Lackawanna County Arts and Culture Department and The Scranton Area Community Foundation jointly released Art for Community Progress, the report generated from a series of Art for Social Change round tables sponsored by the two organizations and conducted in 2016.
The report provides a series of recommendations that arose from the conversations of over 150 individuals, representing a variety of organizations. The goal of the series was to share ideas, discuss challenges, and offer resources to improve our community.
The four forums focused on the impact the arts have on various sectors of the community and explored opportunities for utilizing the arts to continue to enhance the quality of life in Lackawanna County.
Though many ideas were discussed, five key areas of focus emerged, which could have measurable impact on Lackawanna County’s future. They are:
- Creation of an Arts and Culture Asset Map
- Establishment of a Community Ambassadors Program
- Development of a Cross Sector Collaborative to Design a Large Scale Community Project
- Implementation of a Comprehensive Multi-sector Advisory Council focused on Equitable Transportation strategies
- Design of Leadership and Capacity Building Programs for the Arts and Culture Community
Some actions have already taken place towards addressing some of these goals. The Scranton Area Community Foundation in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has implemented an Equitable Transportation Council comprised of over 80 regional participants with the goal of making transportation more accessible.
In addition, Lackawanna County has formed an ARTS Engage! Task Force aiming to expand arts and culture programming in County services and to develop a large scale community project. This group is also looking at working on creating an inventory of arts and culture opportunities and better ways to market events.
The full Art for Community Progress report can be downloaded for free on the website of the Scranton Area Community Foundation.