Arts Summit in the local media

Art sSummit Draws Concepts for Change, October 23, The Gazette


Arts Summit Looks Ahead, October 23, Colorado Springs Independent (scroll down for article)

Full list of ideas generated at Summit coming soon!

Accomplishments in the past five years

At the 2003 Arts Summit, arts organizations came together to identify needs in the community. In 2008, another summit was held to chart the future of the community. This slideshow shows accomplishments in the past years and identifies some of the goals set at the 2003 Summit.

Arts Summit Slideshow

Your ideas

Abby, COPPeR's intern, found this sketch left behind at the summit. Are these the renderings of Steve Wood? They are gorgeous!


At the Arts Summit, small groups created maps of the Pikes Peak region to graphically represent their visions for the future. Here are some of the big ideas the groups presented.
In no particular order:

Inclusiveness to reflect our community's diversity
Easy access to transportaton
An arts district (pedestrian-friendly, downtown)
Use trails and open spaces (an arts hike?)
insert arts in to community centers, build more community centers
A fund for the arts (tax or otherwise): Common Cents for the Arts
Include the military in our arts scene
Challenging and provocative artwork
More venues, both large and small
Every arts program should have an interactive/educational component
More arts in the schools
Brand our region as an arts destination
An arts season "pass" to multiple organizations
More public art

One of the more loudly expressed ideas was the invention of an arts bus to be called the Van Gogh. Hello, zeitgeist! click here to view the latest Americans for the Arts ad campaign, also featuring our friend Vincent.

Many in attendance were so fired up about the possibility of building an indoor/outdoor amphitheater (perhaps covering up the "scar" on the mountain) that they have started a task force of sorts. Check back here for more information.

2008 Arts Summit--What the heck was it?

The 2008 Arts Summit was intended as an opportunity for our arts community --
artists, arts educators, arts administrators, and stakeholders. --to come
together to chart our vision as an arts community. Your participation
and energy was the first step in efforts to create a cultural plan for the region. Many additional conversations and feedback-gathering mechanisms will take place in the coming months with business leaders, regional/neighborhood representatives, arts patrons, and other civic leaders.

The cultural planning process is part of a community- wide visioning effort called Dream City: Vision 2020. Our core cultural planning team created the arts summit as THE FIRST STEP in the cultural planning process, but it will take the efforts of many to keep this process on track. If you would like to become involved in our cultural planning team, please contact us at info@coppercolo.org.

Our cultural planning process is part of the statewide Collaborative Community Planning Process.

Welcome!

COPPeR already has a presence on MySpace and facebook, but I'm happy to relate that we are now proud members of the blogosphere!

Saturday's Arts Summit was a grand success, with more than 150 people in attendance. It is my hope to make this blog a continuation of the conversations that began there. Please add your comments and start the conversation!

(Photos from all of your Charrettes will be posted soon!)

Your fellow friend of the arts,

Bettina Swigger