Cultural District Public Forum - November 17 at 7 pm - Bangs Center

[Janet Ryan]

We just wanted to let you know about an upcoming public forum on November 17.  Under discussion will be the proposed downtown cultural district for Amherst.  The Jones Library is one of the organizations represented on the Advisory Committee.  Please consider attending this meeting at the Bangs Community Center from 7 - 9 pm on Tuesday, November 17!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

 

Community Forum To Discuss Proposed Amherst

Downtown Cultural District

 

Location: Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk, Amherst, MA 01002

 

Time: 7:00 to 9:00 PM, November 17, 2015

 

Contact: Rene Theberge, Public Art Commission, (413) 575-8123 or rene.t...@icloud.com or Sarah la Cour, Business Improvement District, (413) 345-2945, sa...@amherstdowntown.com

 

The Advisory Committee to form a state designated Amherst Downtown Cultural District announced plans to hold a community meeting to gather information and ideas from residents of Amherst as part of its application process as well as to explain what the cultural district would look like and what it would mean for Amherst.

 

Meri Jenkins, Program Manager for Cultural District Programs of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, will speak at the forum about Cultural Districts.

 

“We envision Amherst’s Cultural District as an exciting, integrated focal zone of the downtown Amherst experience,” stated Rene Theberge, chair of the Amherst Public Art Commission. “The District will promote interrelationships among the many cultural activities downtown and build on the synergy created by sharing common goals and a common cultural vision.”

The Massachusetts Cultural Council defines a Cultural District as a walk-able, geographic area of a city or town with a concentration of cultural facilities and activities located within it. Creating a Cultural District in downtown Amherst will give Amherst access to state programs and resources such as statewide and national marketing opportunities, programs for developing cultural economic development strategies, and cultural facilities planning and construction as well as direct funding for Cultural Districts.

The Advisory Committee is a group of major cultural, business and governmental institutions and organizations within the proposed Cultural District.  This includes the Amherst Public Art Commission, the Amherst Historical Society, the Amherst Cinema, the Jones Library, the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Mead Museum, the Amherst Business Improvement District, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Office of External Relations at UMass. The Advisory Committee will be submitting an application to the Massachusetts Cultural Council in December.  They anticipate approval in the spring of 2016.

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Sharon Sharry

Library Director

Jones Library

Amherst, MA