Project Experience
Rockford Arts Area Council
In early 2023, The Rockford Area Arts Council (RAAC) hired Lord Cultural Resources to facilitate a cultural plan for the Rockford Region (Winnebago and Boone Counties). The Lord team worked closely with the Arts Council, Project Advisory Committee (PAC) and Community Ambassadors, to ensure inclusive and representative public engagement to complement extensive research. The resulting plan includes four high-level “gears,” or interconnected priorities, (in recognition of Rockford’s proud manufacturing history) surrounding an overall vision for arts and culture to thrive in Rockford.
The Rockford Region Cultural Plan quickly produced multiple positive impacts for the region. During the cultural planning process, Rockford’s City Council voted to allocate $200K towards public art, after community input surfaced that a monument to Rockford multi-racial founders was in need of refurbishment after long-term storage. Since the unveiling of the plan, each priority of the plan has yielded specific results:
- Advocacy and Policy
- $250K annual allocation from Hard Rock Casino in Rockford
- State designation as a cultural district
- Increased presence of the Rockford Area Arts Council in the community
- Inclusivity & Intersectional Collaboration
- Business of Art program providing professional development, market research, and funding opportunities for creatives
- Greater integration of the arts in parallel plans such as Parks Department
- Youth & Arts Education
- Expanded Spark! Youth programs to include mental health resulting in increased reading scores and decreased “summer slide”
- Neighborhood & Space Development
- 5 million EPA grant to redevelop decommissioned armory into new cultural center
