Peoria Arts Commission gets input on master plan

The Peoria Arts Commission has wrapped up public meetings for its proposed Five-Year Arts Master Plan.

A handful of representatives from local arts organizations and school districts, as well as concerned citizens, voiced their opinions last Thursday to representatives from Jerry Allen and Associates,whom the city contracted to develop the master plan to lay out guidelines for future public arts programs.

"The representatives talked about what the plan would consist of and about the importance of citizen input in the project. They also outlined the process they were following to develop the plan and what the public was looking for in the plan," said Grady Miller, director of communications and public affairs for Peoria. "Ideally, we would have liked to have more participation. Unfortunately, people only show up when there is a concrete project to discuss.

"The one important point that participants made, however, was that there needs to be more public input on these projects."

The final proposal for the plan will be introduced at public meetings on Feb. 10-11. The plan will then be brought before the City Council in March for a final vote in April.

The plan will provide guidelines for the city in the following areas:

• Organization - Review the staffing level, operations and communications for the city's arts division, comparing it with those of similar cities.

• Arts Commission - Examine the governance of the Peoria Arts Commission, outlining rules and procedures, as well as looking at the effectiveness of the commission's grant programs and partnerships.

•  Public art - Identify public art priorities, ways the city can acquire public art, as well as locations that would benefit from public arts and ways to integrate art into existing infrastructure.

• Arts funding - Look for ways to meet arts-funding needs through the Percentage for the Arts program without affecting the city's other budget needs. Examine the possibility of private funding to develop public art in commercial developments.

• Public involvement - Encourage meetings and focus groups to engage the public in developing art projects.