The following are commonly asked questions about the DC Cultural Plan. Please feel free to submit further questions if you don't see your question in this list.
- What is the DC Cultural Plan?
- What is culture?
- Why is the District pursuing the development of a Cultural Plan?
- What are the key goals and objectives of the DC Cultural Plan?
- Does the DC Cultural Plan link to other planning efforts?
What is the DC Cultural Plan?
The DC Cultural Plan is intended to strengthen arts, humanities, culture and heritage in neighborhoods across the city by increasing cultural participation, supporting artists and talent development, stimulating cultural production and informing decision-making. The Plan will lay out a vision and recommendations on how the government and its partners can build upon, strengthen and invest in the people, places communities and ideas that define culture within the nation’s capital.
What is culture?
We will use the Cultural Plan process to explore what is culture and what it means to District stakeholders. Culture can include art, dance, music as well as heritage, humanities, spoken word as well as related activities such as food. Culture can include various scales / types of activities that occur in formal spaces such as theaters and informal spaces such as sidewalks.
Why is the District pursuing the development of a Cultural Plan?
Per District Council’s ‘Cultural Plan for the District Act of 2015’, the DC Office of Planning (OP) has been designated as the lead agency to develop a ‘comprehensive’ cultural pan. OP is developing the Plan in collaboration with the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) along with the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment (OCTFME).
What are the key goals and objectives of the DC Cultural Plan?
The goal for the plan is to inspire all Washingtonians to view the District’s built environment and infrastructure as a stage and all residents as performers. We want to understand how access to and immersion in culture can improve communities and the lives of residents across the city. Key objectives of the plan include the following:
* Stimulate cultural production, expression and consumption
* Address equity issues across neighborhoods and increase cultural participation
* Support artist and talent development
* Understand the larger role of culture in the federal and local city
* Inform cultural policies, decision making and investments
Does the DC Cultural Plan link to other planning efforts?
OP intends for the Cultural Plan process to link with other major planning efforts, such as the Crossing the Street creative placemaking initiative, as well as the Second Amendment to the District’s Comprehensive Plan that will run in parallel to the Cultural Plan and includes a Citywide Arts and Culture Element.
