Washington, D.C.
A committee made up of arts, business, and civic leaders dedicated to the cultural development of the Washington, D.C. community.
In the spring of 1998, the Downtown Arts Committee met with representatives of the arts, business, and civic community with a single goal in mind: To support the process of cultural development in the District of Columbia. Since then, the Downtown Arts Committee has formed the Cultural Development Corporation (CuDC), a private nonprofit development corporation dedicated to implementing the strategies recommended by the Committee.
Formed in the fall of 1998, the Cultural Development Corporation seeks to encourage and facilitate economic development, community building, and neighborhood revitalization throughout the District of Columbia by creating strategic partnerships between the arts and business communities that will stimulate economic activity and improve quality of life. CuDC’s mission is to facilitate the physical development of cultural space.
Nuts and Bolts:
- Though DC is home to an impressive collection of federally funded museums, there are surprisingly few resources for contemporary artists who wish to create within an artistic community. To address this problem, the CuDC has developed a program outline for a downtown cultural center that will provide affordable space for exhibits, performances, meetings, classes, and studios. Says Project Director Anne Corbett, "This center would serve as a resource center for the arts community. DC currently has nothing like it on this scale."
- Until the completion of this project, the CuDC will negotiate affordable performance and display spaces in a variety of locations, as well as collect information on the site needs of arts and cultural organizations.
- In the interest of creating a viable, recognized downtown arts district, the CuDC is pushing the deputy mayor’s office to step up plans for new Arena Stage and Shakespeare Theatre projects.
- The Committee has asked its federal partners for seed money to ensure the success of the CuDC, use of government-owned facilities on a space-available basis for local arts venues, and access to National Park Service lands for cultural programming.
Successes:
- As its first public event, the CuDC organized the Washington Art-O-Matic exhibit in 1999, showcasing the work of over 350 local artists. The event is now one of the most popular arts events in Washington, D.C.
- The CuDC has received a grant from the DC Department of Housing and Community Development to create a development strategy for underused commercial areas.
Keys to Success:
- Ability to garner the resources of ‘state’ and local cultural, political, and business groups to address physical space needs for cultural community.
How can you do it?
- Bring together the business, civic, and arts community’s leaders to discuss ways a permanent development plan and potential corporate entity might serve the overall community.
- Develop interim plan for utilizing existing space resources to provide underserved artists with additional venues for arts production, exhibition space and housing.
For more information visit: Cultural Development Corporation