The City of Plano and the Cultural Planning Group on Monday presented a draft cultural arts master plan titled “Live Creatively in Plano,” unveiling recommendations on marketing, facilities, funding and city organization and inviting community feedback through March 21.

The plan is the city’s first comprehensive cultural arts master plan and, according to consultants, seeks to make arts programs more visible and accessible while supporting individual artists and arts organizations. “This is more than just a document. It is a vision for our future, a roadmap for creativity,” Michelle Hawkins with the City of Plano said at the forum.

Consultants said the plan was based on a year of research and community engagement, including a statistically valid survey and pop-up events across the city. “Eighty-nine percent of households have above-average interest in the arts,” Martin Cohen of Cultural Planning Group told attendees; consultants also reported that 65% of respondents “strongly support or somewhat support” public funding for the arts, a figure the presenters described as “a very strong number.”

The draft lays out three goal areas. Community-focused recommendations include coordinated, citywide arts marketing, expanded public-art programs (including temporary and interactive works such as murals and artist-designed utility boxes), and more varied programming for different age groups. Creative-community recommendations call for changes to the city grants program to broaden eligibility and add categories for individual artists, professional development, and a directory of available workspaces. City-government recommendations propose consolidating arts functions into an office of cultural affairs or an office of creative life and broadening the Cultural Arts Commission’s advisory role beyond grants.

Consultants identified existing funding streams — hotel occupancy tax revenues and general funds — as the primary current sources supporting grants, facilities and events, and noted other options such as reviving a percent-for-art program, developer incentives, private fundraising through a nonprofit friends group, and capital bonds. “The city actually spends maybe $3,000,000 a year on arts and culture now,” a presenter said when describing the range of existing municipal support for arts facilities, grants and special events.

Audience speakers raised questions about translating general public support into votes for capital projects, educational and institutional partnerships, diversity of artistic expression, and practical next steps for implementation. Judith Pafford of the Plano Art Association asked, “What can we do to be more political?” to increase voter support for arts capital projects. In response, presenters said a separate advocacy effort would be required for any ballot measure and noted that survey results reflect general attitudes rather than testing specific funding proposals.

The consultants said implementation will require partnerships among artists, arts organizations, businesses and city departments. They also recommended creating an implementation committee or similar citizen-led group to develop detailed next steps. The draft plan and appendices, including the market study and survey cross-tabs, are posted online for review; the presenters said they aim to present the draft to City Council for review on or about April 14.

The forum closed with an invitation to submit written feedback. “If you have any comments or suggestions, send them to us at askplano@plano.gov,” an organizer said.

Why it matters: As Plano’s first master cultural arts plan, the draft maps specific policy and funding options that could affect how the city allocates existing revenues and pursues new resources, how artists and organizations find workspace and audiences, and how the city coordinates arts activity across departments and civic partners. The plan’s recommendations — from marketing and public art to creating city staff capacity to manage implementation — are intended to shape local cultural programming and facilities decisions in the coming years.