Catching up with Columbia’s cultural plan
Back in January, the City + One Columbia announced that they were enacting a cultural arts planning process called Amplify in Columbia: an 18-month project that would kick off with focus groups + surveys to discover how the arts could better serve our city – and vice versa – and end with a formalized draft of a cultural section of the City Planning Department’s Comprehensive Plan in-the-making, Columbia Compass: Envision 2036.

(Amplify is only one part (the cultural part) of 10 sections in Columbia Compass – the City’s “blueprint” for how Columbia will grow and develop – looking at everything from our population + housing to natural resources + economic development. It is the 10-year update to the City’s Comprehensive Plan that will serve as a basis for improvements + changes for city budgeting, zoning and land development.)

Back to Amplify: Columbia’s last cultural plan – which developed much of the cultural scene we experience in Columbia every day, like creating an office of cultural affairs [a.k.a. One Columbia] + more public art – was enacted 10 years ago in 2008, so it’s time for a refresher.

Now, Amplify is in its tenth month of its 18-month planning process. So – what has the Amplify team found out about cultural needs, wants, barriers + opportunities in Columbia? And how can that be written into Columbia Compass as future public policy for our city?

So... what exactly is Amplify? (Give it to me in a few sentences.)

Amplify is the process of developing a cultural plan for the City of Columbia. It’s the arts + culture arm of the city’s comprehensive cultural plan that’s currently being developed, Columbia Compass. (Columbia Compass is hosting two public feedback meetings this week: Wednesday, Oct. 3 at Richland Library and Thursday, Oct. 4 at 3907 Ensor Ave., both 5-8 p.m. Find out more here.)

In other words, Amplify is a two-way conversation between the City and our community about the arts, culture + heritage of Columbia and how to strengthen their presence and impact.

To fund Amplify’s total budget of $80,000 the City is covering $36,500, and the rest is coming from support from the Knight Foundation Fund at Central Carolina Community Foundation, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and Nephron Pharmaceuticals.

What’s the completion goal?

The City + One Columbia want to gather enough feedback and data to get public policy into the hands of City Council + Richland County at the close of the project in Summer 2019.

Who’s involved in the project besides One Columbia + the City?

The City has brought in arts advocate + basically professional city cultural planner Margie Reese – who has already helped other cities develop cultural plans, including Houston, Texas, Boston, Mass. + Alexandria, Va. She’s helping to write the plan’s framework and recommendations for public policy changes to deliver to the City when Amplify is finished.

Columbia arts pioneer Larry Hembree (the former Trustus + Nickelodeon Theatre director) is overseeing Amplify as a whole – so we can be confident that the project is in capable hands.

What’s been done on the project so far?

When the focus groups + surveys began in early March, Amplify’s main goal was to find data on cultural vitality, social + cultural equity, the economics of Columbia as they relate to the arts and ways to make arts + culture a bigger part of our city.

Thus far, 70 meetings have taken place with 650+ Soda Citizens at 59 different locations. See past meeting locations here.

Amplify artist facilitator meeting | Photo courtesy Amplify Columbia

Here’s a list of just a few local professionals + organizations Amplify has met with:

👂the City’s Historic Preservation Commission and other civic planning organizations like Parks and Rec

👂The Comet

👂United Way of the Midlands and other nonprofits + organizations that work with the homeless, seniors, teens + veterans

👂Local colleges + universities

👂Arts organizations

👂Individual artists

👂Young professionals

👂Educators

Additionally, ~350 people have taken the Amplify Columbia survey. (You can take it yourself here.)

What have we learned so far from the surveys + focus groups?

🎨 96% of survey-takers feel Columbia needs more arts activities + events

🎨 50% feel that increasing public space for interactive experiences is a top priority

🎨 Other top priorities included focusing on the preservation and support of Columbia history and continuing to add more public art

🎨 We have artists who are willing to teach in their communities

🎨 Soda Citizens define culture + art beyond visual creations, including food, festivals + more

Additionally, six themes have emerged from the public hearings, discussions + forums: Leadership, Investment, Spaces, Valuing Artists, Art Learning and Mastery + History.

💡Leadership | Amplify wants to 1. focus on training our City’s public + private leaders (think: business owners, politicians, nonprofit board members + more) on the importance of arts + culture in Columbia and 2. invest in more arts leaders. This means creating a leadership pipeline so we don’t lose out on talent that’s already in Columbia to arts-focused jobs + opportunities in other cities.

💡Investment | Amplify will explore how to connect the arts culture of Columbia with city services. This could include implementing free COMET rides from low-income communities to Columbia art museums + galleries or installing a mural on every new development downtown.

💡Spaces | Amplify want to explore how Columbia can creatively use our existing public spaces – like parks + city streets – to promote our arts culture. In the focus groups, it was discussed how the City will decide whether to utilize existing centers (like the Drew Wellness Center) or create new, city-operated arts spaces that could seat 500+ for performances + gallery showcases.

Either route, the City wants the opportunity to engage with our city’s art culture to be free + affordable for all Soda Citizens. For example, Amplify sent artist facilitators into Columbia neighborhoods to gather photos from its residents to place on a neighborhood map of homes – visually connecting the neighbors with a photo + short bio of who they are to help facilitate community.

💡Valuing Artists | Columbia recognizes that artists need living wages, space to work, resources, healthcare + visibility. This includes educating the community about who these artists are and how to support them. This theme support that artists help define the identity of Columbia and so they should be valued, helped + supported. They are the creative problem-solvers that Columbia needs.

💡Art Learning and Mastery | Columbia wants to see more arts education in our schools by providing local artists the opportunity to teach + create with our children. Amplify wants to create more arts + cultural programs in schools – kind of what like Katie Pell, San Antonio, Texas artist + Southwest School of Arts’ teen arts program coordinator, is spearheading by designing and implementing a multimedia after school program for artistically gifted 14-18 year-olds.

💡History + Culture | This theme deals with cultural preservation and our local festivals + events that celebrate the preservation of our history + culture. Focus groups expressed their desire for the preservation of Columbia’s historic buildings and their stories to ensure that our city history is cultivated, not lost in dilapidation.

Have feedback for the Amplify team or want to get involved? Email hello@amplifycolumbia.com.

Stay up to date with the project by following One Columbia on Twitter, Instagram + Facebook.

–Beth