Sioux Falls Arts Council Unveils 2017-18 Action Plan

Sioux Falls, S.D. – Three months after a new Executive Director took the helm of the Sioux Falls Arts Council, it has laid out an action plan charting a fresh course for the organization.

This plan distinguishes it as an entity that specializes in arts coordination and public accessibility rather than a programming entity that creates arts experiences from scratch.

This role is consistent with nationally recognized models for mid-size city arts councils such as Cambridge, MA and Asheville, NC which Executive Director Kara Dirkson says Sioux Falls is ready for. “Gone are the days when the arts council is needed to create arts experiences for residents; today our city is full of artistic and cultural vibrancy. Our proverbial arts train is moving–it’s time for the Sioux Falls Arts Council to help lay the tracks and get the public on board.”

The Arts Council’s action plan emphasizes eliminating barriers to the arts for community members, facilitating communication within the arts and cultural community, assisting and sponsoring other arts organizations and, down the road, coordinating a community-wide celebratory arts event that generates tourism and related economic traffic for Sioux Falls.

First on the action plan is the creation of the SFAC Consortium which will be made up of three groups of stakeholders from the arts community: representatives from small to mid-size arts organizations and businesses, individual artists and larger anchor arts organizations.

“Our community is full of wonderful opportunities to experience arts and culture,” says Sioux Falls Arts Council Board President Sandra Pay. “However, the arts community lacks a collective voice that would empower it to sit at the table with civic and business organizations, and with the City of Sioux Falls. We hope to provide that.”

The Arts Council’s action plan is rooted in Sioux Falls Imagined: A Cultural Plan for a Vibrant and Prosperous City, the community’s formal Cultural Plan, adopted on July 1, 2014 by the City Council. The Sioux Falls Arts Council is responsible for implementing this long-term plan which is a blueprint for economically and culturally growing our community through the arts.

“The Sioux Falls Arts Council exists to serve our entire community through support of the arts,” Dirkson says, “we need to start by organizing and coordinating the arts community so we can make that happen.”

Visit www.artssiouxfalls.org for more information on the SFAC’s action plan and the Cultural Plan.

Contact: Sioux Falls Arts Council
Angelica Mercado, Communications and Program Coordinator
605.271.6696 ext. 403
amercado@artssiouxfalls.org
Kara Dirkson, Executive Director
kdirkson@artssiouxfalls.org

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