Creative District Planning Update
We had a great creative district meeting Thursday evening. Alex Kovach presented the new Soap Lake Community Event Calendar. We also talked about our other accomplishments so far with the planning process, the next phase of planning and the updated schedule.
Soap Lake Community Event Calendar – This calendar is a unified local event & meeting planner. It is intended for publicizing community public events such as council meetings, school events, library events, art classes, music events, gallery openings, community meetings, and conferences. Also, local celebrations such as Winterfest, Sandblaster Open, Suds N Sun, and more can be published to the calendar. By publishing these activities in one place, all of us can plan future activities a little better by avoiding scheduling conflicts, as well as being aware of times when there may be more people in town. AND it’s FREE.
Click on the City website menu (top left of this page) and you’ll find the calendar page or visit www.calendarwiz.com/soaplake to see the calendar first-hand. More information about the calendar will be published in the days ahead. Questions about the calendar can be sent to creative.district@couleefriends.org.
“Setting the Groundwork” Phase – Accomplishments
· Memorandum of understanding between FLGC and the City of Soap Lake
· 26 pages of research and introspection, now available for public review – click HERE to view the document
· District map finalized (a copy is inside the document listed above
· Brochures translated into Spanish & Russian
· 10 supporter letters representing 5 businesses, SL Elementary School, McKay, Masquers, SL Prevention Coalition, SL Library
Current Needs and Next Phase “District Development and Promotion”
· We need cheerleaders – people who are interested in learning more, talking about a future creative district, and asking for letters of support.
· We need more supporter or partner letters from businesses, local organizations, churches and more.
· Inclusion – veterans and underserved communities. We want to hear from these communities. What can those of us planning the district do to serve these communities? Are there people in these communities that want to participate in the process?
· Inclusion – Hispanic/Latino and Slavic/Eastern communities. What can we do for these communities? Are there folks from these communities that want to participate?
Anyone who has questions about this process or wants to know more about how creative district certification can help this community is encouraged to emailcreative.district@couleefriends.org.
Additional resources:
· https://www.arts.wa.gov/creative-districts/ - Visit to learn more about how ArtsWA supports communities
· https://www.arts.wa.gov/community-readiness-toolkit/ - This toolkit is our planning tool. Each phase of the process is outlined in this document.
· https://www.arts.wa.gov/apply-for-creative-district-certification/ - Do you want to know what is involved in applying for certification? Visit this web page to learn more.