If you didn’t see it on the Arts and Culture Alliance of Chatham County (ACACC) Facebook page today, I wanted to report a small victory today. I attended the Savannah City Council workshop meeting today, and I have good news to report.
Savannah’s City Council agreed to add “arts and culture” to the list of sectors they wanted to support through their Savannah Forward strategic plan.
There was a little debate as the original sector list originated from the Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA). My reading is the original strategic plan draft wanted to emulate SEDA’s priorities. We know, of course, that SEDA does not recognize “arts and culture” and that’s something that ACACC needs to address.
Regardless, once the City Council went “rogue” and moved away from SEDA’s limited list, City Council added “arts and culture” to their Neighborhood Revitalization priority.
Now, today, is the bigger issue to make sure there is demand for funding via their proposal process for arts and culture services. Get the word out to all those that can apply and get those applications submitted as soon as possible. Personally, I’ll be at the workshop next Tuesday and see what they say. More to report on that later.