The theater’s capacity is 800 seated, 1,300 with orchestra seats pulled. There are about seventy-five performances per year, most of which are live national music acts. The theater is available for rent, mostly for concerts, followed by lectures and local theater productions. A new lounge, located just off the lobby, has a capacity of 150 and is open in conjunction with theater events to serve alcohol. The renovated theater is working well for the presentation of rock, pop and alternative music, and for some community rentals. Kit Kesey is operating the venue on a commercial basis, but he is able to keep rents low with very little overhead and a willingness to leave profits in the operation. This is a great facility for downtown Eugene, and continued investment in and around the building should be considered for its potential to enliven and upgrade the area. Morse Event Center and B. Ross Evans Chapel, Northwest Christian College Northwest Christian College is home to the Morse Event Center, a large gym. With the bleachers pulled out, the gym can hold 1,900. The Center is three years old, and has screens for films, draperies to partition the gym, a small lobby and fluorescent lighting and gym floor. It is busy with sports, but also holds three to four concerts a year, mostly Christian artists and a few other special events. Outside performance rentals generally number twenty to twenty-five a year. An additional space, the B. Ross Evans Chapel, is a sanctuary/auditorium with 220 seats and a small balcony. It has a small platform stage, small backstage area for storage, AV equipment and screen, and a sound system and lighting. It is used for church services, end of semester choir concerts, five to six weddings a year, Organ Music Concerts, and seminars. Some off-campus groups also rent for seminars and performances, totaling thirty to forty event days per year. The Center would like to be able to rent more to outside groups, but there is no staff and few resources to support community rentals. Richard E. Wildish Community Theater, Springfield Located in Springfield, the Richard E. Wildish Community Theater has just opened after many years of community debate and hard work by Springfield residents. The theater has 284 seats on one level, a small lobby, box office and concessions, dressing rooms and green room. The building is a former movie theater, with just the back and side walls and roof trusses remaining since the renovation. There is a fixed lighting grid and Genie lift to access lights, a projector and a sprung floor.

Reviews so far have been quite positive, calling the venue lovely and comfortable. The theater is owned by Springfield Renaissance Development Corporation and was created as part of the downtown renovation effort. For at least the first year and a half, the Willamalane Parks and Recreation Department will handle bookings for the facility. The owners are now

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undertaking the effort to create a volunteer-based “Friends” group to eventually become the management entity. The primary goal is for the theater to be used by some of the smaller producing groups in the area. There are also many community events, such as the Mayor’s State-of-the-City address, scheduled for the space. In addition, the Academy of Arts and Academics, being built across the street, will be a key user, especially until their own facility is complete. Overall, the new theater may play an important role in filling out the regional inventory of facilities. A number of Eugene-based organizations are expected to rent the space and, if their audiences follow them to Springfield, the theater will work well to support local theater, music and dance groups. The lack of a long term plan for the operation and funding for the venue is a concern. Much depends on how well it serves the regional groups who are set to try their first rental there soon. University of Oregon Facilities Robinson Theatre, Department of Theatre The Robinson Theatre, located on the University campus, was built in 1949. It has 389 seats with a fan-shaped house, a small lobby, and a box office that is unused. The proscenium stage is fairly large, 20’ high x 32’ wide, and there is a scene shop behind the stage. The Theatre Department produces 3 shows per year, each with three-weekend runs. It is used for some other school functions like graduation, but not often for special events. It is not appropriate for touring productions. There is the additional Arena Theater, an 85-seat black box theater in the attached teaching building. It is used primarily for teaching, rehearsal and some theater department performances, and it is very busy throughout the school year. Practically speaking, none of these theaters are rentable by outside groups. The backstage area for the Robinson is the Department’s scene shop, and the Arena is deep within the classroom building. The University has plans to build a flexible theater designed from scratch. This would replace the Arena Theater, which will go back to being used as a classroom. The new venue will be called the Miller Theater and have 120 seats and a new costume and scene shop. Construction will begin Spring 2007. Since the new building is going to be built off the side of the current structure, the Theater Department will need to move out of that space for a year. Also as a part of this process,

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the lobby will be improved to serve both spaces. Unfortunately, plans do not include any significant improvements for the Robinson Theater, which looks old and tired. Overall, these facilities are barely sufficient for the theatre department, and less than inspiring. The addition will help tremendously, but only in allowing the Department to gain some of the spaces it needs to support its programs. Beall Concert Hall, School of Music Beall Concert Hall, completed in 1925, seats 520: 340 on the orchestra level and 180 on a step-back balcony. It has a platform stage with an organ and is said to have excellent acoustics and a welcoming ambience. It has limited backstage facilities, two large rehearsal halls, a small box office and no concessions. The box office is not computerized, so the Student Union is used for computerized ticketing. The facility is used for recitals, faculty artist series, guest artists, chamber series, wind ensemble orchestra, percussion ensemble, opera ensemble, choral programs, World Music Series, Music Today Festival, Vanguard Series, and Future Music Oregon. It is also rented out to Oregon Mozart Players, Eugene Symphonic Band, Women’s Choral Society, and other groups as space allows. It is quite busy, hosting 300 events in a ten-month period. In the summer, the space is home to the Oregon Bach Festival for three weeks, followed by a series of music camps, a Composer Symposium and then recording sessions at the end of August. It is a beautiful space with fine acoustics. It is also very busy and generally unavailable to additional community renters. A planned expansion to the building will include a new large instrumental rehearsal space, including a jazz and percussion suite, three new classrooms, new offices and practice rooms and a gathering space. The expansion will break ground at the end of March, and will be complete at the end of 2008. Total new construction will include 29,000 square feet, essentially as an addition to the current facility. More significant are early discussions about a new, larger concert hall to be developed near the Beall Concert Hall. There are no designs, budget, or funding for these facilities as yet, but the idea would be to build an 800 to 1,100 seat hall that includes fly space and an orchestra pit in order to accommodate music, dance and even theater. This is very exciting news, since such a new hall would take much pressure off existing campus facilities and create new opportunities for community-based groups. The current concert hall is a gem, and it is in amazing condition given the level of use by campus and outside groups. The next round of expansion is much needed if only for teaching programs.

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Another round of work that might add a new concert hall could be an important addition for the University and community, if only to take pressure off existing facilities. Erb Memorial Union The Erb Memorial Union is the Student Union at the University of Oregon, with several performance and meeting facilities.

The Fir Room is a large meeting room, with 150-180 seats; it hosts meetings, lectures and meals. Portable staging is also available. While it hosts a fair number of performances, they are all University events. The facility is very rarely rented to outside groups.

The Ben Linder Forum Room is a sunken performance space with built-in risers. It has a

strange shape and pillars, with a 151-person capacity. It also has a projection screen, and is used for meetings, music, theater and student organizations.

The Walnut Room is a 100-person capacity theater style meeting room. It is used heavily for

meetings and lectures and is sometimes used for special events.

The outdoor amphitheater has paving stone and concrete risers, a raised stage area and a capacity of 300 seated and many more standing. It is used heavily by mostly school groups for music performances, debates and rallies.

The Ballroom has a capacity of 600 for theater,

and 360 with a cabaret style setup. If the Gumwood Room is included at the back, capacity goes to 750 (the Gumwood Room is a smaller room at the back used mostly as reception space). The Ballroom’s stage is 40 ft wide by 30 ft deep and is 16 ft tall. It has limited wings and backstage, no fly space, and a film screen that rolls down. The backstage has one large dressing room and a storage space. The Ballroom is very busy — almost every day during the school year – but is available for rental during the summer.

A final space, the Gerlinger Lounge (located across the street from the EMU), has an 80-

person capacity and is used for dinners, banquets, presentations, weddings, memorials and small music performances.

Upcoming capital projects include basic improvements to the Fir and Linder Rooms, such as adding projectors. There is also a goal of adding more technology to the building over time, upgrading a

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few spaces each year. None of these spaces are exceptional for performance, nor are they likely to be after improvements. Dougherty Dance Theatre The Dougherty Dance Theatre is a 250-seat dance space with no fly tower. The space has a new lighting system and stage equipment for concert productions. It is located on the third floor of the Gerlinger Annex; the space is used mostly by students and faculty, and also occasionally by community groups for modern dance, concerts and meetings. It is difficult to rent and use for community groups and difficult to find for community audiences. Cultural Forum McArthur Court has an event capacity from 5,000 to 7,000 people. It is, in essence, a gym that is controlled by athletics, which causes problems for load-in and cultural programs. The Cultural Forum has occasionally used this space for events. The Cultural Forum is a presenter on behalf of students, using student fees to present contemporary events. But this is primarily a facility for Athletics, as it should remain. Very Little Theater The Very Little Theater has been producing community theater productions since 1929. A typical season consists of 5 mainstage productions and 1-2 on a second stage. This accounts for about 75 performances per year. The 220-seat theater is owned by the company. It was built in 1950 and expanded in 1990. It has a full proscenium stage, but no fly tower. The building also holds a backstage scene shop, props, costumes, a green room, two dressing rooms and a good sized lobby. Space is tight, but overall adequate for the company’s needs. The Very Little Theater generally does not rent out its space to outside groups. The company is run by volunteers, with part-time contracted employees for cleaning, set building, and grounds keeping. The organization is now considering the possibility of building a new theater on their existing site. The matter is contentious within the organization, as most of the older members like things the way they are. There is a committee investigating the need for new facilities and potential for a major capital campaign. However they move forward, it is unlikely that current or new facilities can play a significant role in supporting anyone but this organization.

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WOW (Woodmen of the World) Hall WOW Hall is a nonprofit venue for alternative music, owned and operated by the Community Center for the Performing Arts (CCPA). It is a 60’ by 80’ room with a platform stage at one end and a capacity of 450. It is a very busy club; it sometimes hosts seated events, but most often standing room music events. The Hall is also occasionally used for classes, workshops, lectures, meetings, rehearsals and recording sessions. The Lobby Art Gallery features the work of a different regional artist each month (although the lobby is very limited). The Hall is a bit run down, with a small bar, limited bathrooms, and a very small backstage area. It has very basic and outdated sound equipment and a few lighting fixtures, but the CCPA does continually try to improve the space. New curtains were installed in the Main Hall during the summer of 2001, dramatically improving the Hall’s appearance and acoustics. The Hall’s entryway, lobby and women’s restroom floors were renovated during the summer of 2002. Also in 2002, the CCPA purchased a video projector and screen. The building’s electrical systems were upgraded in 2003, and last year the CCPA purchased new folding chairs and the back loading dock and auxiliary wheelchair ramp were rebuilt. Most interesting is the fact that the CCPA is a nonprofit run as a membership organization, with most events managed by a crew of volunteers. It’s a great model in that they are able to offer lots of events at a low cost to the community. However it is very tenuous given the condition of the building and the limited fundraising capacity of the organization. This is a unique and special organization that brings many up and coming artists to the community. They should be supported in their efforts with a plan and resources to improve current facilities.

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Visual Arts Facilities in Eugene, Oregon

The following eight facilities provide a range of exhibition opportunities in Eugene. All of these eight noted here are registered as independent nonprofit organizations or are part of larger nonprofit entities and provide a regular schedule of visual arts exhibitions open to the public. In addition to these facilities, there are other venues for the visual arts through commercial galleries and other retail settings. Such venues, while significant in providing access to the visual arts, are not included in this report.

DOWNTOWN INITIATIVE FOR THE VISUAL ARTS (DIVA) The Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts (DIVA), located in the heart of Eugene’s central business district, is a non-profit organization that operates galleries and offers classes. Created in April 2003, DIVA occupies a former suite of offices, once the headquarters of the Oregon Festival of American Music. Its two floors are a maze of spaces – some quite rundown – that are used as classrooms, workshop and meeting halls for arts classes, films and events. DIVA operates six galleries. At 975-square feet, the main gallery is three times the size of any other. The traffic flows easily from one gallery to another but the presentations are limited by inadequate lighting equipment. Since all galleries are within the same general space, they all have climate control (three separate heating and air conditioning systems, one or the other of which is said to be broken), wiring for media-based presentations (the large gallery, with its digital projector and retraceable screen, is often used as a theater), track lighting in most galleries (with fluorescent tubing in some), and a high level security system. In addition, the structure has a framing/mat shop, crate storage, classrooms, movable lecture theater and kitchen.

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Parking is available in metered spaces on the street or in parking garages about a block away; the gallery has four spaces for its use in the alley.

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON’S ERB MEMORIAL UNION ART GALLERIES The Erb Memorial Union (EMU) – a recreational and educational student facility in the middle of the University oOregon – houses three galleries dedicated to “preserving and protecting the freedom of artistic eand to offering “a wide variety of artistic and educational experiences to stimulate an understanding of and appreciation for art.”

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The galleries are small and because of severely limited parking issues not easy for those not housed on campus to access. - The Adell McMillan Gallery is the EMU’s prime focus. Located on the

second level, the narrow, rectangular, 800-square foot gallery features the work of local, national and international artists. Exhibits change monthly. The attractive space has spacious windows along the west wall, gray carpets and high ceilings. The many windows create full exposure to sunlight for all works displayed.

- The Aperture Photography Gallery on the main level showcases

photographic works by UO students and faculty. Exhibits change monthly. Because the exhibits are hung on two walls in the food court, they have the potential for high exposure to damage from food and beverage, and so must be glazed. The area is usually used for more social than contemplative experiences.

- The Buzz Coffeehouse Gallery on the lower level displays its exhibits on a

wall that is quite close to the patrons who come to the venue for coffee, food or informal concerts. This gallery presents artwork by U of O students and hosts an annual exhibit of artwork created by children from the EMU Child Care and Development Centers. Exhibits change monthly.

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Because they are located within the sprawling EMU, the three galleries share common features: medium to low security; space to store packing boxes; and track halogen lighting; no climate control or wiring for media-based presentations. Media-based presentations are held in the EMU Ballroom on the second level.

JACOBS GALLERY The Jacobs Gallery, located in the lower level of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts is a major focal point for the visual arts in Eugene. It has 1,989 square feet of exhibition space. Operated by a public/private partnership between the City of Eugene and private donors, the gallery features eight exhibits annually usually featuring the work of regional artists. Exhibitions are selected by a jury of professional artists. It has a reputation for presenting a strong range of exhibitions. In addition to those who come to view the exhibitions, the Jacobs Gallery is visited by people who pass through or spend intermissions there while attending events in the Hult Center. The gallery, which has an executive director and is always staffed by volunteer greeters, is often available for meet-the-artist type receptions following performing arts events. With its high ceilings, blue/gray carpets and ample lighting units, the square-shaped gallery is a well-maintained space with movable walls that allow for flexibility in how each exhibit is installed. The space also has climate control, wiring for media-based presentations, track canister lighting, medium security, crate storage, office space and a loading dock. Paid parking is available either on the street or in a nearby parking structure.

LANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE ART GALLERY The Lane Community College (LCC) Art Gallery is located in the College’s Visual Arts Building. Its mission is to “experience life as depicted by regional, national, and international artists” through exhibitions which are “inclusive of a variety of media and concepts.” Juried by a panel of professional experts, exhibits change about every three weeks.

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A 500-square foot gallery features high ceilings, tungsten track lighting, white walls and gray tiled floors which create a bright, airy and neutral atmosphere for small exhibitions. Being part of a large educational facility, the square-shaped gallery has a faculty member serving as its Executive Director. It does not have its own climate control or security system, however (a gallery sitter and security cameras are present). The facility has crate storage, limited office space, a loading dock, limited floor and wall wiring for media-based presentations (no internet capability); and will soon have a woodshop. Parking is free and readily available in the College’s expansive parking lots no more than a block away.

LANE COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM As a repository for the area’s historic artifacts, the Lane County Historical Museum is the only county-wide historical museum in Lane County, which was a destination point for emigrants crossing the Oregon Trail in the mid-1800s. The 7,100-square foot museum is housed in a barn-like exhibition hall at the Lane County Fairgrounds. The massive wooden structure’s exterior was painted black when it was built in 1959. Accessing the building is an issue. While the museum is adjacent to heavily- traveled 13th Avenue, a tall iron security fence prevents entry. Visitors are forced to park in large fairground lots on the building’s east side between Monroe and Jefferson streets and must walk halfway around the building to its entrance on the west side. There is discussion about creating a new entrance to increase direct access. Plans are also being considered to seek a larger and more functional museum space to fulfill a longtime goal of many of the museum’s supporters. The museum is an old and cavernous building which does not have climate control other than a heating system boosted by a fan in the ceiling. It also does not have wiring for media-base presentations. Security is low. Museum staff have

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done what they could with small budgets over the years to maintain the building, but it is a modest facility.

MAUDE KERNS ART CENTER The Maude Kerns Art Center was founded in 1950 by a group of local artists that included Maude Irvine Kerns, a celebrated national artist teaching at the University of Oregon. The nonprofit community center for the visual arts offers exhibition programs, educational programs for all ages, facilities for artists, public events and support for community aWhile the primary focus is on major exhibitions, the center also offers art classes, lectures, workshops, outrprograms, internship programs and performances. In addition, it provides affordable, on-site co-operative studio space for working artists (Club Mud Ceramics Studio).

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A former church, the center offers three adjacent galleries. All galleries have track lighting, very low security, and crate storage. A kitchen, office space and classrooms are nearby. None of the galleries has climate control or wiring for media-based presentation. Street parking is free and plentiful in front of the center. The Arts Center exhibitions feature regional artists with a mix of well known and emerging artists in a variety of media. The Henry Korn Gallery is the Center’s focal point. At 719-square feet, it dominates the building in the former church’s sanctuary space. A 266-square foot platform stage is cut into the south wall. Just off the Korn Gallery to the northeast is the 418-square foot Maude I. Kerns Gallery, which showcases its namesake’s work, although it also presents the work of other artists from time to time. The Korn Gallery also serves as the shortest route to get from the front gallery door to the central offices. Along the way is the Brockelbank Gallery, a 465-square foot, rectangular gallery which has limited and compartmentalized exhibition space.

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SCHNITZER MUSEUM OF ART The newly renovated Schnitzer Museum of Art on the University of Oregon campus is Eugene’s most significant showcase for the visual arts. Its handsome exterior brickwork, decorative moldings and iron grillwork made the building one of the most distinctive architectural structures in Oregon and it is now listed on the National Register for Historic Places. Built in 1932 to house the 3,000-plus works in the Murray Warner Collection of Oriental Art given to the school by his widow, Gertrude Bass Warner, the museum quickly outgrew its space. The museum’s collection now includes more than 12,500 works, and an average of 40,000 to 50,000 people attend exhibits there each year. The museum underwent extensive remodeling in 2002 that brought expanded gallery space. In addition, education spaces were created to provide a hands-on interactive discovery gallery, art-making studio and lecture hall. A new café, museum store and special event spaces opening onto outdoor courtyards were also added. Within the museum are 10 galleries, all on the second floor, with a total of over 15,000 square feet of exhibition space, meeting high professional museum standards. Exhibitions are selected and organized by a professional staff of curators. The galleries are: - MacKinnon Gallery—a rectangular, 1,208-square foot space featuring

American art. - Changing Exhibitions—a rectangular, 4,494-square foot space given to

traveling national and international collections. - Schnitzer Gallery—a rectangular, 2,053-square foot space housing American

and regional art. - Morris Graves Art Gallery—a square, 400-square foot space devoted to the

work of Northwest artist Morris Graves. - Huh Wing and Jin Joo Gallery—a square, 1,315-square foot space

specializing in Korean art. - Soreng Gallery—a rectangular, 2,473-square foot space given to Chinese art.

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- Preble/Murphy Galleries—adjoining rectangular galleries containing 1,322-square feet of space featuring Japanese art.

- European Gallery—a rectangular, 2,053-square foot space given to European art that also houses the McKenzie Icon Gallery of Russian art and the Focus Gallery.

With the renovation, the museum now has full climate control, a lecture room and reception spaces with wiring for media-based presentations, a very high level of security, a framing/mat shop, crate storage, classrooms, a movable lecture theater, construction shop, kitchen, office spaces, loading dock, gift shop and conference rooms.

WOW HALL LOBBY ART GALLERY The WOW Hall’s Lobby Art Gallery’s exhibits are hung in a small, square-shaped room that all patrons must pass through in order to get from the building’s front entrance into the concert hall for all events. However, the space is a lobby, not an established art gallery; its primary purpose is to serve as a public gathering place before and after concerts and during intermissions. The exhibits, which change monthly and usually feature regional (primarily Eugene area) artists are chosen from proposals submitted several months in advance by the Lobby Art Gallery director. The Lobby Art Gallery has been in existence for about eight years. The space lacks climate control, wiring for media-based presentations and its own security system. Office space, kitchen equipment and loading dock amenities are available as part of the overall WOW Hall operation. Access during daytime hours is through the WOW Hall’s main office. Street parking is close at hand, either in metered or free spaces.

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Addendum to Cultural Facilities Reports The following calculations are derived from information provided by facility operators as part of the cultural facilities inventory. It is presented as a supplement to the written reports and includes a list of inventory participants. Total number of respondents 46 Type of Owner Nonprofit/part of larger nonprofit 19 41% Commercial 14 30% Government 13 28% ADA access 44 Performance spaces included 62 Use days booked: 99 or less 18 33% between 100 and 150 9 17% more than 150 27 50% % of available days booked 33% or less 8 20% 34% to 66% 10 24% 67% or more 23 56% Seating Capacity (permanent and flexible combined) 99 or less 13 22% between 100 and 249 21 36% between 250 and 499 11 19% between 500 and 999 6 10% 1000 or more 7 12% Stage configuration Proscenium 17 40% Thrust 4 10% Flexible 21 50% Marley floor 8 Orchestra pit (flexible or mechanized) 5 Equipment available Lighting 31 50% Audio/sound equipment 47 76% Multi-media/digital projection 26 42% Piano 37 60% Flim/video 27 44%

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Risers 22 35% Ancillary spaces Costume shop 9 15% Green room 15 24% Reception/banquet space 32 52% Bar/concession area 19 31% Office spaces 19 31% Scene shop 6 10% Dressing rooms 22 35% Gift shop 9 15% Conference room(s) 18 29% Laundry facility 10 16% Box office 24 39% Classrooms 23 37% Other amenities Air conditioning 40 65% Elevator 22 35% Parking (free or paid) 58 94% Gallery spaces included 25 Spaces with climate control 11 Spaces wired for media-based presentations 10 Level of security Low 10 40% Medium 10 40% High 5 20% Amenities and ancillary spaces Framing/mat shop 1 4% Crate storage 8 32% Classroom(s) 8 32% Lecture theatre (any) 3 12% Construction shop 5 20% Kitchen 10 40% Office space(s) 10 40% Loading dock 10 40% Gift shop 3 12% Conference room(s) 9 36% Parking (free or paid) 18 72% Participating Facilities 5th Street Public Market Actors Cabaret of Eugene Adam's Place & LUNA

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Amazon Community Center Beall Concert Hall and the Mirabell Frohnmayer Music Building Bijou Art Cinemas Campbell Community Center CCPA / WOW Hall Cornucopia Restaurant and Catering Cozmic Pizza / The Strand Cuthbert Amphitheatre Eugene Park Blocks Eugene Public Library First Christian Church Hilton Eugene & Conference Center Hilyard Community Center Hult Center for the Performing Arts John Henry's La Follette Gallery Lane Community College Performing Arts Center Lane County Historical Museum Lane Events Center at the Fairgrounds Laurel Wood Golf Course LetterHead Fine Paper and Gifts Lord Leebrick Theatre Company Maude Kearns Art Center Midtown Arts Center Northwest Christian College Opus6ix Petersen Barn Community Center Pleasant Hill Community Theatre Sheldon Community Center South Eugene High School Auditorium St. Mary's Episcopal Church Taboo The Beanery The Down Town Lounge The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts The Very Little Theatre Trinity United Methodist Church University of Oregon - Erb Memorial Union University of Oregon - Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art University Theatre Washington Park Center Wayne Morse Ranch Historical Park Willamette High School, Powers Auditorium

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Appendix D Working Group Reports

This appendix provides the reports submitted by the five Working Groups of the Mayor's Committee. The five groups addressed the following issues: - Leadership and Resources - Education and Lifelong Learning - Cultural Participation - Communication and Coordination - Downtown and Built Environment

Mayor’s Cultural Policy ReviewWorking Group Report

A Vision for Leadership & ResourcesEugene’s Cultural Plan

I. The Vision

ResourcesOur vision is a dedicated Eugene Arts Trust that will provide funds for a broadrange of arts and culture organizations throughout Eugene.

LeadershipOur vision is a strong service and support relationship between the businesscommunity and the nonprofit arts and culture sector. We believe a healthy andvibrant arts and culture sector requires leadership support from the businesscommunity.

II. Priorities for Action

Resources1. Create a Eugene Arts Trust, established as a 501 C 3 with a governing boardmade up of leaders from the public and private sector. Endowment goal is $10million. (See Appendix A)

2. Endow the Eugene Arts Trust with two principal sources of funding:a. A one-time $1 million match from the City of Eugene that matches the

first $1 million raised, plus an on-going funding allocation from theTransient Room Tax in the amount of 5% annually.

b. Funds raised from private donors and businesses.

3. The board and staff will be charged with raising an endowment fund andadministering grants to arts and culture organizations throughout Eugene. Grantswill be awarded, based on established criteria, for programming, generaloperating expenses, and organizational capacity building. A maximum of 5% ofthe Trust’s principal will be spent annually to support grants.

4. Initially, the Eugene Arts Trust should consider an association with the OregonCommunity Foundation, investing its funds in OCF. The Eugene Arts Trust boardwill make recommendations to OCF for the distribution of grant funds from adiscrete Eugene Arts Trust Fund.

5. The board of directors will be appointed by the Mayor and City Council andwill be comprised of private and public sector leaders.

Leadership1. Create a Business Alliance for Arts & Culture that will foster and maintainstrong service and support relationships between private sector businesses andnonprofit arts and culture organizations, using as a model the Northwest Businessfor Culture & the Arts and other affiliates of the national Business Committee forthe Arts. (See Appendix B)

2. Initially the Business Alliance for Arts & Culture will operate as a volunteeraffiliate of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce.

3. The primary work of the Business Alliance for Arts & Culture will be to forgea strong alliance between business leaders and arts and culture organizationsthrough strong arts advocacy and non-profit board training for businessprofessionals.

4. The Business Alliance for Arts & Culture will recruit, train, and place businessprofessionals on arts and culture boards.

5. The Business Alliance for Arts & Culture will also assist in endowing theEugene Arts Trust.

6. At some point it may be advisable to merge the Business Alliance for Arts &Culture and the Eugene Arts Trust into a single nonprofit organization whosemission is to develop resources and leadership for Eugene’s arts and culturesector.

Respectfully Submitted by:Alan Evans, Group CoordinatorKirk BoydJerry McDonnellTina RinaldiRich Scheeland

Appendix A

Eugene Arts Trust*

As a part of the CPR process, there has been discussion of the possible formationof a Eugene Arts Trust with the goal being support of the Arts. I propose that weconsider creating The Eugene Arts Trust. This Trust would be established as a501 C 3 corporation with a governing Board of Directors drawn from both thepublic and private sectors. The Board and its staff would be charged with bothraising an Endowment fund to support worthwhile Arts projects and to fund andadminister the grants for these projects. This Trust is envisioned as a public-private partnership both in the fundraising and funding sides of the equation.

There should be at least two principal sources of funding. The first would beprivate contributions from individuals and businesses that support the goals andmission of the trust. The second would be the use of a portion of the transientroom tax. There is a history of some portion of this tax being used to directlysupport the Arts. Five percent of the transient room tax revenue should bededicated to the Trust. In addition, the City should agree to match the first onemillion dollars that are raised privately with City funds to help provide the initialcapital of the Trust. The Trust should be run as an Endowment with a maximum of5% of its principal being spent on grants in any one year.

The Trust, especially in its early years, should consider an association with theOregon Community Foundation (OCF). If an association with the OCF weredesired, it would invest the monies in the fund. The OCF has a number ofinvestment managers and their performance over the years has been excellent.The Trust could become a separate fund of the OCF. The Board would then makefunding recommendations to the OCF. I have been directly involved with fundingrecommendations made by both the Hult and Silva Endowments, and the OCFhas never not approved the decisions of the respective endowment committees.The OCF would provide staff support for the Trust.

The Trust should have its own charter and bylaws and be an independent entity. Itmay be determined that a full or partial linkage to the OCF is not the best course,either at inception or some point in the future. There are many advantages that Isee in being linked to the OCF but there is at least one significant disadvantage tonote. Most of the funds that are run by the OCF and staffed by the OCF are fairlypassive as far as raising new funds from private donors, businesses and grantingagencies. A Eugene Arts Trust that is run with its own staff will be more likely tohave success in these areas. But the cost of staffing is imposing to a newly formedorganization. This is a very important early decision and I would suggest that if thisproposal is deemed to have merit, that a small group be appointed to research allavailable options.

By having part of the Board of Directors be publicly appointed by Mayor andCouncil, the City maintains an active role in support of the Trust, in keeping with itsfinancial support. Perhaps a Councilor(s) might be interested in serving. HavingCommunity leaders from the private side serving on the Board smoothes out thepolitics and also allows the Trust to pursue private donations in a way that itotherwise could not. It is this Board that would be the controlling entity of the Trust.

To both support the resident companies of the Hult Center and garner theirsupport for the Trust, the Trust should consider earmarking say 20% of its grantsto these groups. The Hult Center as a presenter should be an eligible recipient.The balance of the funds should be awarded to individual artists and non- profitswith projects deemed to be of merit. The Trust should consider giving some sort ofpreference to projects that benefit the Downtown. The criteria for eligibility maywell be complicated and will require a great deal of thought and effort, with carefulconsideration being given to both intended and unintended consequences.

Ten million dollars would generate $500,000 a year in grant funds. That wouldmake a very real difference to artists, non-profits and our community. Smallendeavors often require as much effort as large ones. If we really want to promotethe Arts and live up to our slogan, let’s set our sights high and see what we cancollectively accomplish.

* This proposal was developed by Alan Evans in consultation with Tina Rinaldi, David Kelly, andMayor Kitty Piercy

Appendix B

Eugene Arts Trust*

As a part of the CPR process, there has been discussion of the possible formation of a Eugene Arts Trust with the goal being support of the Arts. I propose that we consider creating The Eugene Arts Trust. This Trust would be established as a 501 C 3 corporation with a governing Board of Directors drawn from both the public and private sectors. The Board and its staff would be charged with both raising an Endowment fund to support worthwhile Arts projects and to fund and administer the grants for these projects. This Trust is envisioned as a public-private partnership both in the fundraising and funding sides of the equation.

There should be at least two principal sources of funding. The first would be private contributions from individuals and businesses that support the goals and mission of the trust. The second would be the use of a portion of the transient room tax. There is a history of some portion of this tax being used to directly support the Arts. Five percent of the transient room tax revenue should be dedicated to the Trust. In addition, the City should agree to match the first one million dollars that are raised privately with City funds to help provide the initial capital of the Trust. The Trust should be run as an Endowment with a maximum of 5% of its principal being spent on grants in any one year.

The Trust, especially in its early years, should consider an association with the Oregon Community Foundation (OCF). If an association with the OCF were desired, it would invest the monies in the fund. The OCF has a number of investment managers and their performance over the years has been excellent. The Trust could become a separate fund of the OCF. The Board would then make funding recommendations to the OCF. I have been directly involved with funding recommendations made by both the Hult and Silva Endowments, and the OCF has never not approved the decisions of the respective endowment committees. The OCF would provide staff support for the Trust.

The Trust should have its own charter and bylaws and be an independent entity. It may be determined that a full or partial linkage to the OCF is not the best course, either at inception or some point in the future. There are many advantages that I see in being linked to the OCF but there is at least one significant disadvantage to note. Most of the funds that are run by the OCF and staffed by the OCF are fairly passive as far as raising new funds from private donors, businesses and granting agencies. A Eugene Arts Trust that is run with its own staff will be more likely to have success in these areas. But the cost of staffing is imposing to a newly formed organization. This is a very important early decision and I would suggest that if this proposal is deemed to have merit, that a small group be appointed to research all available options.

By having part of the Board of Directors be publicly appointed by Mayor and Council, the City maintains an active role in support of the Trust, in keeping with its financial support. Perhaps a Councilor(s) might be interested in serving. Having Community leaders from the private side serving on the Board smoothes out the

politics and also allows the Trust to pursue private donations in a way that it otherwise could not. It is this Board that would be the controlling entity of the Trust.

To both support the resident companies of the Hult Center and garner their support for the Trust, the Trust should consider earmarking say 20% of its grants to these groups. The Hult Center as a presenter should be an eligible recipient. The balance of the funds should be awarded to individual artists and nonprofits with projects deemed to be of merit. The Trust should consider giving some sort of preference to projects that benefit the Downtown. The criteria for eligibility may well be complicated and will require a great deal of thought and effort, with careful consideration being given to both intended and unintended consequences.

Ten million dollars would generate $500,000 a year in grant funds. That would make a very real difference to artists, non-profits and our community. Small endeavors often require as much effort as large ones. If we really want to promote the Arts and live up to our slogan, let’s set our sights high and see what we can collectively accomplish.

* This proposal was developed by Alan Evans in consultation with Tina Rinaldi, David Kelly, and Mayor Kitty Piercy

Arts Education: Creating A Foundation for Academic Excellence Proposal From the Arts Education Committee of the Mayor’s Cultural Policy Review Committee of the City of Eugene March 5, 2007 Rick Williams, Chair, Mindy Linder, Yvonne Stubbs We are naturally surrounded by art. The arching bows of snow-bent firs, the cold glow of the false dawn as ducks settle on still water, the poise of a tai chi master in the park, the massive grace of a Calder sculpture downtown, thousands of media images flowing from screens or posters in store and museum windows and galleries, and the seedling sprouting from a crack in the sidewalk, casting a long and abstract shadow at daybreak. Art changes our lives by affecting our consciousness and our nonconscious motivations. It shapes our mood, our vision, our creativity, our perceptions of reality and our behavior. Art helps us reflect on who we have been, and who we are becoming. For millennia the arts were the core of education formally and informally, in culture and in school. In the 18th and 19th centuries the educated individual was versed in literature, poetry, painting, dance, sports, and music. These were the foundations for deeper explorations in botany, alchemy, geography and the sustaining source of creative thinking and problem solving that served explorations in a life of meaning and the meaning of life. In the 20th century the mass exodus from farms and rural communities filled the cities and supported the growth of industry and the new sciences. The focus on the foundational place of the arts as the core of pedagogy and learning that integrated disciplines gave way to the new light shining on modernization and specialization. The arts moved, for the first time, from primary to secondary and finally to the periphery of the educational model. They were replaced by a focus on linear and critical thinking based on logic and reason. The power of the intuitive mind and the inner voice was subsumed by the drive for quantification and measurability represented by test scores and spread sheets. But in the final decades of the 20th century, technology and the sciences—physics, chemistry, math, biology—wove an interdisciplinary framework that revealed the human mind and the human spirit as integrated parts of a greater whole. With breakthroughs from cognitive scientists and psychologists, beginning in the 1970s with left/right brain theory and multiple intelligence s theory, we began to understand the complexity and integrated processes of the mind. We explored the left and the right, the quantitative and qualitative, the intellect and the senses, intelligence and emotion, and the rational and intuitive aspects of humanness. Later, in the 1990s, cognitive neuroscientists used magnetic resonance imaging of the brain to explore and reveal the cognitive centers and processes of the conscious and the unconscious mind to uncover the core modalities of creativity and problem solving. By 1997 cognitive neuroscientists Antoine Bechara and Antonio Damasio at the University of Iowa Medical School broke the code and revealed the primacy of the unconscious mind as the cognitive center of creativity and problem solving.

This research in cognitive neuroscience maps brain functions using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) revealling that anytime an individual works to solve any problem, the cognitive processes involved rely on a synthesis of unconscious memories in the prefrontal lobes of the brain with nonconscious representations of perceptual and intellectual information relevant to the problem. These nonconscious cognitive modalities represent the nonconscious creative and problem-solving functions that facilitate new behavior before the conscious, rational mind is even aware that problems are being solved or or behavior generated. In terms of using our intelligences to creatively solve problems and generate advantageous behavior, we are not the conscious, rationally motivated thinkers that we believe we are. These findings are significant to arts education and support efforts toward integrative arts learning that have been successful in improving student performance across disciplines in studies in Chicago, Boston, New York, Los Angeles and other cities since the mid 1990s. Integration of neuroscience, visual communication and arts education in these pioneering projects shows that when individuals or groups participate in artistic processes, they continually stimulate this same cognitive core of creativity, problem solving, decision making and behavior motivation in ways that build neural networks that enhance intelligences for these abilities. Because these unconscious cognitive processes are the same for all creative problem solving, gains are transferable across all disciplines and life and work activities. This explains why integrating arts throughout the curriculum helps enhance multiple intelligences, creativity, problem solving and decision-making abilities, learning and understanding from multiple perspectives, communication, and academic life and performance. Because individuals enjoy the arts, arts integration also helps students engage more deeply in learning and community and in developing personal and community balance in ways that enrich the quality of life for all while facilitating sustainability. There are many ways that we can reap the benefits of integrating the arts into the fabric of our lives as individuals and as a community. Integrative arts through formal educational processes is one significant and doable way. And enhancing the arts can enhance performance and enjoyment and creativity in all areas of life, including business, social, personal and community activities. Thus, the Educational Task Force of the Mayor’s Cultural Policy Review Committee for the City of Eugene has identified four major areas in which we believe the city should support the development of sustainable programs to help integrate the arts into the lives of the Eugene Community. Many of integrative arts initiatives can be, and some already are, shared by stakeholders in both Eugene and Springfield. We recommend that this a partnership in support of arts education be integrated with our sister city wherever possible and with the rest of the state as appropriate. Because pioneering work in integrative arts is already being piloted through the Lane Community College Oregon Integrative Arts Partnership, Eugene and Springfield are poised to become a center for arts integration in the Northwest. The four initiatives recommended below will help

unify city arts stakeholders in support of these important and innovative partnerships. Together we can engage the arts to enhance learning and performance in ways that enhance the social, economic, educational and cultural fabric of our dynamic and innovative city of the arts and outdoors. The Arts and K-12 Education Vision Statement: to significantly enhance student engagement, learning and performance across disciplines in Eugene and Springfield public schools by supporting sustainable development of the LCC Oregon Integrative Arts Partnership and other integrative arts initiatives in partnership with Springfield. Because of budget reductions and emphasis on standardized testing in math, science and language in recent decades, the arts in K-12 educational models have been significantly reduced, though most schools retain some form of arts. Many administrators and teachers understand the advantages of and need for arts education but do not have the means to support or develop arts education. A new initiative at Lane Community College, the Oregon Integrative Arts Partnership (OIAP) is implementing a pilot project in 4J, Bethel and Springfield school districts to support not only immersive arts but also the integration of arts into the traditional academic classrooms. As discussed above, these programs facilitate student engagement and learning in math, science, English and social studies in ways that enhance performance across disciplines and on standardized tests, along with other significant advancements that help narrow the learning gap. At the time of this writing, the OIAP, funded by the Rosaria Haugland Foundation and LCC, is integrating arts into North Eugene High School, The Arts Academy of Springfield, Briggs Middle School and Bratten and Guy Lee Elementary schools. By May the OIAP will begin training for the 14 Gates Oregon Small Schools Initiative High Schools throughout the state and will enlarge the number of schools in Eugene and Springfield. The plan is to develop an ongoing training and development program at LCC in conjunction with both the Education and Arts schools at the University of Oregon and with other local stakeholders, such as the Lane Arts Council, DIVA, and others. We believe the initial development and implementation of the programs can be sustained through grants for approximately 3-5 years. Research shows that it takes approximately 5 years to fully establish integrative arts programs so that they show immense progress and success toward sustainability. Sustainability beyond that time will need to be incrementally transferred to the schools as the programs become a core component of K-12 pedagogy. We encourage the city to support this innovative partnership plan to support a sustainable future for arts integration in our K-12 schools, thus assuring the highest levels of achievement and performance for our students. The Arts and Business

Vision Statement: Significantly enhance business practices and success in the Eugene/Springfield area by educating business partners in integrative arts practices that advance creativity and problem solving abilities and support efficiency, productivity and success in business and community efforts. The same enhancement in creativity and problem-solving abilities that are advanced by arts integration in the public schools can be applied to more efficient, productive and creative organization and work practices in businesses. Many high-level, national and multi-national businesses have already engaged consultants and workshop facilitators to help their employees enhance creativity, productivity and efficiency through the use of integrative arts processes. We encourage the city to support integrative arts initiatives at LCC, Lane Arts Council, DIVA and UO to advance the use of best practices in businesses in Eugene, Springfield and Oregon. Life-Long Learning in the Arts Vision Statement: Significantly support and advance life-long learning opportunities by providing support for galleries, museums and other arts and public organizations that provide these services. Opportunities for life-long learning in the arts in Eugene are largely provided by galleries, museums, studios and other arts and public organizations, many of which are concentrated in and around downtown Eugene. In order for this arts community to continue to provide these and other arts-related opportunities, it is necessary for Eugene to have a thriving, residential, commercial, pedestrian and retail friendly downtown as a draw for people. Below are listed significant ways in which the city can support specific arts groups that have responded to our questionnaire. Diva Street signs downtown listing galleries Develop downtown as a thriving and attractive business community. Provide incentives for businesses to be involved with and support the arts downtown. Make downtown a primary tourist destination. Support after school art programs. Facilitate connection and sharing with city and other art galleries. White Lotus Create a more positive and vital downtown. Redesign First Friday to better benefit galleries. Involve city with shows and exhibitions by sponsoring themed exhibition among galleries. Provide free parking downtown during First Fridays to benefit downtown businesses and galleries. Schedd Street signs showing were the galleries are located.

Enhance downtown as a tourist destination. Develop special programs with city and interaction with galleries. Provide free and more parking. Support after school program. Maude Kerns Support arts classes. Recognize historical significance , such as the oldest standing church (1800). section / art / federal buildings university district/ museum / Put signs on buses and at bus stops showing were the art is. Coordinated maps and calendars, website. Enhance downtown with stores. Arts significant on City Web site and easy to find. Buses to and from first Friday Church Support after school programs. Support counseling for teens and adults. Support art classes for all ages. Support drug programs. Educating the Public About the Arts Vision Statement: Significantly enhance public awareness of the arts and the advantages of arts in their lives and its affect on cultural development. Steps: 1. City sponsored/supported on-going education events in coordination with arts organization and education institutions.

Events will include both ticketed and free opportunities. Discount opportunities will be made available to students and citizens of low income. A. Festivals & related events • City of Eugene encourages organizations and education institutions to host

festivals for theatre, dance, music, film, visual arts, literary arts and culture. Existing examples include the Bach Festival, Asian Festival and National Dance Week.

B. Lectures & talks • Guest speakers—professionals and leaders in arts fields that perhaps would not

regularly visit a city of Eugene’s size. For example, writers, actors, dancers etc. C. Workshops & conferences

• Guest artists and educators who provide hands-on experience in the explorations and development of cutting edge art methods, education models etc. Existing examples include Lane Community College’s Oregon Integrative Arts Partnership that supports integration of arts learning into the core curriculum of public schools to enhance student learning and performance.

2. City wide campaign coordinated with the City of Springfield to promote the LCC integrative arts initiative. Explain and support the theory that the process of creating arts allows for critical thinking, new ideas, enhancing intelligence, the ability to enjoy and understand material and life in more depth.

Campaign includes coordinated public relations efforts using but not limited to: • Posters, flyers, banners, bookmarks, notebooks, organizers, folders, billboards,

direct mail to all citizens • Print, television and radio ads • Print, television and radio news coverage • Public and ticketed events to generate interests: speakers, conference, workshops,

as listed in step 1. • Public meetings • Required events for educators, administrators, parents, city employees and

officials.

3. City sponsored/supported grass roots initiative to encourage the public to get more involved in the arts. A. Participation

• Audience—coordinated marketing efforts between arts organizations with city support to provide public awareness of performances, galleries and other arts opportunities. Provide additional angle about contributions of an audience member: how many paid events would each citizen of Eugene have to attend to keep Eugene’s arts organizations financially healthy and thriving?

• Artists—Efforts to market idea that “everyone is an artists”—listing ways in which the average citizen engages in artistic activity in their daily life.

-Provide opportunities to share art -Explain benefits of having an artistic outlet • Donation—Coordinated efforts to solicit private and public sector support

for the arts. -Incentives/benefits -Show how much each citizen would have to give that would provide a flourishing education program and help arts organizations.

Funding A. Once the City of Eugene and the City of Springfield have coordinated efforts to educate the public on the importance of arts—develop ballot measures to provide

public funding for continued City support of integrative arts in schools, businesses and public areas. • Tourist tax increase

• Gas tax increase B. Incentives for citizens to donate ($5?) from every paycheck (withdrawn like tax) to a public fund that provides integrative arts programs in schools. C. Eugene work with other cities in Oregon and Oregon government representatives to initiate a national campaign to urge the federal government to take a firm stand in support of integrative arts in education and the healthy proliferation of arts and cultural organizations and opportunities in the United States.

• Federal funding and subsidies • Arts as a national priority

Participation and Audiences Report Respectfully submitted by: Mindy A. Linder Tim Smith Marguerite Zolman Participation and Audiences encompasses the diverse range of ways that individuals and groups interact with and encounter arts and culture in Eugene. Vision Statements—what success would be like in ten years as it relates to Participation and Audiences. Vision 1: A significantly larger number of Eugene citizens actively participating in at least a few more arts and culture events in Eugene per year. Vision 2: Eugene would have a thriving residential, commercial, pedestrian and retail- friendly downtown as a draw for people. Vision 3:

Eugene would be viewed as a cultural/tourist destination, serving as a draw to encourage visitors to participate in arts and culture events.

Vision 4: Eugene’s arts and culture venues/organizations would offer a greater variety of programming to serve a greater diversity of audience interests. Vision 5: There would be a much greater presence and emphasis on arts in Eugene area schools. Steps to getting there—specific steps that would move the community closer to each of the above vision statements of success. Vision 1:

1. Professional analysis to assess attendance with an eye to determining why some participate in arts and culture and why some don’t; with a special emphasis on needs and concerns of youth and low income citizens.

2. Review professional analysis and take action accordingly. 3. Provide increased funding for marketing of artists and organizations which

promote awareness of arts and culture with an emphasis on reaching audiences which are not currently being reached, perhaps coordinated through a central arts/culture entity.

4. Send a complimentary generic ticket to each Eugene citizen once a year to be redeemed at any arts or cultural event in the city of Eugene, (subject to restrictions) to be underwritten by a 1% increase in the room tax.

5. Half price tickets at the Hult Center ticket office (for events at the Hult Center) available within thirty minutes of performances for unsold seats, with some restrictions.

Vision 2:

1. Significant public sector incentives for developers and businesses to bring housing, office and retail to downtown, which would have the effect of:

• Increased pedestrian traffic in downtown • Improve perception of safety in downtown • Increased economic success and vitality of downtown businesses • Increased participation in arts and culture events in downtown

2. City owned property rented ONLY to art groups and related businesses and organizations in selected areas of downtown.

• Reduced rent for businesses and/or organizations whose purpose compliments the nature of the selected area (galleries/frame shops in the Gallery District, theatres in the Theatre District, all night venues in the Red Light District—see #4 below).

3. Encourage and create incentives for visually appealing elements such as: • Banners • Street art • Attractive streets and sidewalks • Designated ‘tag’ art area • Artsy street furniture with an emphasis on ample seating • Awnings • Drinking fountains • Trash receptacles • Making empty store fronts available to artists for display • Landscape art/architecture • Government commissioned public art, such as sculpture, mosaics,

murals etc. 4. ‘Branding’ areas in downtown, such as ‘Mid Town’, ‘South Town’ in

other areas of Eugene. • Create districts in the city, with an emphasis on downtown such as: -Art or Gallery District -Theatre District -Music District -Mutli-Cultural District -Train District -River District -Red (Blue?) Light District

Vision 3: 1. Professional analysis performed to determine: What is a tourist

destination? • What draws people? • What do we as a community lack in light of that definition? • Put policies in place to steer community in that direction

2. Increase in hospitality venues and amenities to accommodate larger (long-distance/visiting) audiences and cultural participants.

• Convention Center? • More hotel rooms • Coordinated effort to create a brochure/map of Eugene and its

unique business, cultural and artistic offerings (districts etc.). 3. Aggressively market ‘World’s Greatest…’ image outside of Eugene. 4. Increased signage on freeway and surrounding areas to draw people to

Eugene. Vision 4:

1. Arts groups in a ‘healthier’ more stable financial position. 2. Artists as paid career professionals 3. Significant stable funding resources

• Greater public funding for the arts • Private sector to increase donorship, sponsorship, partnership • Increase education opportunities for arts administrators and

organization boards on grant writing, sponsorship proposals, campaign creation/management and other means of increasing revenue; i.e., conferences, seminars, speakers, workshops etc.

• Increase tourist tax and allocate increase to arts in downtown. • Coordinate with Springfield to do the same with their tax and

downtown arts development. Vision 5:

1. Aggressively seek stable funding resources both private and public • Grant writing • Sponsorship • Donorship • Endowment • Increase gas tax by 1 penny per gallon in Eugene and dedicate

increase to arts in schools. Coordinate with Springfield to do the same with their tax and school arts integration.

2. Work with artists, public and secondary education institutions on

providing opportunities to learn ways in which to integrate arts across all curriculum in education. Use the work of Lane Community College and the Springfield school district as an example of this.

Mayor’s Cultural Policy Review- Coordination and Communication Work Group Report - 3/2/07

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Mayor’s Cultural Policy Review

Working Group: Coordination & Communications

VISION STATEMENT The art and culture of Eugene is represented by a vibrant, year-round community of performing and visual arts and cultural learning opportunities. DESIRED OUTCOMES Participation in Eugene’s art/culture scene is made easy for arts/culture patrons and providers via a single, comprehensive arts and culture information source. Eugene demonstrates a commitment to cultural presentations being available in a broad array of both private and public spaces. The City commits to invigorating the public to support and participate in local arts and culture. Eugene’s public art is acquired, cataloged and presented as a showcase of the City’s commitment to providing access to and education about visual art while striving for a collection of historic relevance. ACTION PRIORITY A A single, up-to-date, comprehensive web-based arts/culture information source that is used regularly by arts/culture patrons and providers. For the purposes of this document, this resource shall be called CultureSource.*

Agreement is acquired from all arts/culture organizations to post all events in a timely manner and to use CultureSource as the main information resource from which all similar, organization-focused calendars are based.

An already existing calendar that meets all the requirements of CultureSource is

currently being used by the Convention and Visitors Association of Lane County Oregon (CVALCO). This web-based calendar will be made available by CVALCO for this purpose at no charge and with no membership requirements.

A new domain name, ie: www.culturesource.org, will link directly to the already

existing CVALCO calendar.

CVALCO has offered to purchase and maintain the agreed-upon domain name as part of its commitment to arts and culture in Eugene.

An aggressive multi-month education outreach to all arts/culture providers is

implemented to make submission of events and opportunities to CultureSource in a consistent and timely fashion.


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An aggressive multi-month education campaign is implemented to drive the public to CultureSource. This will include, but not be limited to, standard media outreach, weekly printed calendars that would be distributed at all art/culture events and venues (ie: the CultureSource “hot sheet”) that would be ubiquitous and, over time, anticipated and sought out by all people interested in local art/culture offerings.

ACTION PRIORITY B Commitment by the City of Eugene to art and /culture demonstrated by the hiring of an Arts Coordinator*. This individual will staff the Public Art Committee as set forth in the City of Eugene Art Acquisition (Donation) Policy of November 2006. Together, the Arts Coordinator and Public Art Committee will be responsible for:

all policies and procedures related to the acquisition, presentation, storage, and

disposition of public art as currently defined in the existing policy;

design and maintenance of a Cultural Assets Inventory;

management and oversight of the 1% for Art Program, and;

communication and collaboration with all identified visual arts organizations and entities with the goal of having a unified Eugene Visual Arts Program.

Additionally, the Arts Coordinator will: o facilitate communication and collaboration between local arts/culture

organizations with the goal of maximizing audience potential for all, and; o research and identify economic and resource development opportunities in

regards to arts and culture including business and grant prospects. ACTION PRIORITY C Recommendation that the local business community make art/culture an economic development focus. This will be accomplished by a number of strategies including, but not limited to:

art placement and rental programs encouraging businesses to use locally-produced arts in both new development and existing sites;

educational programs for artists and producers of cultural events aiding them in

developing strong business models and best practices;

facilitation of partnerships between local businesses and local art/culture organizations, and;


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develop and encourage opportunities for growing businesses to incorporate art/culture into their places of business, giving policies, and employee benefits in ways that incur little cost to the business.

Possible partners for the above endeavors include, but are not limited to:

o Convention and Visitors Association of Lane County Oregon o Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce o Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts o Lane Arts Council o Lane Community College o Maude Kerns Art Center o University of Oregon

* NOTE: The terms CultureSource and Arts Coordinator are working titles for the purpose of this document only.

Respectfully submitted by the Communication and Coordination Working Group. Bill Blix

Cheryl Crumbley Rex Stevens

Kari Westlund

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Working Group Vision – Downtown and the Built Environment We stand for a downtown that is the center of cultural and artistic expression for Eugene. Our downtown is architecturally distinctive, and it feels safe and inviting to a broad range of people from throughout our city and region. We envision a place with a large and growing cadre of downtown residents; successful businesses supply residents’ basic needs as well as showcasing a range of Northwest art and quality products that attract local and regional visitors.

We are proud of our downtown, and we appreciate and patronize the variety of performing, visual, and literary arts events that take place throughout the year. Eugeneans have a universal awareness of what downtown has to offer, and attractions and businesses are easy to find thanks to signage, permanently mounted directories, and maps that can be picked up at most businesses and hotels.

Eugeneans understand the fundamental importance of a successful downtown to the vitality, viability, and appeal of the City of Eugene. This understanding enables much collaboration between the government, for-profit, and non-profit sectors, which team up to create and maintain successful projects. Our community works with consistency and clarity to make downtown a place to celebrate; downtown belongs to all of us.

Priorities for Action Note: We believe all of these actions are important, but as the consultants requested, we have ranked them in rough priority order, with the highest priorities listed first.

1. Continue to support and stimulate housing downtown. Continue current government incentives for housing development, consider additional tools to assist with housing creation, and remove regulatory barriers to downtown housing (while ensuring compatibility of uses and design).

2. Form a strong Downtown Advocacy Group. Members should be from diverse constituencies; should understand the realities of development, arts, and social services; and must be committed to decisive action to move plans into reality. This group of downtown champions will also work to improve cooperation and coordination among different entities. The group can be formed under the aegis of an existing organization (such as DEI) or can be a stand-alone entity.

3. Coordinate marketing of downtown arts/culture locations and activities to increase awareness throughout Eugene; create joint marketing campaigns. As a part of this, do specific outreach to UO, LCC, NCC students. (The coordination role could be taken on by city government, by DEI, by Lane Arts Council, or by a new entity.)

4. Add arts-related signage and install permanently mounted (and regularly updated) downtown directories.

5. Produce pocket-size arts maps and event calendars; make them available in all downtown businesses, and in every hotel/motel room in Eugene.

6. Encourage increased arts/culture features in downtown buildings and public spaces; create incentives to help include these features in private-sector projects.

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7. Arrange and coordinate additional regular arts/cultural events year-round throughout downtown (e.g., in park blocks, library, or downtown-wide). The lead could be taken (assuming increased resources) by DEI, DEMI (Downtown Events Management Inc.), Lane Arts Council, or the city government.

Working group members:

Kaz Oveissi (coordinator) David Kelly Gretchen Pierce Mary Unruh

Final version: March 1, 2007

Appendix E Initial Protocol Used in Confidential Interviews

The following questions were used as the starting point for the confidential tele-phone and in-person interviews conducted throughout the Cultural Policy Review. Generally, they served as “pump priming” to begin conversations. Thereafter, the consultants allowed interviewees a great deal of latitude in their comments. In that way, they were able to focus on those issues and concerns that were most impor-tant to them. The consultants followed up with additional questions based on the areas that interviewees covered. Interviews generally lasted between 30 minutes and an hour. - How long have you lived in Eugene? What is your connection to the commu-

nity in general and to arts and culture in particular? - What are the most important changes in the Eugene/Springfield area in the

past 5 to10 years? (These don’t necessarily need to relate to arts and culture.) - What is working well in Eugene’s cultural sector? What are its strengths? - What is not working well in Eugene’s cultural sector? - What is your vision for what a vibrant cultural community in Eugene would

look like? If you were to look five years into the future and your wildest dreams had come true about arts and culture, what would you see?

- Is there anything else you think we should know about relative to this project? A unique set of questions was developed for the interview component that ad-dressed leadership and resources. These questions served as conversation openers

and the consultants did not ask every question to each interviewee. The interviews would follow the issues and concerns raised by the individual being interviewed. The opening questions included the following: - How would you characterize the existing cultural leadership compared to civic

leadership in other sectors? - Where does it sit in the civic hierarchy of nonprofit concerns? - We have heard that cultural leadership is reactive and passive. Is that your

take on it? - What does philanthropy in general look like in Eugene? Who are the winners

and who are the losers? - What does private sector philanthropy for arts and culture look like? - And the public sector? - Where might there be increased opportunities for dollars for arts and culture in

Eugene? - Where are the biggest barriers to financial support for the arts? - What would it take to energize/strengthen leadership in the cultural sector? For developer and builders, the following question was added to the mix: - What trends or opportunities to you see in the next 5-10 years related to de-

velopment in Eugene that could impact arts and culture – positively or nega-tively?

As the process moved forward, the consultants would develop specific questions for individuals based on the individuals’ areas of interest and expertise and the particular concerns that the consultants wanted to probe.

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