New York State Council on the Arts to hold ‘Cultural Blueprints’ session in Central New York Oct. 14

New York State Council on the Arts to hold ‘Cultural Blueprints’ session in Central New York Oct. 14October 06, 2008Sara Millersemortim@syr.edu

The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) has announced the launch of a series of “Cultural Blueprints” sessions across the state, and, on Oct. 14, Syracuse will host one of these important public forums on promoting integrated arts, economic and community development strategies. The Central New York “Cultural Blueprints” forum will be held from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Oncenter in downtown Syracuse.

In collaboration with this initiative, Syracuse University Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor and the national consortium Imagining America will host a separate summit with invited New York college presidents and Mary Schmidt Campbell, chair of NYSCA, to discuss the intersection of higher education, the arts and revitalization of New York state. This special closed session will take place on Oct. 13.

Working with Empire State Development (ESD) Regional Offices, I LOVE NY and local arts councils in each region, the Cultural Blueprints sessions will bring together arts professionals, economic development experts, private philanthropists, tourism professionals, public officials, artists, and business, education and community leaders for five-hour-long sessions in each region. The goal of these sessions is to develop a clear articulation of each region’s strengths and needs, conceive a statement of key priorities, and identify regional and statewide opportunities for the arts to serve as a catalyst for economic development.

“As chair of the New York State Council on the Arts, I am committed to finding new strategic alliances that will become a lightning rod for economic development as well as a means of strengthening the state’s cultural infrastructure. New York state stands to gain economically, socially and educationally,” says Mary Schmidt Campbell. “This is an unprecedented opportunity to identify regional challenges and opportunities for coordinated action by the arts, economic development and philanthropic communities.”

Building on ESD’s Regional Blueprint process, NYSCA’s Cultural Blueprints Sessions will consider the following topics: infrastructure, innovation, intellectual capital and workforce development, international and global thinking, investment and financial models, and image and identity.

“In this time of economic contraction, it is more important than ever that we bring together leaders from every sector to spur private-public partnerships, generate sound policy, and identify innovative solutions,” says Heather Hitchens, executive director of NYSCA. “The Cultural Blueprints initiative is a unique opportunity to promote cross-sector dialogue and collaboration to elevate each region and ultimately, the state as a whole.”

“In addition to contributing $25 billion annually to New York state’s economy, arts and cultural institutions play a critical role in attracting visitors to the state-a stronger creative sector means a stronger tourism industry,” says Thomas Ranese, ESD chief marketing officer. “Cultural Blueprints provides an important opportunity to identify new strategies for bolstering both sectors and helping New York to maintain its creative and competitive edge.”

The Blueprints sessions kicked off in Long Island and are convening in every region of the state, ending with New York City’s five boroughs in summer 2009. In addition to the sessions themselves, material about the Cultural Blueprints, session summaries, background material on each region and regional blogs can be found at http://www.culturalblueprints.co.cc.

Members of the public are invited to attend the Oct. 14 Cultural Blueprints session at the Oncenter, but R.S.V.P. are required to Patrick O’Connor of the Cultural Resources Council at (315) 435-2150, or poconnor@cspot.org.