Arts council members dream big at annual meeting

GREENFIELD — Hancock County Arts hosted its annual meeting Friday night at the Twenty North Gallery in Greenfield, where a packed house of more than 40 guests celebrated the past while planning for the future of the local arts community.

Guest speaker Miah Michaelsen, executive director of the Indiana Arts Commission, spoke about what it would take to have downtown Greenfield designated as an official cultural district by the state.

“An arts district can do great things for a community if you do it right,” said Michaelsen.

“It’s a long process,” but it can pay big dividends, she said.

The Indiana Arts Commission is a federal agency of state government funded by the Indiana General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.

According to its website, “an Indiana Cultural District is a well-recognized, labeled, mixed-use area with unique, authentic art and cultural identity.” The arts commission works closely with Indiana Cultural Districts, providing project funding and facilitating statewide collaboration through the Indiana Cultural District Consortium.

Alice Hedden, president of Hancock County Arts, said that the cultural district designation for Greenfield — the county seat — could boost tourism and enhance life for Hancock County residents.

Working toward building a cultural district can go a long way in showing future businesses and residents that Hancock County is a great place to live and work, said Michaelsen.

“You are riding a crest right now of the community waking up and realizing that people can work from home. Why can’t they live here? Why can’t they work here? Why can’t you be a community of choice?”

She said it’s clear that Hancock County has a lot to offer, from the arts council to the Twenty North Gallery to the Ricks Centre for the Arts, as well as numerous local theater and dance troupes.

“There’s great things happening here,” said Michaelsen, who fields two to three calls a week from different communities seeking advice on how to become a cultural district.

The first steps are to develop a planning team and to take inventory of what makes your community special, she said.

“Think about what makes you unique, then map your assets,” said Michaelsen, citing downtown Greenfield’s boutiques, restaurants and Courthouse Plaza as a few examples.

After that, she suggests getting local government on board to move forward with the plan.

Such is already the case in Greenfield, where city planner Joanie Fitzwater has long worked with the Hancock County arts council to promote downtown Greenfield as a place to enjoy a variety of cultural offerings.

Fitzwater chatted with Michaelsen after Friday night’s meeting, sharing her excitement at the thought of one day putting downtown Greenfield on the map as an official cultural district.

“It’s something that’s been on our radar for a long time,” said Fitzwater, who is currently working on creating the Riley Literary Trail that will wind throughout downtown Greenfield, among other projects.

“Downtown Greenfield will benefit from an arts and culture economic identity,” she said. “We have such a strong art and heritage culture already, so we should capitalize on it, especially since our community is about to grow exponentially. It’s good to ensure that we are attracting creative and thoughtful people who will improve our cultural opportunities.”

Hedden said the arts council has long dreamed of having downtown Greenfield designated a cultural district.

“Now that there’s so many businesses and new companies bringing so many more people to the county, we need to develop local arts activities so that those people can have a good outlet for their creativity,” said Hedden, who looks forward to what the coming year brings.

“We have our work cut out for us, but there’s a lot of exciting things ahead.”