Consultants present draft City of Littleton arts and culture strategic plan; board to review by Jan. 31

Keane Independent Research on Thursday presented the draft City of Littleton Arts and Culture Strategic Plan, a five‑year framework that consultants said is intended to guide city investments and cross‑sector coordination from 2025 through 2029. The consultants asked the Arts & Culture Board to submit feedback by Jan. 31, 2025; the board plans to vote on the plan at its February meeting and staff will present it to City Council at a study session on April 8, 2025.

The draft, which Keane described as the city’s inaugural arts and culture strategic plan, is built from seven months of work that included public meetings, interviews, a survey and mapping. Keane said roughly 350 residents and stakeholders contributed and that the study produced a geographic heat map showing a concentration of arts assets downtown and notable gaps in neighborhoods including Trailmark.

Alex Keane, principal at Keane Independent Research, told the board the plan lays out five recommendation categories — activate existing resources; cultivate arts and culture for all of Littleton; foster the broader arts and culture ecosystem; develop and refine governance policies and procedures; and plan for Littleton’s future — and that each category includes actions, suggested tactics and measurable goals.

Keane and consultant Dr. Roxana Filipovska said the plan includes an implementation section that assigns suggested staff leads and collaborators for actions. One example in the draft lists the public art administrator as the suggested lead to produce an inventory of arts programming and resources, with collaborators including the Littleton Museum, Bemis Public Library and the Arts & Culture Board. The document sets a near‑term goal: complete an inventory and make it accessible by 2026, with a stretch goal that the city update the inventory annually by 2030.

Consultants emphasized that the plan is a draft and that the recommendation categories are not listed in priority order. Roxana Filipovska described the document as “a scaffolding” designed to be adapted by staff, the board and regional partners. The team also recommended actions to strengthen the board itself, such as succession and continuity planning so the board can sustain leadership over time.

Board members asked for time to read the full draft and appendices (market analysis, SWOT, funding review and stakeholder input). Keane said appendices include the full community input and demographic analysis used to produce the recommendations. The consultants said staff will circulate the draft and QR code links to the study website for the board and public to review.

Next steps noted during the presentation: board members should submit written feedback to staff (contact: Anna, public art administrator) by Jan. 31, 2025; the Arts & Culture Board will review consolidated comments at the February 13 meeting and is scheduled to bring the plan to City Council for a study session on April 8, 2025.

The board thanked the consultants for the work and encouraged colleagues and community members to read the executive summary and the appendices before submitting comments.