Last night the Greater Columbus Arts Council hosted its annual Public Forum. The forum gives the Arts Council an opportunity to connect with the community and discuss timely and important topics that relate to our city and the arts. More importantly, this forum gives us a chance to listen to our community as they ask questions about our activities, grant programs and more.
Tom Katzenmeyer, president of the Greater Columbus Arts Council
Listening to our community has been a big part of my year as the Arts Council embarked on a a multi-phase research process to better understand the public’s perceptions of arts and culture, their priorities and values, and the programs they think are important.
Last night Nanette Maciejunes and I had an opportunity to talk about the state of the arts in our city, how Columbus currently funds the arts, and how that stacks up against what other cities are doing. We also had the opportunity to talk a bit about what Columbus could be doing for the arts, and I shared some of the initial results from the research we’ve been doing this year—but that research isn’t finished. We need your input. The next step is an online survey to generate broad input from our central Ohio residents.
The Arts Council has teamed up with Burges & Burges Strategists, a third party research firm to launch an online survey. It is one phase of a larger community outreach program, including telephone surveys, small group discussions and in-depth interviews. The information gathered will help shape plans for the future of arts and culture in central Ohio, and all residents are encouraged to participate.
The survey, at www.gcac.org/survey, is available until Dec. 1.
Please take a few minutes to complete this survey and share it with friends, family and co-workers. We need your input. Diverse participation will help us maximize the value and effectiveness of our research. Thank you in advance for your time and participation.
Finally, I would like to take a moment to thank Nannette and Kate Quickel (host of WOSU’s Broad & High) for joining me on stage, Columbus College of Art & Design for hosting, Urban Strings for their excellent performance, Actual Brewing Company and Jeni’s for providing local flavor (beer and ice cream) and everyone who came out and participated.
— Tom Katzenmeyer, connect with Tom on LinkedIn.
