Our Strategic Plan

Culture Builds Florida's Future

Culture Builds Florida’s Future (pdf) is the Florida Council on Arts and Culture’s strategic plan for the continuing development of arts and culture in the State of Florida and the tremendous benefits they bring to the state’s economy. The plan is a product of extensive input from the business community and the cultural constituency.

By focusing on the four key areas of Strengthening the Economy, Learning and Wellness, Design and Development, and Leadership, arts and cultural heritage have been positioned as key partners in addressing the state’s most prominent issues: education, tourism, economic development, healthcare, and life long experiences for our youth and seniors. Collaboratively, these issues all lead to more creative communities and increased quality of life. Florida is truly gifted with rich cultural treasures. Therefore, the goal is to continually educate our citizens and visitors alike on the abundance of cultural resources available to them statewide and the positive impact these resources bring to the state.

The Vision Areas

Strengthening the Economy

At the heart of this vision area is a simple question: "What can arts and culture do for business and what can business do for arts and culture?" Activities that reflect this vision may:

• Share cultural tourism dollars
• Make certain that arts and culture are included in local and regional development and growth plans
• Encourage international cultural relationships

Promoting Learning and Wellness

Numerous studies have shown that arts and culture play a significant role in student education and in lifelong learning and well-being for all people. An organization promoting learning and wellness might:

• Offer quality educational activities
• Develop model programs
• Encourage lifelong learning
• Remove accessibility barriers
• Promote physical and mental good health for all ages through cultural programming
• Assist in developing communities that promote diverse populations

Building Leadership

By forming working partnerships, cultural advocates and government leaders can lead the way, working together to incorporate the arts and culture into public policy for every Floridian. Examples include:

• Communicate the public value of arts and culture
• Explore and create public/private partnerships
• Create partnerships with local industries that overlap with culture (chambers of commerce, libraries, film commissions, convention and visitor bureaus) as well as cultural businesses (entertainment, music stores, dancewear companies) and adjunct businesses such as coffee shops, restaurants, and hotels

Advancing Design and Development

Attractive parks, vibrant downtowns, lively neighborhoods, well-preserved historic structures and districts all contribute to creating a healthy, livable environment. Examples include:

• Foster strong design elements in local community public areas
• Encourage city/county planners to include arts and culture in comprehensive and growth plans
• Promote art in public places

2007 Convening Sessions

The purpose of the 2007 Convening Sessions was to develop specific implementation strategies and success measurements for the new goals of the Culture Builds Florida's Future strategic plan. Three meetings were held:

• Focus on Wellness (view agenda)
• Strengthening the Economy (view agenda)
• Design & Development (view agenda)

and the executive summary of the sessions contains valuable strategies for implementation.

Many thanks to those who participated and lent their valuable expertise to this process.  We would also like to thank our sponsors - Citizens for Florida Arts and Zeidler Partnership Inc. Architects.

Resources

• Culture Builds Florida's Future Abstract of Meetings from 2007 (Executive Summary)
• Culture Builds Florida’s Future (pdf, 5.41 MB)

Acknowledgements

We extend our sincere gratitude to Bank of America for their generous support of this project and to Partners for Livable Communities for their facilitation of the visioning sessions.

Contact

Rachelle Ashmore
rbashmore@dos.state.fl.us
(850) 245-6490
(850) 245-6435 (Fax)