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Forum Summary

On July 10-11, the Center for Arts and Culture and the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy sponsored a one-and-a-half day seminar entitled "The Plan of Nashville: Cultural Policy at the Grassroots." Over 55 leaders of small to middle-sized arts and community based organizations attended, as did Mayor Purcell, Superintendent Pedro Garcia, and several city council and school board members.  The meeting, which focused on Arts Education, Cultural Tourism, and Affordable Housing/Venues, was designed to inform The Plan of Nashville, an 18-month project to develop a community-based vision and design principle for metropolitan Nashville. The group made numerous observations and recommendations during break-out sessions and report-outs devoted to each issue. The Civic Design Center, a Nashville-based organization that is charged with developing The Plan of Nashville, plans to examine whether cultural spaces should be scattered throughout the city or consolidated in one area.  They also intend to hold a second caucus later in the summer to move the recommendations forward.  The cultural aspects, Schimmenti said, need to be throughout the plan.  The design goals may need to be rewritten to reflect these needs and interests.

Mayor Bill Purcell speaks at the morning session of the Plan of Nashville.  (Photograph taken by Daniel Dubois)

Ellen Lovell, President & CEO of the Center for Arts and Culture in Washington, DC, introduces the morning session.  The Center for Arts and Culture co-sponsored the conference with the Curb Center at Vanderbilt. (Photograph taken by Daniel Dubois)

Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County Schools Superintendent Pedro Garcia presented the challenges of implementing arts education initiatives. (Photograph taken by Daniel Dubois)

Philanthropic Advisor, Jane Polin, listens intently and ponders the issues being discussed. (Photograph taken by Daniel Dubois)

Mark Schimmenti, director of the Nashville Civic Design Center, facilitates a discussion of the recommendations developed during the conference at the Curb Center offices at Vanderbilt.

Over lunch, groups interested in Arts Education, Cultural Tourism, and Affordable Housing/Venues met to develop recommendations for the Plan of Nashville.

The Curb Center Director, Bill Ivey, talk with invitees at the Nashville Civic Design Center.

Architect Seab Tuck of Tuck Hinton gives an overview of the Plan of Nashville at the Nashville Civic Design Center.