The text below is from the second Living a Creative Life tactical plan, current to March 2015. Please refer to the Tactical Plan section for background on what tactical plans contain and how they will be used.
The outcomes and visions of Living a Creative Life will be realized through the work of signatories. Calgary Arts Development will continue to engage signatories throughout the life of the strategy and will support them in aligning their current and future activities to the tactics below. Calgary Arts Development will also be responsible for collecting data and reporting back on success indicators annually.
Vision: Calgary’s Centre City radiates creative energy from the core out, making it a destination for Calgarians and visitors alike.
Outcome One: A wide variety of arts experiences are embedded in the Centre City, creating a dynamic, central arts hub for the city.
Driver: Prioritize the creation and upkeep of purpose-built arts spaces within the Centre City.
Tactics:
- Increase communication among Centre City arts venues regarding existing models, expansion and redevelopment of sustainable arts spaces.
- Extend the reach of density incentives to include donations to purpose-built arts facilities.
- Provide financing or in-kind support for non-profit arts tenants to improve their leased facilities.
Driver: Ease the process of creating arts experiences in alternative spaces within the Centre City.
Tactics:
- Broker connections between the arts and the private sector to encourage an arts presence in corporate and commercial spaces within the Centre City.
- Increase awareness and knowledge of municipal permitting processes to facilitate the production of innovative arts projects and events in the Centre City.
- Increase awareness within the arts community of purpose-built and alternative arts spaces available in the Centre City.
Driver: Include an artistic element in key aspects of Centre City planning.
Tactics:
- Encourage integrated arts experiences within Centre City plans (visual art incorporated into infrastructure, spaces for street performers, etc.).
- Embrace the opportunity to include arts spaces where artists can live and work in new developments within the Centre City.
- Invest in public realm infrastructure (e.g., power sources for buskers to hook up equipment) that supports arts experiences within the Centre City.
Success Indicators
- Quantity and usage of Centre City arts spaces, measured by:
- Number of available purpose-built and non-traditional arts spaces.
- Number nights these spaces are occupied.
- Total audience capacity of spaces in inventory.
- Quantity and diversity of arts events in Centre City, measured by:
- Number of arts events in the Centre City.
- Percentage of arts events held in the Centre City based on discipline.
Outcome Two: Calgarians and tourists often visit the Centre City specifically to experience the arts.
Driver: Provide resources to create remarkable arts experiences in the Centre City.
Tactics:
- Work with the private, public and arts sectors to coordinate resources and create remarkable arts experiences in the Centre City.
- Create more arts events that draw people to the Centre City during the winter months.
- Maintain or increase public and private sector investment in publicly accessible art.
Driver: Create incentives to travel to and within the Centre City from other parts of Calgary.
Tactics:
- Increase or improve multimodal transportation options to allow Calgarians and tourists to move quickly and easily throughout the Centre City.
- Improve the connectivity and experience of moving between arts events throughout the Centre City.
- Pool marketing dollars and media sponsorships to implement a marketing strategy to bring more Calgarians to the Centre City.
Success Indicators
- Attendance at Centre City arts events, measured by:
- Number of attendees at paid and free Centre City events.
- Number of people travelling to or within the Centre City outside of business hours, measured by:
- Number of hotel rooms booked annually in the Centre City.
- Foot, vehicle and transit traffic in Centre City.
- Reasons that locals travel to the Centre City, measured by:
- Percentage of Calgarians motivated to travel to the Centre City for arts-related activity.
The following signatories are currently contributing to tactics in the Centre City Arts District focus area:
- Alberta Craft Council
- Alberta Theatre Projects
- Beakerhead
- Cab City
- Calgary Animated Objects Society
- Calgary Arts Academy
- Calgary Arts Development
- Calgary Catholic Immigration Society
- Calgary Chamber, The
- Calgary Downtown Association
- Calgary Folks Music Festival
- Calgary Hotel Association
- Calgary International Fringe Festival
- Calgary Men’s Chorus
- Calgary Municipal Land Corporation
- Calgary Opera
- Calgary Public Library
- City Repair
- Calgary Arts Development Authority
- Cowtown Opera
- create! in the East Village
- cSPACE Projects
- Design Talks Institute
- Dancers’ Studio West
- Decidedly Jazz Danceworks
- Evergreen Theatre
- Fort Calgary
- Honens
- Loft 112
- National Music Centre
- PARK (Promoting Artists Redefining Kulture)
- PCL Construction
- Revv52
- Strategic Group
- Structured Abstraction
- Talent Pool Development Society
- Theatre Calgary
- Theatre Junction GRAND