Manchester Arts Council Moving Forward

Last year, the City of Manchester began looking into whether or not there was an interest in the city to create an arts council. Manchester Alderman Michael Clement said Monday night that since that time the creation of a council has received an overwhelming response from the community.

As previously reported by Town and Country - Manchester Patch,  (Read more on the Manchester Arts Council at the end of this article.).

At Monday night's Manchester Board of Aldermen meeting, Dan Tierney, deputy director of the Regional Arts Commission, updated aldermen on the progress of the newly created Manchester Arts Council. Tierney also explained how an arts council benefits a city and what the next steps are to make it legitimate, including the creation of a plan.

Tierney recently worked with the City of Creve Coeur to create an arts program. He said he also helped Creve Coeur develope a necessary arts council master plan and is currently working with the City of Crestwood to do the same. Tierney explained that a master plan is crucial to creating the arts council. He said it involves most city departments and therefore brings in feedback from all parts a community.

Tierney said an arts council provides a city with a number of benefits, including creating a better quality of life and giving the city an identity. He also pointed out that by developing an arts council, a city can pick that committee from community members, including residents and business owners.

He said along with the the arts council, a city should have a master plan for the arts. Tierney said the benefits of having a master plan are that it reflects the City of Manchester and legitimizes the city for funding and artists.

Arts in the city of Manchester would include performing, visual and literary arts that would all fall under the umbrella of the council.

He said arts education is an important part if bringing art into a community and keeping it there.

Tierney also discussed funding Monday night. He told Aldermen there are numerous ways to fund arts in a community, including donations and city funding, but also from grants. He explained a $250,000 Our Town Grant, but said cities need an arts council and plan in place to receive that funding.

According to Tierney, the next steps are the master planning process, getting an official arts council approved by the city and then having the arts master plan adopted by the board of aldermen. 

To give aldermen some perspective on the creation of an arts council, Tierney explained that it took the City of Chesterfield three years and Creve Coeur approximately two-and-a-half years. He said it's typically all of the community involvement that makes the creation such a long process. He thinks Manchester can make its' arts council a reality in half that time because it's already in the works.

*Aldermen also postponed on its property.

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