Creative Districts - Deadline Passed

About Creative Districts
In 2011, the Colorado legislature passed HB11-1031. In brief, it encourages the formation of Creative Districts in communities, neighborhoods, or contiguous geographic areas, for the purposes of:

Attracting creative entrepreneurs and artists to a community, infusing new energy and innovation which in turn will enhance the economic and civic capital of the community
Creating hubs of economic activity, thereby enhancing the area as an appealing place to live, visit and conduct business, as well as create new economic activity
Attracting visitors
Revitalizing and beautifying communities
Providing a focal point for celebrating and strengthening a community’s unique identity
Showcasing cultural and artistic organizations, events, and amenities

The legislation is written broadly enough to ensure that the Creative District concept is relevant to places large and small, urban and rural, well-established and new. Still, they will have things in common: Creative Districts are defined areas that include a mix of uses within their boundaries, and they are typically small enough to be walkable. All include arts/cultural assets and non-profit as well as for-profit creative businesses. Most will incorporate complementary non-arts businesses such as restaurants, offices, retail stores and housing. Districts may offer events like art walks and arts festivals. Often they will include community gathering places such as a plaza or park.

ABOUT PROGRAM
The Colorado Creative District program offers selected districts – certified, prospective and emerging – access to:

Grant funding
Tailored technical assistance through the Professional Advisory Network (PAN)
Two networking and training programs
Access to advocacy tools such as the Creative Vitality Index

Wondering if Creative District Certification is right for your community? Click here.

Grant funding
Two Creative Districts were certified in 2012. Each received a $15,000 grant and a technical assistance package to enhance their districts.

Five applicants were identified as “Prospective” districts and each received $8,000 and a customized package of technical assistance to enhance the likelihood that they will be certified in the future.

Up to eight applicants were identified as “Emerging” and each received $2,000 and technical assistance to further their district planning.

Technical Assistance
As part of the Colorado Creative Districts program, selected districts are provided affordable and accessible technical assistance service intended to address district development efforts via Professional Advisory Network (PAN).

The purpose of the PAN is to provide expertise in areas such as district management, organizational capacity, urban planning, finance and marketing to support ongoing district development and sustainability. Professional Advisory Network members are among Colorado's strongest and most knowledgeable experts in the areas of urban planning, economic development, district management and the arts. Among them, they have strengths in facilities development, organizational capacity, public art program development, marketing, business development, urban planning, and more.

Training & Networking Programs
Selected districts convene twice – Spring and Fall 2012 – for the opportunity to learn best practices for district development and sustainability, engage as peers, and network with other state agencies and potential partners.

The first convening will take place in Salida, a certified creative district, in mid-May. All of the 15 selected districts from the 2012 application cycle will attend.

Creative Vitality Index
Developed by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), the Creative Vitality™ Index (CVI™) is a sophisticated creative-economy measurement tool that arms stakeholders with highly reliable data about an area's creative sectors. The most dynamic creative economy report available today, the CVI™ provides an annual measure of the health and creative vitality of the arts in a specific area. The CVI™ augments the efforts of arts agency leadership and advocates in building strategy and creating policy to strengthen creative sectors or in response to a deficiency. This tool goes far beyond traditional economic impact studies to include annual comparative data about commercial and non-profit creative enterprises and occupations, as well as consumer spending in key creative sectors. As part of WESTAF's commitment to the ongoing enhancement to the CVI™, all CVI™ data will soon be offered in an online format via CVI™ Data on Demand™, a new web tool that allows users to log in and access a variety of reports and combinations of data packaged to your preference--on the fly.

Economic development practitioners increasingly recognize the creative economy as a significant driver of economic growth as well as a key factor in an area’s quality of life. The CVI™ provides a framework for conceptualizing and understanding the elements of a creative economy and is also a tool for tracking changes in that economy. The CVI™ includes both non-profit and for-profit industry data at the city, county, state, region, and national level. Soon, data sets will be available by ZIP code.

Cultural Assessment
Click Here for the Cultural Assessment Self Study Worksheet.

Is Creative District Certification Right for Your Community?
The certification process in other states suggests that certified Creative Districts are able to use their status to leverage other funding, in addition to attaining the obvious benefits of attracting new businesses and visitors, enhancing pedestrian traffic, and even stimulating tax incentives or tax relief from local and state government. To know whether Creative District certification makes sense for your community, you might start by brainstorming these questions with a small group of stakeholders:

Who and where are your artists, creative entrepreneurs, small creative businesses, venues, museums, performing groups? Is there an area of town where they are already co-located? Do you have any anchor cultural institutions? An anchor cultural event?
What is your real estate inventory? Do you have any large vacant properties that can be sub-divided into smaller spaces, or multiple adjacent small buildings that together can define a district? What are your zoning rules? What is the access – by foot, car, public transport? Would consumers be attracted, feel safe?
What tools do you have in place that can help creatives thrive as businesses?

How does your current population interact with current cultural programs in your community? If you build it, will they come?