Town Hall Meet and Greet Connects Elected Officials with the Arts
Local and state representatives and arts organizations gather to share ideas
March 23, 2023 | On Friday, March 10, ArtsAVL gathered representatives from local arts organizations with elected officials from the city, county, and state level at the Center for Craft to share their goals for the local arts sector.
Executive directors of arts organizations of all sizes, as well as festival and event founders, independent artists, and arts business owners shared their perspectives on ArtsAVL and their hopes for the future of art in the region. Six elected officials in attendance were Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, Asheville City Council Member Maggie Ullman, Buncombe County Commissioner Terri Wells, and North Carolina State Representatives Eric Ager, Lindsey Prather, and Caleb Rudow.
The event was a follow-up to ArtsAVL’s Town Hall candidate forums, which brought together locals and candidates for office before the 2022 elections. These Town Halls, designed to strengthen the arts community and keep its members connected and engaged, have increased the visibility of the arts in Asheville and Buncombe County and given artists and arts organizations a more unified voice.
Current arts advocacy efforts include statewide issues like a bill that would require all K-5 students receive music and visual arts classes, and increasing the funding to the NC Arts Council to a $1 per capita–it is currently well below many other states at $.87 per capita. More local concerns include the increasing cost of living, outdoor event complications, and downtown safety.
More Opportunities for Connection
For more than a decade ArtsAVL has presented the annual Creative Sector Summit to discuss important local arts issues, but the pandemic made it clear that meeting once a year was not enough. After conducting a series of reports to assess the needs of the local creative sector, ArtsAVL formed the Arts Coalition in 2021 to ensure more unified support across the creative sector. This year, ArtsAVL also moved from a once yearly Creative Sector Summit to five events spread out throughout the year, including a Town Hall Series and State of the Arts Brunch. For Katie Cornell, executive director of ArtsAVL, building relationships is key to advocacy efforts. “Advocacy is really about communication, making sure that both advocates and elected officials understand the issues and opportunities before them, and that they are working collaboratively to find creative solutions.”
For Steve Hageman, Executive Director of NC Stage Company, the Meet and Greet was an opportunity to reassess priorities for the arts economy with fellow community members. “I’ve appreciated getting everyone together and seeing all the new faces in the arts community,” he shares. “I greatly appreciate the strides and progress ArtsAVL has made over the past four years in particular to bring us all together.”
Jessica Tomasin, founder of Connect Beyond Festival, co-founder of Asheville Music Professionals and Arts Coalition team leader, was thankful for the chance to connect, both with elected officials and with the creative community. “It was nice to have such a great turnout for the Meet and Greet with ArtsAVL,” she says. “It’s been really exciting to see how ArtsAVL has been able to bring the different facets of the creative sector together and work together on initiatives that uplift the entire community.”
Tomasin adds that “This has been something we’ve needed for a long time. To see it finally take shape and to see advocacy work of ArtsAVL creating a positive impact gives me hope for the future of arts and culture in Asheville.”
Manheimer agrees. “What we’re learning is that without collaboration, you can achieve nothing,” she notes. “It’s so important to connect and to create opportunities for pollination across the community.” She adds that the City is considering a major capital project for Thomas Wolfe Auditorium and the Asheville Symphony. She notes that the recent funding for McCormick Field has helped elected officials in the city “think about large projects. That’s helping us think about what’s next for our entire arts community.”
Asheville Symphony Executive Director Daniel Crupi lauds the “amazing strides the ArtsAVL has made, particularly in the last year, in elevating our local arts scene to an impressive level of import for our local politicians.”
“It’s some of the most important work we can do as fellow arts organizations in Asheville to support the arts and culture scene,” he adds. “Events like this that connect us with lawmakers, legislators, and representatives are invaluable.”
“As someone newly elected, it’s a really nice opportunity to reconnect with people,” says Ullman. “Part of our job is staying in the community, and it’s nice when ArtsAVL organizes the community so we can touch base. We are facing serious and complex challenges, but coming out of Council’s retreat, there’s more alignment coming from those elected than I’ve seen in the last 20 years of being in Asheville.”
Increasing the Visibility of the Arts
Policymakers agreed that events like the Meet and Greet are critical for ensuring that they are representing the interests of their constituents. Prather shares that the range of items that land on her desk is “mind-blowing. By getting to know people in this group and connecting with them, I can reach out,” she adds. “This room is a resource.”
A graduate of UNC Asheville, Prather also understands the central role that the arts plays in community building. “I love to be around my people and get a holistic approach,” she says. “In the world right now, people increasingly talk about STEM. It’s nice to have a vocal balance to that.”
Center for Craft Executive Director Stephanie Moore agrees with Prather. “It’s important for elected officials to connect with the people in their community in person,” she says, “to understand who they can reach out to to build bridges.”
Simply being together in the same room goes a long way. “This is the creative industry and its intersection with government and the for-profit business world,” says Steve Busey, Director of Business Partnerships at Blue Ridge Public Radio. “Everyone in this room is involved in how the arts strengthen our community. Coming together means we can continue to exchange ideas, and keeps us all up to date with which people are working in the community.”
Another effect of increased visibility is resource-sharing. For photographer and ArtsAVL board member Micah Mackenzie, “connections made at this event are crucial to spreading more of the arts community’s resources the way they should be spread, and ensure that that is made a priority inside and outside of this room.”
Next for ArtsAVL
Attendees also shared their preferences for the 2023-24 Town Hall Series, selecting via an anonymous printed survey with options including “Building the Film Industry in WNC,” “Business Improvement District and the Arts,” “Tools for Building Arts Businesses,” “Affordable Housing and Creative Work Spaces,” and other topics. That survey is also available online, and is open until March 31.