Media Coverage

KINGSTON, N.Y. — The city is undertaking its first comprehensive cultural planning project by creating an Arts & Culture Master Plan. The goal of the effort is to identify gaps and new opportunities through analyses of existing facilities, economic data, strengths, weaknesses and possible threats, according to a press release from the city.

Work on the Arts & Culture Master Plan is to begin this month an continue until early 2021. The city will work with the firm Lord Cultural Resources to complete the plan. The firm will provide an economic impact study and a catalog of cultural resources, and it will facilitate public workshops and presentations.

The City of Kingston in Ulster County, New York is launching a cultural planning project. The city’s mayor says a master plan will help preserve cultural assets and help artists facing challenges in this economic landscape.

Work on the Arts & Culture master plan will begin in June and continue until early 2021. Lord Cultural Resources will provide an economic impact study, a catalogue of cultural resources and facilitate public workshops and presentations, virtually during COVID-19 restrictions.

FARMINGTON — While the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted most other activities, Farmington officials say the spread of the illness has not impacted progress on the Complete Streets downtown renovation project and that it remains on schedule.

The city also is updating the strategic plan for the Farmington Museum system, a process that began with a public meeting in December to solicit input. Allen said the first phase of that plan is almost complete, and a strategic planning workshop will follow to explore key findings.

The city has contracted with Lord Cultural Resources — a global consulting practice that offers specialized planning services in the museum, cultural and heritage sector — to facilitate the development of the plan. The original schedule called for the firm to submit a report on the new strategic plan to the City Council in May, but the inability to hold the planned strategic planning workshop could delay that date.

Abbotsford doesn’t fund its cultural programs and organizations as richly as other communities, a new city-commissioned report says. While the city has boosted its support of programs, similar cities still provide much more funding for cultural activities. That is one of the key findings included in a “State of Culture Report” as Abbotsford begins work on a new culture strategy. The city is also now calling for the public’s feedback on the strategy. The State of Culture Report says the city has many opportunities to “take a leadership role in culture delivery,” particularly by working with community organizations and partners. The report, which was created by Lord Cultural Resources in tandem with staff, gauged total per capita cultural spending in Abbotsford at about $6.24 per resident.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Macon-Bibb residents came out to the Rosa Jackson Community Center to give their opinions on how the city’s art community should look. The first draft of the Macon-Bibb Cultural Master Plan was released Monday. The draft includes the following  five priorities: Tourism, Education, Creative industries, Neighborhood development, Audience cultivation.

Joy Bailey-Bryant, the vice president of Lord Cultural Resources, says there are different forms of art that assist with different scenarios — like helping those with mental health issues or those behind bars. Bailey-Bryant says the improvements will also boost tourism and city revenue.

“Helping neighborhoods to grow, helping businesses to grow, up in the film industry, helping in the music industry,” shared Bailey-Bryant.

The Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum and its next-door neighbor, the National Auto & Truck Museum, are not merging, but they are cooperating in a visitor-oriented effort being termed “The Auburn Automobile Experience.”

Armed with a grant from The James Foundation of Auburn, the neighboring museums launched a 6-person committee and asked the highly recommended Lord Cultural Resources from Canada to do a study last year to determine how the museums could work together for their mutual benefit.

“We have this incredible story to tell, and we have to tell it together,” Brandon Anderson, ACD Museum executive director, told KPC Media Group and its local newspaper, The Star.

The Art Gallery of York University (AGYU) wants to make North York a destination for art lovers. Thanks to a $5-million donation from patrons Joan and Martin Goldfarb, York University is planning to build a stand-alone new home for its contemporary art gallery.

“The gallery’s location on the subway [line] is huge,” says Toronto-based museum planner and consultant Gail Lord. “And the accessibility of North York to the rest of the province is very important.”

Lord sees the initiative as contributing to an ongoing democratization of the arts across the city. Recent developments include the city’s new public art strategy, which will get a big push in 2021, and annual art event Nuit Blanche’s forays into Scarborough, Etobicoke and North York. She notes the new gallery will join the Ontario Science Centre, the Aga Khan Museum and the Meridian Arts Centre as North York venues with an arts focus.

A major new exhibition, Mandela: Struggle for Freedom, opens at the Ken Seiling Waterloo Region Museum in Kitchener on February 7, 2020. A rich sensory experience of imagery, soundscape, digital media and objects is used to explore the earth shaking fight for justice and human dignity in South Africa - and its relevance to issues of today. Among its many dramatic visual features and original artifacts, the exhibition replicates Mandela’s eight by seven foot prison cell. When entered, the cell becomes a digital theatre whose walls tell a story of repression and resilience.

This exhibition was developed by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (Winnipeg, Canada) in partnership with the Apartheid Museum (Johannesburg, South Africa). Tour management services provided by Lord Cultural Resource.

Construction is well underway on the Canada Pavilion for Expo 2020 in Dubai, which will mark the first time Canada has participated in the World’s Fair since Expo 2020 in Shanghai.

The federal government’s Global Affairs Canada (GAC) department contracted the project to a consortium led by EllisDon Construction, with Toronto-based Moriyama & Teshima Architects behind the design. Other partners in the design, build, and operation contract entail Lord Cultural Resources, along with Hatch, Kubik, Thornton Tomasetti, NGX, and Cisco.

An eventful year for the Farmington Museum at Gateway Park came to an end with the launch of a months-long process to develop a new strategic plan for the facility. A public meeting was held Dec. 11 to solicit public input for the plan, with the global consulting practice Lord Cultural Resources having been hired by the city to facilitate the process. The plan is intended to guide the decision-making of museum officials over the next several years. A final version is expected to be delivered to the City Council for its consideration by May.