Creative Philadelphia Town Hall – Part I

by Rachel Dukeman | Nov 13, 2014 | Policy

Last night I went to the Creative Philadelphia Town Hall, held at the Clef Club on South Broad Street. At the event we heard remarks from:

• Frank Sherlock, City ofPhiladelphia’s Poet Laureate
• Joseph Kluger, Advisory Council
• The Honorable Mayor Michael Nutter
• Helen Haynes, Chief Cultural Officer
• Veronica Castillo-Perez, Pennsylvania Council of the Arts – Consultant
• Gayle Isa, Asian Arts Initiative, Founder and Executive Director
• Valerie Gay, Art Sanctuary, Executive Director
• Laurel Raczka, Painted Bride Art Center, Executive Director
• Lisa Nelson-Haynes, Painted Bride Art Center, Associate Director
• Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds-Brown
• Margot Berg, Public Art Director
• Tu Huynh, City Hall Exhibitions Manager
• Jacque Liu, Percent for Art Project Manager
• Lindsay Tucker So, Research & Policy Associate
• Pamela Yau, Special Projects Coordinator
• June O’Neill, Philadelphia Cultural Fund
• Mark J. Stern, Kenneth L. M. Pray Chair Professor of Social Policy and History, Co-director, Urban Studies Program, Principal Investigator, Social Impact of the Arts Project – University of Pennsylvania

There’s a chance I’m missing someone… because I’m pretty sure we heard from a half of Philadelphia.

Before you write my sarcasm off as cynicism, know that my ribbing is rooted in passion -– for the arts. Everyone on that list is an excellent speaker, proud arts supporter, and influential leader. I’m just not sure why they were preaching to the choir.

When invited to a “Town Hall” meeting, I was expecting to learn about the current arts and culture opportunities or trends in Philadelphia and what we, as invited professionals in the field, could do to further engage and support it. The best part of the meeting was the panel from the City’s Office of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy – however they weren’t even listed on the marketing collateral.

The second best part of the event was the keynote on the Social Impact of the Arts Project.  I wish we didn’t just hear the fable, but discussed the moral of the story as well. Again, how was telling an arts and culture professional audience that arts has an impact on society not superfluous? Where was our call to action?

My expectations of a Town Hall informal presentation on current events and a discussion surrounding them predisposed me to be disappointed with the conference-style panel discussions and “short, but sweet” keynote.  The event was too long and contained too many messages. With the utmost respect for our colleagues on the first panel, I’m not sure why they were on the docket. We went from hearing about leadership succession to placemaking to collaborative partnerships to diversity in under an hour.

That said, there were some good takeaways from the event; things like the Percent for Art program, hearing continued support commitments from City Leaders such as the Mayor and Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds-Brown, and learning about the In Store forgivable loan program. Once I get over my frustrations with the event, I’ll write a part two discussing the positive parts.