Madison Cultural Plan 2011 - City of Madison, Wisconsin

Madison needs
a clearer picture
of the various
kinds of cultural
districts.
within the district to strengthen creative sector infrastructure. Other districts may be
designated only for shared programming and marketing purposes, with a goal of
increasing earned income for arts and cultural organizations located there, not
infrequently through ties to tourism promotion.
Cultural districts can be tools for collaborative event and physical planning, for
economic development, for marketing and/or for providing a mechanism for
creative sector participation in civic affairs.
The discussion gets even more complicated in Madison, where the Overture
Center-related Madison Cultural Arts District was created by special state
legislation [WI Statutes 229.840 (1) and (2)]. This statute is a very narrowly crafted
cultural facilities development tool. While the current state statute had a specific
role in Overture’s early years, it is unlikely to be a model suited for other Madison
cases in which cultural districts for other purposes are more likely to be desired.
While many residents expressed the opinion that Madison needs a cultural district
or districts, there was comparably little specificity in understanding what that could,
and should, mean. The community needs a clearer picture of the various kinds of
cultural districts, the lessons learned from their very varied experience, and how
local designation/s could be crafted that fits the varying needs of Madison’s
potential cultural districts.
After a community learning and discussion process, it is likely there are some areas
within the natural cultural clusters described here that could benefit from a formal
designation as cultural districts, providing the legal meaning given to that term
corresponds to clearly analyzed needs. It is unlikely that any system of creating
formal cultural districts would be meaningful for all of the natural cultural clusters
described above.
The Partnership could play an important role in considering the value of creating
cultural districts in Madison by convening symposiums and field trips for
stakeholders and providing exposure to the various legal and functional structures
and uses of cultural districts around the nation. If interest is great enough, The
Partnership could work with the Madison Arts Commission in creating a study group
on cultural districts. If warranted after study, the City of Madison should advance
Madison Cultural Plan Findings
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