O
venue, where art thou?
Survey
indicates new arts facilities are needed in North Valley
by
Chris Moore
NORTH
VALLEY – The numbers are clear. A resounding 99 percent
of North Valley residents who took the Community Cultural
Inventory (CCI) at the beginning of the year agreed that
they would attend more art‑related events if there
were a multipurpose arts center in the North Valley.
Responding
to the community’s desire for a more robust, manageable
and coordinated arts program, the Arts Council of the
North Valley (ACNV) commissioned the CCI, a survey which
was completed in February. The ACNV held their first CCI‑mandated
“working committee” meeting on May 23 to evaluate the
survey’s results and strategize for developing new multi‑use
performing arts facilities.
The
stated mission of the ACNV is to “provide leadership in
support of artistic excellence, understanding and education
of the arts, and to nurture the cultural life and vitality
of the community.”
“With
the current and expected growth in the area,” says Donna
Kublin, ACNV President, “we are developing a strategic
plan that will identify the appropriate structure, programs
and facilities to meet community needs. The CCI provides
us with valuable insight for this process.”
The
CCI, conducted for ACNV by consultant Nancy Lutz who works
through the Arizona Commission on the Arts, resulted in
570 completed surveys from North Valley residents and
the input of focus groups in Carefree and Anthem (consisting
of approximately 60 members total).
Those
who completed surveys identified themselves as art consumers
(32 percent), artists (24 percent) and arts supporters
(25 percent). Age distribution of those who submitted
surveys was16‑54 years olds (40 percent), 55‑64
year olds (38 percent), and older than 65 (22 percent).
Residents in zip code 85086 accounted for 61 percent of
all survey respondents.
“Throughout
the North Valley, more facilities are needed,” Kublin
says. “That was, by far, the most common need expressed
in survey, to have a dedicated facility.”
At
its first meeting, Kublin says the Arts Center Working
Committee “investigated ways of addressing the need for
a multipurpose, shared‑use facility for performing,
visual arts, meeting and educational spaces for the North
Valley. As part of this effort, an inventory of public‑use
facilities in the North Valley will be compiled and disseminated.”
In
addition to a working committee and a facilities inventory,
the CCI recommended calendar coordination and an arts
advocacy program, both of which would stress coordination
and communication among artists and cultural organizations;
technical assistance of skilled volunteers in the community;
the development of a board of directors; and the establishment
of a paid executive director position to shepherd the
organization through its strategic plan.
No
specific plans were developed at the first committee meeting,
but “we’re getting started,” Kublin says. “We’ll meet
again in about one month. We need to get interested people
in the North Valley to work with us to get funding to
conduct a feasibility study and develop a business plan.”
“We’ll
meet again with Nancy Lutz in July to talk further on
next steps,” Kublic says. “She’ll continue to help us
as we go forward.”
Currently,
performing arts groups and theater companies, such as
Desert Foothills Theater and Starlight Community Theater,
rely on schools and churches with auditoriums like those
at Boulder Creek and Cactus Shadows High Schools and the
Anthem Community Center to provide venues for their performances.
This
is particularly true of the I‑17 corridor, according
to Kublin, because it is relatively new and does not yet
have a cohesive cultural identity. “The Anthem Community
Center is not really suited to the arts,” Kublin says,
“and Boulder Creek Performing Arts Center is very limited
for public performances.”
