CT Arts Commission

The Connecticut Commission on the Arts asked us to help solve three problems.

Build a state wide plan to improve promoting the arts.
Increase media coverage of their annual lobbying day at the Capitol.
Focus attention on how the arts are an engine driving economic activity in the state.

In response we developed a three part program:

First we worked with the leaders of arts groups around Connecticut in a collaborative planning process. We formed an Arts Promotion Task Force, coordinated a series of regional meetings and conducted a survey to involve arts leaders from across Connecticut in process. Based on these efforts we drafted an arts promotion plan that led to development of an improved statewide online arts calendar.
Second, we proposed and promoted the first Connecticut Arts Advocacy Awards to honor individuals who have supported arts organizations in an outstanding way. The awards are now a high point of the Commission's annual Arts Day at the Capitol. They are designed to honor people from each region of the state, providing a hook for local news coverage of Arts Day at the Capitol.
Third, working from a newly completed academic study, we created a media program conveying findings of a research report documenting the economic benefit of the arts in Connecticut. We launched the effort with a statewide release detailing the economic benefits of the arts across Connecticut and issued this during Arts Day at the Capitol. We then created a series of news releases for business editors keyed to economic benefit of the arts in their region. Finally we developed and placed op ed articles commenting on report, (one in a major daily newspaper in each region).

For each step of the way, we organized this project along the lines of of Connecticut's U.S. Congressional Districts, providing a 'local' news hook to news and op ed page editors.

Relevant examples of our work:

• Arts Survey • Task Force • Arts Day PR • Arts Award Form • Localized Release • Op Ed •

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