Leaders in the Imagine Chattanooga 20/20 initiative announced last week that some of its programs will be a reality long before 2020. In fact, some of them will ideally become a reality before the end of 2012.
“We no longer focus on what the community can do for the arts, rather we focus on what the arts can do for the community. It is an entirely different way for society to view the arts,” said Dan Bowers, president of Allied Arts. “By building a healthier arts community we create a sustainable creative economy, one in which arts organizations contribute directly and indirectly to the community’s success.”
Allied Arts President Dan Bowers, Imagine 20/20 steering committee co-chairs Ruth Holmberg and Tom White and Allied Arts board chair Patti Frierson, from left, are asking for volunteers to help make the cultural city development plan a reality.In an effort by Allied Arts to expand artistic offerings to the community in a way that meets local needs, a 50-person steering committee and group of consultants developed a cultural plan which will work with the community in four different areas: diversity, economic development, creating a more vibrant downtown and educational opportunities.
Urban League of Chattanooga Vice President and Chief Operation Officer James McKissic, a leader of the committee dedicated to diversity, announced a $40,000 grant program that will be implemented in the coming months for local arts groups.
“Each grant will be up to $3,000 and offered to neighborhoods, municipalities, arts and human services organizations,” he said. “To participate, the grantees will have to do a two-to-one match. We feel like that’s going to go a long way to really bring the arts to the community and bringing the arts to all.”