Artsnow

“Form 990 was made available to the board of trustees for review prior to filing.”

“Conflict of interest disclosures are obtained annually or upon the occurance of a conflict. In addition, management and the board of trustees monitor the activities of the organization on a perpetual basis for conflicts of interest. All identified conflicts of interest are brought to the board of trustees for evaluation and resolution in compliance with the policy.”

“The compensation of the executive director is determined and approved by the board of trustees using salary surveys and other relevant data along with performance indicators.”

“Such documents were made available upon request.”

“Artsnow strengthens summit county by advancing its arts & culture assets and building connections between arts & culture and the broad community. Artsnow: a. Provides residents of summit county access to information about the diverse arts & culture offerings available in summit county. B. Aggregates and analyzes data about arts & culture to drive sector improvement. C. Advocates for arts & culture across the public, private and nonprofit sectors. D. Convenes and connects makers and presenters to strengthen the sector's impact and relevance. E. Builds and strengthens funding for arts & culture.”

“Akron cultural plan objectives and successful deliverables objective 1: discovery 1.research and document an inventory of existing art and cultural assets throughout akron. The team will work with staff to determine what current cultural destinations and attributes are revered and valued. The team will review previously prepared plans for city-wide development in order to evaluate the relationship and relevancy of arts and culture in akron with other planning efforts over the last two decades. This will allow the team to discover points of connection and support in other adopted plans. The team will be familiar with the following: a. All arts and culture work of the city of akron, artsnow, and any other cultural partners b. An inventory of existing public art, including a map of the existing public art c. History of akron arts and culture initiatives and investments d. National assessment of conditions and trends in arts and culture planning and placemaking, paying special attention to cities of similar size and character cities both locally and nationally. 2.discover the city of akron. The team met with the staff for an intense orientation. This is anticipated to be a full day session and include a tour of the city, highlighting existing art, cultural, and historic destinations throughout the city. A staff person will be expected to lead this tour. An initial meeting with the cultural plan steering committee will be conducted in tandem with this tour to identify and review plan context goals, anticipated schedule, scope of work, and expected deliverables. 3.design a work plan and detailed schedule of the overall timeline for the creation of the cultural plan. This will address the role and responsibility of the staff and consultants with specific milestones to reach within the scope of the project including, but not limited to: timing of any project management meetings, stakeholder meetings, public meetings, and project presentations. This will be refined and monitored by both the staff and the team project manager. 4.design a project website and project communication plan. The team will create a project website that will allow the public to be engaged throughout the planning process. The website will include information on planned events, images from public engagement events, an online survey, a akron story submission platform with an esri storyboarding map for participants to submit images of art from their neighborhoods, cultural institutions and experiences within their neighborhoods and any other relevant information to the planning process. Objective 1 deliverables submitted a. Work plan and overall timeline of the project develop project website b. Communication plan stakeholder list objective 2: community input gathering 1.determine existing attitudes and perceptions, opportunities and challenges to creating the cultural plan for the city of akron. Upon completion of objective 1, the team will meet with stakeholders to listen and learn about the city. Stakeholder meetings may take place in one on one or group sessions. During this series of meetings, the team will determine an internal vision and will discuss the plan for fulfilling the vision. The stakeholder list will be provided by the steering committee with input from staff. Two focus groups will be facilitated by local artists for local artists. The team will develop the method for information gathering at these focus groups and will actively participate in these meetings. Two creative sector focus groups will also be facilitated in two different parts of the city. 2.determine optimal method and process for community engagement opportunities. The team will work with the staff, the steering committee, and artsnow to design and facilitate a series of workshops. These events will be highly interactive and inclusive and yield essential insight to craft a narrative about akron and the values of the community. The process will seek to ensure the maximum opportunity fo”

“Mural arts philadelphia / public art and the environment as part of the broad reimagining the civic commons (rcc) effort in akron, artsnow and the ohio and erie canalway coalition aligned our efforts around activating public space. Leveraging the arts and creativity as a means of pulling people out of their homes and into the outdoor space or the community rooms was very successful. Demographics on the public engagement in outdoor spaces/playground trended to children and families while the indoor activities were created as a way to involve older residents. The playground and common environmental area still provide challenges of accessibility for residents with mobility concerns and this has been shared with the city and rcc to further inform their work and priorities as resources become available. Building community and the importance of connection, especially for children and aging adults, is incredibly important and became a priority. Read more about the final installation here: https://artsnow.org/park- east-project-mural-install/ our partnership with the university of akron through a student intern here: https://artsnow.org/meet-alexandria-couch-assistant-artist-in-the-park- east-project/ community input on phase ii here: https://artsnow.org/park-east-project- residents-vote/ in aligning our efforts with rcc, we came into a process that was underway with an established (albeit loose and easy to work with) framework in place. Because of this, our project was one-year however we know the good stewardship of rcc and community leaders will continue to advance past the final mural installation date which occurred in mid-august. Art and creativity has become an ongoing discussion within the planning of alpha homes for their residents, and accessibility to public space is always on the minds of rcc. Continued work in park east is scheduled for this fall with the installation of an accessibility friendly playground so children of all abilities have a better chance to engage. From volunteers, to the core team, to community members hired to address the work to the residents, to residents themselves and finally artists who participated in workshops we estimate at between 200-225 participants. Encountering significant pushback from the community residents on the use of portraiture was a substantial challenge. Leadership communicated in a transparent manner with city officials, rcc and ohio and erie canalway coalition, mural arts philadelphia, and the residents. The resolution was to remove portraiture entirely given the destruction to the community and the process. The challenge in phase i remained the inability of the artists to find a path forward, at that time, to work together. Scope of work, compensation, and timeline were adjusted accordingly after mediation efforts did not lead to a resolution for full partnership. Positive outcomes: a. The mural that was installed is excellent and the residents are thrilled. B. Multiple artists had the ability to participate in capacity building workshops which were very well received. C. Partnerships developed with the university of akron, akron civic commons, ohio and erie canalway coalition, city of akron, torchbearers, the condo association, and alpha homes. D. Four artists had the opportunity to work deeply on this project between the two phases and participate in one of very few residencies in the city. E. Artsnow was able to experience and draft language for contracts, legal documents, communication strategies, and press releases relative to public art. F. The substantial need for a formal plan for public art was played out and clear to all partners and artists involved. G. The connection with such a renowned organization as mural arts philadelphia helped to establish artsnow in spite of our young age.”

“Partnership: we hired our first pt employee focused on this area, we identified opportunities to connect arts/culture with business, facilitated artist/arts organization employment, and advanced a collaborative narrative around arts and culture as core to economic development with partners such as the greater akron chamber. Additionally, we created 17 new relationships and programs between local business and the arts.”