Youngstown Art Renaissance: If you care, wake up and smell the coffee

Someone may have read a previous post I wrote, "A Gathering of Eagles" I'm not sure. In it, I tried to sum up Y-town's currently fragmented art scene in light of a meeting held yesterday to discuss the formation of a Youngstown art council. We couldn't make it to the meeting, so I can't tell you about it, we had to go to a wake.  Why a Youngstown art council you might ask. As I mentioned in that previous post, it can be very difficult for the individual to know what's going on around town. Apparently, the call went out for a unified Youngstown art voice at the second of three meetings called, "The power of The Arts". The meetings consist of a question and answer session with a panel of high-profile representatives of community development organizations regarding how they can help facilitate the transformation of Y-town to an arts and culture-based economy. These meetings are open to anyone interested, although they're so secret. What I mean by that is, I never heard about the first or second meeting, and I've got pretty good feelers out there. No one I've spoken with, knows much about this, which is really too bad, because from what I can gather, the time to come together is now. Below is a transcript from the second meeting, if you are a Y-town artist, please read it: Power of the Arts Session #2 – Wednesday, October 21, 2009 “The Developing Valley: Works in Progress” Panel: Bill D’Avignon – Deputy Director of Youngstown Planning Department, Office of the Mayor, City of Youngstown Barbara Ewing – Economic Development Coordinator, Office of Congressman Tim Ryan Julie Michael Smith – Chief Development Officer, Youngstown Business Incubator Kirk Noden – Executive Director, Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative Eric Planey – Vice President, International/National Business Attraction, Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce Moderators: Becky Keck – Director, YSU SMARTS Bill Mullane – Board member, Trumbull Art Gallery Question: What does your organization do? What is your vision for the Mahoning Valley region as it relates to the work of your organization?   Erin Planey: The Regional Chamber is the facilitator of behind the scenes activities. It is also the one-stop shopping for information to businesses about expanding into the Mahoning Valley (tax incentives, etc.). The Chamber wants to become a player in globalization, not a victim of it, as is seen by the creation of Mr. Planey’s position; the Chamber wants to reach out globally/internationally. In terms of the arts, Youngstown has a large and strong arts infrastructure that could provide the framework for attracting business to the region. Bill D’Avignon: The creation of jobs is currently the number one priority. Unfortunately, the arts typically don’t create many jobs on the front end. However, it takes time for the arts to lead to economic development; the designation of an arts district in Youngstown has led to more liquor licenses in the area which means more social venues which may lead to more businesses in the future or a greater influx of residents. Also, Mr. D’Avignon oversees resources like Community Development Block Grant Funds (CDBGF) that have been used by arts organizations such as SMARTS and the Playhouse.  Kirk Noden: Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) is a collection of 60+ neighborhood, grassroots, community, and faith-based groups. MVOC focuses on quality of life issues for these groups in the Mahoning Valley including vacant properties, neighborhood development, and access to healthcare. MVOC works on the grassroots levels. The arts, as a group, is a quality of life issue in terms of economic development and business attraction. Barbara Ewing: Congressman Tim Ryan’s office is unique among legislators in even having an economic development position on staff; so this shows the Congressman’s dedication to economic development of the area. It’s important to find ways to improve the quality of life for workers to attract and maintain businesses. (Look to places like Seattle or Austin that have an open and embracing culture/atmosphere that draws businesses in.) The arts are a quality of life issue, just like bike paths and the restoration of historic buildings. Julie Michael Smith: Youngstown Business Incubators works with businesses to develop new information technologies that can enhance their businesses. Information technology is unique in that it touches all industries, unlike other incubators that focus on one area or another. Similarly, the arts community has a strength in its diversity in that the arts community is made up of arts educators and artists all working with all different medium and have a vast variety of perspectives to add. Businesses are looking for quality of life reasons to stay in the area. This series of meetings may lead to an art incubator (similar to a business incubator). This idea has been discussed for years but never really taken hold because there has been no one to step up from the arts community to be the cheerleader(s) on this issue. Question: How can the Arts & Culture Community work with you to strengthen your economic plans – serving both our needs? What might that look like? Tell us what you need from us.  Eric Planey: It’s hard to quantify how the arts builds economic development, but I intuitively know that it does. Arts act as a magnet to attract people and businesses. The key is to start at the ground level to build a community. I would like to see more people from the community get involved with the arts community. There are lessons that we could learn from micro-lending to try and create something similar for the arts community where the whole arts community guarantees the loan; in return, the arts community involved is stronger with a unified voice to be able to buy houses (or live/work space for cheaper). Bill D’Avignon: Speak with one voice (for the whole arts community from Youngstown and Warren and etc.). I think if the arts community is going to have a shot at this, there’s only going to be one shot in one location. Again, it is important to organize and speak in one voice. This includes arts educators, artists, art venues, etc. All of these groups need to come together from all over the region. Kirk Noden: Usually at the beginning of organizing a group, the community is fragmented; I think this is the same case here, both in terms of geography and goals/purpose. The community needs to unite around a single purpose (or priorities) and then the group needs to include untapped talent and potential. Everyone has different goals; you need to find where these goals cross (even at unexpected points) and align these goals and make strategic connections. I personally don’t know all that much about the arts community in the Valley, but I would think using people (resources) like Phil Kidd would be a great place to start. Barbara Ewing: In economic development, we are looking for “the cool factor,” which is critical to long-term economic development. Tim Ryan is interested in promoting the arts because we know arts education increases higher cognitive skills and provides experiences for students that broaden their horizons which creates a much more open-minded community in the long-run. We have to look past the now and focus on the potential for the future. What could the arts community do for us? Focus on kids in the classroom. Making arts education just as important as sports (football, for example) or traditional academic courses, has been a difficult sell, but progress is being made. When budgets get tight, the arts programs are traditionally the ones that see the greatest budgetary cuts. If you aren’t already doing so, integrate young people into your arts programming. Julie Michael Smith: I have no idea what the arts community has to offer on a tactical level. I understand what everyone else has said in terms of impacting the big picture and long-term effects, but what I am not seeing are the specifics and immediate benefits of partnering with the arts community for economic development. I’m sure it is there; it just has not been articulated. There’s an organization out of Washington DC that this community may want to look to as an example: Cultural Development Corporation. They have a program called Flash Point that acts like an arts incubator. What an arts incubator might be able to contribute to this community is assisting artists with things artists are not typically known for doing well: business planning, considering tax implications, understanding legal regulations, accounting, marketing strategies, etc.) Question: As we sit down to develop an arts and culture action plan, what would you like see included in the action plan? Who should be included? How do you define this region? Bill D’Avignon: I would define this region broader than Youngstown alone even though Youngstown could easily be its own. Since you probably only have one shot at this, I would like to see a Youngstown/Warren collaborative. Eric Planey: Regionalism scares me a little in that in Northeast Ohio, Youngstown is viewed by everyone else as the third kid on the block behind Cleveland and Akron. Youngstown in general gets forgotten so I wouldn’t define the region quite that broadly. However, I would like to see the Mahoning Valley speak as one voice. Barbara Ewing: The way I like to see things is everyone that can fit into the tent, the better. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Akron, etc. would be great, but might be a bit too ambitious. These are areas that might be great resources to tap into in terms of marketing and audience development. “Yes, Youngstown has a symphony orchestra.” In terms of asking who should be in it, is kind of like asking what art is. I hate to say it, but it’s kind of like, “ I know it when I see it.” It might be helpful to look at what Tim Ryan looks to: the Jazz Incubator in Washington DC. It’s a good model for an arts incubator, and the arts incubator that comes out of this would not have to have a physical location like the Jazz Incubator does, but I still think it pays to look into the Jazz Incubator as a model. Kirk Noden: In terms of the region, I would like to see it broadly. More specifically, I would like to see a tri-county collaborative including Trumbull, Mahoning, and Columbiana counties involved, but have all three counties speaking in one voice. In terms of art, I would define arts as broadly as possible; the more the better. Some concrete action steps might be: (1) link up with Northeast Homeowners Association, (2) utilize resources like Neighborhood Success Programs from the Wean Foundation, and (3) work on an action plan to incorporate an actual project such as installing art into community gardens (former vacant lots) through Youngstown Neighborhood Collaborative, for example. Question & Answer: Lynn Anderson: If we have such great resources and under-utilization as you say, why plan and not just do? Why not just act now?  Eric Planey: The Valley is generally set in its ways and there are certain steps that have to happen first. First though, the problems have to be identified before you can address them effectively.  Becky Keck: The doing is already happening, just not together.  Bill D’Avignon: You need to prioritize as one voice to not overwhelm those of us who are willing to help and would like to be an integral part of economic development through the arts. Julie Michael Smith: Planning is painful sometimes, but from our perspective, it is entirely necessary. Phyllis: Why hasn’t the city brought in a contractor to build an arts community in one central building where artists can feed off of each other? Julie Michael Smith: Have you asked? Furthermore, have you developed a plan that demonstrates a true return on investment as of yet? Without that planning and showing how this project fits into one piece of the greater whole (in terms of economic development), we can’t know for certain how the community benefits from this. Bill Mullane: Cleveland has something similar to what you’re talking about, but it was all done by private development – not the city. Nancy: The Mahoning Valley Collaborative has been around but has not had the funds (especially for marketing and PR). What we’ve learned is that knowing where to go for financial help is key. So, where do we go? Bill Mullane: These panelists are here giving background for what economic development could be happening – not to be solicited for funding. Becky Keck: Bring funding concerns to the table at our next meeting in November. Aaron: What channels do you go through to allocate simple meeting space? It seems like there is plenty of unused space in former industrial space in downtown Youngstown. Also, Cuyahoga County has a sin tax that supports CPAC; how do we go about getting our own? Barbara Ewing: First, to secure space like that, you would need to do that at the county level. Secondly, I’m not sure, but I think that sin tax may currently be limited to Cuyahoga County. You might want to talk to Tom Schorgl about how to go about doing that piece. Bill Mullane: Also in Cuyahoga County right now is a land bank. The county has the ability to collect and redistribute vacant properties at will. With a joint partnership with CPAC, a lot of these vacant lots have been gifted to the arts community. Becky Keck: If you are looking for meeting space, SMARTS at YSU is a great place to meet. Bill D’Avignon: Another idea to get around the sin tax limits might be to include a countywide or citywide ticket tax for funding into an arts community bank account. o From the audience: Ohio State Senate Bill 313 may allow land banking in other Ohio counties. For Barbara Ewing: Is there a way to get federal highway funding used to invest in public art? Barbara Ewing: If art can be incorporated into the beautification of the existing project from the beginning, it might be possible. However, federal highway dollars are restricted for federal highway projects. Jim: San Antonio, TX and Savanna, GA have done incredible things using arts to revitalize certain areas of their cities (such as the River Walk in San Antonio). If we want to do the same things in Youngstown, to whom do we bring our ideas in order to get something done? How should we bring you our proposals? (For example, I think a high school for visual and performing arts would be a great idea.) Barbara Ewing: First of all, you have to develop a plan as one group. Jim: Who is this group? Barbara Ewing: To the members of this panel, every member of the audience here today is a group representing the arts and culture community in the Mahoning Valley. As a group, we need to see your plan and how these individual projects that you are proposing work toward the larger economic development. Eric Planey: The concept sounds great, but it’s the plan that will make the concept ultimately successful with long-term economic development. Jim: So to whom do we bring these ideas? Bill Mullane: You as a group need to take ownership of these projects and prioritize which projects will achieve the group’s goals. That’s why this planning is so important. Jacob: I work at the Lemon Grove whose patrons represent a lot of the ideas here in this room. How do the arts not get steamrolled by businesses in economic development? Eric Planey: That’s a great question, but there are so many steps between where you are now and where this actually becomes an issue. I just don’t think we’re there yet. I would recommend taking it one step at a time. Tyler: To wrap things up, I think all this is our job to actually get it done. We don’t want the city to determine for us who moves in where and how. Please join us: Next Session in the Power of the Arts Series “Our Arts and Our Valley: A Call to Action” Wednesday, November 18, 2009 McMenemy’s 4:30 – 6:00 PM One of the panel members said, "You as a group need to take ownership of these projects and prioritize which projects will achieve the group’s goals." Who is this group they asked of him. "To the members of this panel, every member of the audience here today is a group representing the arts and culture community in the Mahoning Valley. As a group, we need to see your plan and how these individual projects that you are proposing work toward the larger economic development." was the reply.

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