Arts & culture master plan approved; board up next

An arts and culture master plan for Carson City goes to the Board of Supervisors next month after final touches were added by Cultural Commission members Monday night.

Among those touches were outreach and collaboration initiatives recommended by Peter Barton, a commissioner and a state administrator with the Division of Museums and History. Barton’s suggestion included outreach and collaboration with the Nevada State Prison Preservation Society and other organizations in historical or preservation work. After about an hour of work, the commission voted unanimously to send the plan on to the board.

The mayor and supervisors on Dec. 17 will review it and may suggest changes before later possible adoption, but before such final action it must also be reviewed by the Planning Commission as well. Members on the cultural commission discussed their Dec. 17 presentation approach and the topic of money was part of that discussion.

“Your going to have to demonstrate success,” said Kendall Hardin of the Idea Factory, the consultant helping with the master plan draft. She said the idea was to start with a small amount and demonstrate return on investment upon which to build. Sharon Rosse, executive director of the Carson City Arts Initiative, testified the master plan is a policy document and worried budget-oriented and money at this stage might cause problems.

“If you start talking about it, your going to sandbag the plan,” she said.

Barbara D’Anneo. a commission member, was pushing for money to be addressed. She said if the board didn’t ask about money, the public certainly would, and talk without action the past 15 years made her bring it up.

Supervisor Karen Abowd, also on the commission, agreed it should be addressed during the presentation when brought to the board, directing Hardin to include it in her presentation.

Hardin will handle that using a Power Point to provide the board an outline of the document. Arts and culture advocates also are expected to testify. No final action would come then, as it still must go to the planning unit. It is expected to be on a Dec. 17 agenda crowded with the downtown makeover project and a related downtown business improvement district.

Monday night, Cultural Commission members also voted unanimously to cancel their Dec. 15 meeting because of the board presentation set just two days later.