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Culture Club
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Business New Haven
1/24/2000
By: BNH
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As New Haven undertook in 1998, now the Valley has embarked on a comprehensive arts and culture assessment project in hopes of better using cultural resources to advance economic development aims.
The Shelton-based Alliance for Economic Growth is spearheading the project, which is being funded by a $15,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.
The assessment project is being overseen by Maryann Ott of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven. Ott has set up a temporary office at the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce in Shelton, and will work on the project through most of the balance of 2000.
The assessment will encompass the seven member communities of the Alliance for Economic Growth: Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Derby, Naugatuck, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton. The group represents a collaborative effort of business and municipal leaders from the greater Valley.
The project will inventory area cultural resources and evaluate strengths and needs. It will also examine the possibility of a regional arts council, ways to support Valley visual and performing artists and the future of the Sterling Opera House in Derby.
As part of the process, community meetings will take place throughout the Valley beginning this spring to present data and discuss findings. “This important study will have an enormous impact on the region and will provide us with opportunities to increase tourism and attract new business and relocate individuals to the region,” says William Powanda, who chairs the alliance.
Adds Derby Mayor Marc Garofalo, vice chairman of the group, “This significant project will provide us with an accurate assessment of our community's existing arts and cultural resources, many of which are untapped. Through this process we will be able to identify key issues, needs and priorities concerning the cultural development of our region.”
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