Back in 2018, the Arts Council of Park City & Summit County created Project ABC.

The initiative, which stood for arts, beauty and culture, introduced cultural planning to Summit County, said Jocelyn Scudder, Arts Council’s executive director.

“The planning process convened many people across the country, not just those in the arts, but local business owners, people who worked in nonprofits outside of the arts sector and local government leaders,” she said. “They all came together to really think about the future of arts and culture.”

A few weeks ago, the Arts Council initiated a new arts and culture master plan, designed to draw a roadmap to construct a vibrant and sustainable arts and culture ecosystem, according to Scudder.

“Arts and culture is, without a doubt, a driving force within our town, whether it has economic benefit or social cohesion,” she said. “As an arts council, one of our core roles is advocacy and planning. So it’s in our wheelhouse to continue this planning effort that celebrates creativity and diversity throughout the community.”

The plan and its process are available for the public to review at pcscartsplan.com.

“We’ve engaged a consulting firm called Designing Local out of Columbus, Ohio, and they’ve done cultural planning and worked in Utah before,” Scudder said. “They are working in lockstep with us to put forward a plan that is really actionable, and they are bringing in key partners to help us realize this vision for the future.”

The Arts Council also launched a survey at surveymonkey.com/r/3TKZTGR in connection with the plan, and the goal is to gather at least 1,000 entries by Feb. 28, according to Scudder.

“Our focus is on local residents because we’re asking questions like ‘What would you like to see in this community?’ ‘Do you want to see greater disbursement of cultural assets throughout the county, outreaching toward Coalville and Henefer?’ and ‘Do you want to see more more programing and events?’ as well as ‘Are you seeing a gap in things like arts education?’ and ‘How might we solve those issues?’” she said. “A lot of the information we gather will inform policy initiatives that we’ll approach local government with possibilities for new funding mechanisms.”

The Arts Council of Park City & Summit County has also retained Jake McIntyre, with Union Creative Agency, who was the lead consultant of the 2018 plan, Scudder said.

“We really wanted to capture (his) historical and institutional knowledge because we don’t want to have to start over from the beginning,” she said. “Instead, we want to deepen our Project ABC plan and really come out with some objectives we can act on and start implementing.”

In order to further the Arts Council’s knowledge and engagement, it has scheduled a series of public, thought-exchange workshops in an open-house format, Scudder said. 

The free workshops take place at the CREATE PC Local Artist Collective, 1500 Kearns Blvd., space F110, and are scheduled as follows:

• 5 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 13
• 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Friday, Feb. 14
• 3:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 27
• 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Friday, Feb. 28

“We want people, arts and culture organizations, community leaders, educators, business owners and the art-curious to join us in 90-minute conversations and share their perspectives throughout the month,” Scudder said. “People can chat about experiences, ideas, challenges and big dreams related to arts and culture. Each workshop is limited to 20 people per session, and each will cover the same topics. So we encourage people to sign up for just one.”

Scudder acknowledged the world has changed since the Arts Council published the last plan in 2018.

“We have a pandemic that stands between then and now, but many of the priorities that came forward in that original plan may still be relevant,” she said. “Arts can be used as a tool to help mold the fabric of our community together and help retain our sense of identity, especially since there’s a lot of development on the horizon, and our community is changing rapidly.”

For information about the Arts Council of Park City & Summit County’s new Arts & Culture Plan, visit pcscartsplan.com.

To take the Arts Council of Park City & Summit County’s arts and culture survey, visit surveymonkey.com/r/3TKZTGR.