Cultural Planning

Introduction

NAPA, California, January, 2008: Arts Council Napa Valley (ACNV) announces the completion of the Draft Community Cultural Plan for Napa County.

The draft plan is a culmination of a year of exhaustive research, including interviews with community leaders, surveys of artists and arts organizations, the creation of a cultural database, the "mapping" of the cultural landscape of each city and the county as a whole, a comprehensive study of arts education in the county, and six "town hall" public community meetings in each city and town in Napa Valley. All of the information gathered was analyzed by a countywide arts Strategy Team. Working with ACNV staff and planning consultant Morrie Warshawski, the Team created the draft Community Cultural Plan, based entirely on the input and information gathered over the past year.

"This has been an inspiring process," said ACNV Executive Director Michelle Williams, who is the coordinator for the cultural planning initiative. "We've learned so much about local arts, but also about how much community members care about Napa Valley. There is a tremendous love of place, and a real sense that the arts need to be nurtured and supported."

The draft plan will be presented to the public at the

Napa Valley Community Cultural Plan Workshop on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008, 6-8 PM at the Napa Valley Opera House.

This will be an exciting and engaging meeting where attendees will workshop the draft plan. Community members from American Canyon to Calistoga and beyond are invited, and this is the last round of public input before the crafting of the final plan. It will be a lively workshop, where everyone will get the chance to roll up their sleeves and participate, and at the end participants will be rewarded with a wonderful reception at the Opera House catered by ZuZu.

"We're so excited to have this draft plan ready to present to the community," said St Helena Arts & Culture Commissioner Sue Wollack. "In order to be the most accurate reflection of the desires and needs of this community, I urge everyone to attend this last meeting so we can go forward with the very best plan possible."

The draft plan will be available on Monday, January 14th on the ACNV website at www.artscouncilnapavalley.org. Interested community members are invited to view the plan before the workshop, and to submit comments through the website. ACNV staff and the Strategy Team will use the feedback given at the workshop to create the final Community Cultural Plan, which will be published in March.

For more information about Arts Council Napa Valley or cultural planning in Napa County, please call (707) 257-2117, email, or visit www.artscouncilnapavalley.org.

Please feel free to submit feedback on the plan: suggestions, thoughts, or new ideas: