Madison Cultural Plan 2011 - City of Madison, Wisconsin

The city has
outgrown its
informal
mechanisms of
engagement with
the creative sector.
Madison does not feature prominent links to comprehensive arts and cultural
calendars and resource databases on either the municipal or Chamber of
Commerce websites. And while the Greater Madison Convention and Visitors
Bureau does have an event listing, it is very limited in scope and not widely
marketed locally. See Appendix E and Recommendation 8.
III.A.2. MUNICIPAL PARTICIPATION IN THE CREATIVE SECTOR
The City of Madison has major investments in cultural activities including the Public
Library, the Overture Center, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, the, the Henry Vilas Zoo,
the Public Art Program, the Madison Arts Commission, festival and special event
services, and historic preservation and urban design functions. It also supports a
number of closely related functions that include some arts and cultural content,
including forestry, community gardens, Monona Terrace, the Senior Center,
Warner Park Community Recreation Center, various neighborhood centers,
certain special events, and the management of public grounds and facilities
used occasionally for arts and cultural events. The city also regulates a number
of aspects of creative sector businesses, especially those in the entertainment
field and fairs, festivals and special events via licensing and permitting processes.
As Madison has grown, so too have the city’s responsibilities for, and impact on,
creative sector development.
Presently, the city has no structure through which to focus its investments and
efforts in the creative sector. While many solid working relationships between
individual civil servants with responsibilities for creative affairs have been forged,
examples of omissions, incompatible timelines, incompatible expectations, and
lack of communication exist. Resource allocation, especially with regard to the role
of the Madison Arts Commission in city-building, does not reflect workload burdens.
The city has outgrown its current informal mechanisms for engagement with the
creative sector.
The City of Madison can strengthen its creative sector capacity and participation in
three ways. First, it can broaden and strengthen the role and structure of the Madison
Arts Commission, positioning that body to take a leadership role in the city’s creative
sector affairs. Second, it can work with the Finance Office to evaluate and enhance
current capacity to identify and analyze municipal cultural expenditures. Third, it can
create a staff team focused on creative sector planning. See Appendices A and B and
Recommendations 1, 2, and 5.
Madison Cultural Plan Findings
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