PCA’s Arts Access Project: Outcomes and Strategies for the Future

Since September 2008, the Piedmont Council of the Arts has been holding a series of Creative Conversations in order to help grow the region’s artistic community. On April 20, 2010, the PCA convened a discussion on its new Arts Access Project.

Featured Arts Access partners opened up the conversation by sharing lessons learned from the project’s pilot year. A group discussion then explored follow-up strategies for expanding the project to further address access to the arts and audience development in our community.

Strategies identified by the group will be implemented by PCA with funding from Altria Group, Inc.

Arts & Economic Development: National Initiatives and Ideas for Charlottesville

Charlottesville is home to many artists and arts organizations. But, is our community fully capitalizing on its own reputation? That was the general topic of the latest in a series of Creative Conversations facilitated by the Piedmont Council of the Arts.

Our recording begins with Maggie Guggenheimer, PCA’s executive director. After a brief round of introductions, she describes an effort in Chattanooga called CreateHere.

PCA Community Conversation: Dos & Don’ts for Collaborative Arts Education Projects & Partnerships

On October 26, 2009, the Piedmont Council of the Arts held the latest in a series of Creative Conversations. The project is a chance to bring representatives from different arts organizations together in order to share ideas. This time around, the topic centered around the idea of developing partnerships across many different non-profit groups.

After a round of introductions, Greg Kelly of the Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative and Pete O’Shea of SiteWorks began discussing how they were able to forge the StoryLine project in collaboration with the Piedmont Council of the Arts, the Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Department, and the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Freedom of Expression. Afterwards, the panel and participants had a conversation about what worked, what didn’t, and what lessons can be learned to inspire similar collaborations in the future.