Erie County seeks public input on culturally cohesive plan

The effort comes as The News revealed Friday that Democratic lawmakers in the Erie County Legislature have raided funds set aside for small and medium-sized arts and culture organizations to use for one-time costs of renovations, repairs and construction. Only $11.2 million out of $25 million was used for these purposes; the rest was spent by lawmakers on unrelated projects.

Despite this, Thomas Baines, deputy commissioner for planning and economic development, said the county, which provides operational support to arts and cultural organizations, as well as capital grants, seeks to make a greater strategic impact by keeping in mind all areas of the county.

The county is working with the Greater Buffalo Cultural Alliance and has hired AEA Consulting and Jacques Planning & Consulting Services, a public engagement firm, to help with the planning work.

“We want to connect people from all artistic disciplines, as well as arts education and cultural facilities,” Baines said. “We also want to assess what resources are needed, as well as where those needs can be met and what resources are provided.”

Three public meetings are scheduled Monday to Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

“We want to encourage people to share their views,” said Joe Lin-Hill, principal consultant at AEA Consulting. “Western New York is a very special place, and we have a golden opportunity to come together and try to follow the same type of path for the greater benefit of the county’s residents and visitors of Erie.”

The Southtowns public meeting will take place on Monday at Emery Park Ski Lodge, 2084 Emery Road, South Wales. The Buffalo public meeting will be held Tuesday at the Torn Space Theater, 612 Fillmore Ave. The Northtowns public meeting will be held Wednesday at Clarence High School Lecture Hall, 9625 Main St., Clarence.

Online access is available at shorturl.at/KJCiK. The cultural plan community survey can be viewed on EDI.

The plan will help meet the varied needs of groups across the county, Baines said.

“It’s critical to stay in touch with cultural organizations across the county because the needs of the city’s groups are very different than, say, Springville,” Baines said. “It’s important to get a sense of all the organizations that represent the full landscape that Erie County offers when it comes to art and culture.”

About 100 county cultural organizations have been invited to help develop a plan, which is expected to be completed in the fall.

“A lot of energy is spent throughout the county through cultural organizations of different sizes,” Lin-Hill said. “There is great work being done, but that work may be less visible to the general public in terms of what is actually happening in the community. There isn’t really an overall plan for how culture works and how it’s recognized. for us.”

Arts and culture already have a huge impact on the regional economy, Lin-Hill noted.

A 2022 study of Western New York by Americans of the Arts found that spending on arts and cultural nonprofits totaled $192 million, generating $381.4 million in economic activity and created 8,221 jobs.