Oklahoma Arts Council's New Cultural District Initiative Gives Oklahoma Students Hands-on Learning Experience
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CONTACT:
Joel Gavin
Director of Marketing & Communications
(405) 521-2931
joel.gavin@arts.ok.gov
OKLAHOMA CITY - A new initiative aimed at revitalizing rural communities and urban neighborhoods using arts and cultural resources is giving a group of college students hands-on experience in placemaking and community building. Launched in 2013, the Oklahoma Arts Council’s Cultural District Initiative provides funding, guidance, professional consultation, and formal certification by the state arts agency of cultural districts throughout Oklahoma. Alva, a northwestern Oklahoma community with approximately 5,000 residents, served as the pilot community during 2013.
The first major step in the Alva cultural district project, creation of a formal three-year development plan, was facilitated by the Oklahoma Arts Council’s Community Arts Director Josh Lunsford in collaboration with residents and community leaders in Alva, cultural development consultant Georgia Williams, and architect Ron Frantz, a professor with the University of Oklahoma’s Institute for Quality Communities (OUIQC).
After the formal development plan was published, Frantz was inspired to create a related capstone course for his students, of whom several come from rural Oklahoma communities. As part of the course, students are building on Alva’s formal plan to provide design assistance for the plan’s key recommendations.
Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Amber Sharples pointed to the work of the students beyond the scope of the project as evidence students are increasingly inspired to help Oklahoma communities benefit from local arts, culture and effective design.
“The Cultural District Initiative was created to empower residents to transform their communities,” Sharples said. “With the Alva project having given students from outside the community active roles in the process, the Initiative has even greater potential than we first anticipated.”
In addition to redesigning the Woods County Courthouse stage area to make it more functional for existing and proposed events, students are looking at ways to better connect the five-block stretch of College Avenue connecting the courthouse square with the Northwestern Oklahoma State University campus. In early March, students traveled to Alva to do field work for the course. The students’ work will culminate in a series of presentations on May 7.
Alva cultural district steering committee member Kay Decker, a faculty member at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, said students have “demonstrated a sense of collaboration on the part of the University of Oklahoma to go out into the rural areas of the state to help communities improve. Students shared their knowledge, time, and creativity with us and in turn experienced real world problem solving.”
OUIQC professor Ron Frantz said, “Through courses like this, we hope to show our students that everyone’s home or hometown is unique and valuable.”
Frantz said the result of the cultural district planning in Alva, and his students’ involvement in the planning, has already generated a heightened awareness among residents of the impact that artists and the arts can have on a community.
What is a cultural district? A cultural district is a mixed-use area of a city or community in which a high concentration of cultural facilities serves as the anchor of attraction and robust economic activity. Ideally, a district reflects its community’s unique built environment and history, showcases the area’s artists and cultural traditions, and increases social engagement. Cultural districts act as an agent for positive growth in a community by:
- Incentivizing new and relocating businesses
- Stimulating commerce
- Fostering civic pride
- Enhancing quality of life
- Increasing property values
- Attracting a well-educated and creative workforce
- Boosting cultural tourism
The process. After Alva was named the pilot community for the Cultural District Initiative, residents attended focus group sessions in June 2013 to provide input. The resulting development plan is a synthesis of information gleaned from community focus groups, insight from the steering committee, professional consultants, and Oklahoma Arts Council staff.
The process included taking inventory of Alva’s arts and cultural assets including community theaters, the local arts council, annual festivals and concerts, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, museums, libraries, works of public art, eleven buildings on the National Historic Register, a ranching and agricultural heritage, and natural and recreational opportunities.
Members of Alva’s steering committee include Mayor Arden Chaffee as well as representatives from the Alva Chamber of Commerce, Woods County Economic Development Agency, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, Nescatunga Arts Council, Graceful Arts Center, Alva Goldbug Education Foundation, and local businesses.
The plan assesses Alva’s image and marketing efforts, community aesthetics, public spaces, and buildings. It also identifies opportunities based on its assets. Goals and strategies were established to provide direction and accountability of the development process. Benchmarks will be established as the committee moves forward.
The development portion of the Oklahoma Arts Council’s Cultural District Initiative provides for matching grants of up to $7,500 per year for up to five years with a cap of $25,000 in funding for successful applicants.
A formal certification process that could include existing, fully developed districts is in the works.
“We are eager to develop and certify districts statewide,” Sharples said. “And we anticipate additional partnerships like the one that resulted in these students making an investment in Oklahoma.”
About the Oklahoma Arts Council
The Oklahoma Arts Council is the official state agency for the support and development of the arts. The Council’s mission is to lead, cultivate and support a thriving arts environment, which is essential to quality of life, education and economic vitality for all Oklahomans. The Council provides more than 500 grants to over 300 communities statewide each year, organizes professional development opportunities for the state's arts and cultural industry, and manages hundreds of works of art in the public spaces of the state Capitol.
About the OU Institute for Quality Communities
The Institute for Quality Communities is a department of the OU College of Architecture and is a forum for students, researchers, practitioners and Oklahoma community leaders to collaborate in an effort to enhance Oklahoma communities. The IQC provides placemaking and community building assistance through three service/learning studios.