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United Arts and consultant present draft Wake County cultural plan; staff urged to expand municipal partnerships and funding
Summary
United Arts and Cultural Planning Group presented a draft countywide cultural plan that emphasizes municipal capacity building, workforce pathways and support for small/mid-size arts organizations. Consultants highlighted Wake County's low per-capita public arts funding compared with peer counties.
Consultants from Cultural Planning Group and staff from United Arts presented a draft cultural plan and community-engagement findings to the Wake County Board of Commissioners on March 10, 2025, asking for commissioner feedback on draft goals and priorities.
Linda Flynn (Cultural Planning Group) said the planning process included a community survey, interviews, and discussions with municipal leaders and arts stakeholders, producing more than 1,700 community survey responses and extensive qualitative input. "They want creative experiences across the county," Flynn said, summarizing public input on access and cultural representation.
Martin Cohen and Flynn outlined a three-goal framework that the consultants said aligns with the county’s strategic plan: (1) strengthen municipal cultural capacity and place-based programming, (2) support a sustainable nonprofit arts and creative economy, and (3) expand access and awareness so residents can find arts opportunities in their communities.
Funding and benchmarking Consultants showed Wake County’s current per-capita county investment in arts as about $0.42 per resident and compared it to peer counties with substantially higher per-capita support. "The per capita allocation from each county shown in the fourth column is rather stark," Cohen said, urging the county to consider phased increases tied to fiscal planning.
Consultants recommended bolstering United Arts Council’s role as a designated local arts agency and using existing county platforms to coordinate technical assistance and cultural-district-like incentives for affordable space, rehearsal and studio access, and business development support for creative-sector small businesses.
Why it matters: commissioners said the plan would help the county leverage arts and culture to support workforce retention, economic development and quality of life. Commissioners asked the consultants to develop implementation tactics with short-, medium- and long-term milestones and to identify likely partners and funding approaches.
Next steps Consultants said they will return with a fuller implementation plan and prioritized tactics, including early wins such as public-art toolkits and municipal technical assistance. United Arts staff and consultants said they will involve municipal partners and corporate supporters in implementation steps and align the cultural plan to the county strategic plan.
Provenance: The presentation and Q&A took place during the March 10, 2025 work session and included consultants from Cultural Planning Group and United Arts staff.
