Comacell Brown painted “The Walking Man” on the side of Pinky’s Liquor Store on West Street. The mural captures Carlester Smith, who was well known to clean and pick up trash as he walked through Annapolis.
Strengthening the Overall Arts Community and Economy in Annapolis
Annapolis, MD - On September 4, 2024, at the Metropolitan Kitchen & Lounge on West Street, City Officials, Elected Officials, Arts Organizations, and Creatives gathered at the Annapolis Arts District’s (AAD) networking event where an exciting new Economic Vibrancy Initiative (EVI) aimed at further developing the Arts Economy in Annapolis was announced. The goals of the EVI are increased vibrancy in the citywide Arts, Entertainment, Culture, and Heritage economy that will:
- Provide artists opportunities to live, work, and craft an economically prosperous future
- Increase job opportunities driven by arts-related enterprises and those businesses that thrive in a lively arts district, such as hotels, retail, and restaurants
- Inspire and nurture creative thinkers and innovation in other industry sectors
- Attract new companies, residents, and visitors to Annapolis
- Foster growth in the City’s commercial tax base and private investment
Executive Director, Erik Evans said, “The Annapolis Arts District (AAD) will spearhead the EVI. AAD can use special tax incentives and other programs to continue to revitalize West Street into a dynamic hub for the city, creating the need to expand the Arts District boundaries and strengthen the overall arts community and economy in Annapolis.”
AAD’s EVI Committee will first create an inclusive strategic plan for this initiative that will reflect the unique cultural, social, and economic needs of Annapolis. The Committee will also seek to create additional economic incentives to complement the existing AAD tax incentive program. While AAD has already received grants from the City of Annapolis, the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County (ACAAC), and the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), it hopes to leverage its 501(c)(3) status and secure potential grants from Maryland’s Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD), National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), area community foundations, and others.
City’s New Comprehensive Plan was the Catalyst
The City of Annapolis’ new Annapolis Ahead 2040 Comprehensive Plan and its goals for a citywide vision of a range of artistic economic vibrancy endeavors, priorities, and timelines was the catalyst for establishing the EVI. It is the first time that the City officially recognized that when participants in creative expression and creative thinkers help shape a city's physical spaces and structures, systems, and processes—cities yield economic advantages, enhanced value for residents and businesses, and an enriched experience for visitors.
While increasing the economic benefits of the arts citywide is the primary focus of the Comprehensive Plan, it is well-established that cities with vibrant arts, entertainment, culture, and heritage experiences offer a multitude of "value" driven benefits for their residents as well, including:
- Increased and enriched community character, pride, identity, preservation, and values
- Improved the quality of life
- Increased opportunities for individual growth
- Enhanced collaborative relationships among for-profit and nonprofit community resources
- Enriched environment where creativity will thrive
Annapolis City Economic Development Manager, Steve Rice said, “City Officials look forward to working closely with the AAD’s newly formed EVI Committee as it creates an EVI Strategic Plan that will help attract, develop, and nurture creative practitioners and thinkers citywide and foster more robust arts, entertainment, cultural, and heritage sectors throughout the city.”
The 2040 Economic Vibrancy Initiative Strategic Plan
Phase One - Achieving EVI goals will depend upon fostering careful coordination and solid collaborations among the City’s diverse cultural and entertainment organizations to create an inclusive cultural and strategic planning and vision that leverages the community's collective resources, talents, and insights. Such partnership will best facilitate effective policymaking, enhance public spaces, ensure dedicated leadership, and promote diverse community tools and resources for a successful outcome. The EVI Committee will solicit input and gain an understanding of each organization’s growth goals and incorporate them into an overarching plan of priorities for a multi-faceted, multi-year strategic plan in concert with the City’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
Task 1: Develop key messages for communicating the 2040 Economic Vibrancy Initiative (EVI) Plan, targeted to City management, planning, and zoning; elected officials and influencers; arts organizations’ management; and private sector property owners and developers.
Task 2: Introduce the 2040 Economic Vibrancy Initiative to the artist community and arts organizations to solicit input and gain an understanding of each group’s growth goals to be incorporated into an overarching plan of goals and timelines for the EVI’s multi-faceted, multi-year strategic plan.
Task 3: Inventory the Annapolis Arts District’s existing resources, as well as the City’s and surrounding area’s facilities, venues, and programs related to fine arts, performing arts, literary arts, entertainment, special events, history, galleries, and other related assets.
Task 4: Perform Stakeholder Interviews and then organize and prioritize this information to provide an overview of the desired visions; existing strengths and weaknesses/threats to achieving the visions; key opportunities for arts, entertainment, culture, and heritage in Annapolis; and how to sustain inclusiveness.
Task 5: Research and review peer-city plans developed and implemented by other U.S. and international communities with similar characteristics to Annapolis to assess the status, effectiveness, successes, and failures of these plans.
Task 6: Identify and secure resources for administrative and funding support specifically for this effort.
Task 7: Develop the 2040 Economic Vibrancy Initiative Strategic Plan with goals and objectives that will help develop the Annapolis arts, entertainment, cultural, and heritage economy citywide.
Task 8: Conduct focus surveys, groups, discussion groups, and interviews with residents, and cultural and civic leaders to determine the needs, desires, and support of our community.
Task 9: Create a first draft of the EVI Strategic Plan from the ideas that have emerged from the research, interviews, and focus groups.
Phase Two - Distribute the draft plan to key stakeholders and City staff to solicit reactions and suggested revisions and incorporate them into a final 5-year EVI Plan. The EVI plan will be updated in 5 years.
Phase Three - Once the final 2040 EVI Strategic Plan is approved, the AAD’s designated staff and its funding and implementation partners will develop operational action plans that support the strategic plan. These will include for each objective: resources (human and capital), timeframes, deadlines, budgets, performance targets, and responsibility for execution.
Annapolis Arts District – Background Information
MISSION: Foster vibrant Arts District and arts community economic development by supporting, developing, and promoting artists and arts-related businesses and activities.
VISION: Make Annapolis a thriving community of artists and arts organizations and an arts destination that attracts and engages businesses, residents, and visitors.
PRIORITIES: Inspiring art, facilitating creative endeavors, and enhancing diversity, thus supporting a thriving economic climate.
GOALS:
- A unified approach to vibrancy, placemaking, and artistic excellence in the arts community, and a recognized mechanism for convening and communicating with the arts community as a whole
- A way to develop a citywide vision for a range of artistic economic vibrancy endeavors, priorities, and timelines
- A means to help the city achieve its goals of expanding the Arts District
- Coordinated placemaking
- Increased diversity
