The city of Olympia wants your thoughts on its downtown Creative District
.jpg "The new Arts Walk center for families and kids at Washington Street and Fifth Avenue has space for street performances. The Olympia Downtown Alliance is developing a strategic plan for dowtown's creative district.")
There are already more than 150 businesses and people in a 30-block area of downtown Olympia involved in the arts.
According to a news release from Olympia Downtown Alliance, the ODA, in partnership with the city, is developing a strategic plan for the city’s creative district. And they’d like the public’s input to help guide future programming.
People are being asked to participate in an online survey put together by the district advisory committee. Some of the questions include what arts events you participate in and what you see as a successful downtown creative industry.
According to the city’s website, the vision for the creative district includes affordable spaces for artists to live and work, areas highlighting history and more.
Altogether, the 30-block area has 150 creative industries, 42 historic buildings, 38 food businesses, 25 makers and fabricators and 10 event spaces.
Program coordinator Marygrace Goddu said right now projects are funded in a variety of ways. That includes grants from the State Arts Commission and city Economic Development funds. Money from these sources has gone to improvements to the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in the past, and more is going to a sidewalk safety improvement project.
Goddu said in the future, the city anticipates the creative district will become its own entity and will develop its own funding resources. It could even be the recipient of Inspire Olympia tax dollars, but first it would have to become a nonprofit.
“If the Creative District becomes a nonprofit organization in the future and is able to meet other cultural access program requirements, it absolutely could be a recipient of Cultural Access (Inspire Olympia) funding,” Goddu said.
Aslan Meade, an Olympia Downtown Alliance board member and committee co-chair, said Olympia has a long history of artistic expression and innovation, from live music to theater and visual arts.
“Now more than ever, we need to support and celebrate those among us who bring the arts to life and help sustain a vibrant, resilient, creative economy in our Capital City,” Meade said in the news release.
This story was originally published May 18, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
.jpg)