Dear Executive Leggett,
I am pleased to provide you with a summary of the
2011-2012 activities of the Silver Spring Arts & Entertainment District Advisory
Committee, along with a series of suggestions that we believe will help to
strengthen the district.
The committee’s monthly meetings this past year included
presentations from a number of different arts organizations based in or near Silver
Spring . A list of these groups is provided in Appendix A.
The goal was to help familiarize committee members, a number of whom were new
this year, with these organizations and their respective missions, as well as
to speak with them about their concerns and seek ideas about how to improve the
district. We also met with additional representatives of organizations that are
involved in the issues that were raised (included in Appendix A).
In the course of these presentations, certain topics came
up again and again in our discussions. They can be broadly categorized as
follows: A clean and safe downtown Silver Spring ;
marketing and promotions; tax benefits of the A&E district; wayfinding; and
space for artists and organizations. In no particular order of importance, the
next sections summarize the concerns and the committee’s thoughts about how to
best approach solutions.
Clean
& Safe
This issue became a priority for the community and the
committee again last fall, partly as a result of the debate of a proposed teen curfew
law. Arts organizations expressed deep concern about the nature of the public
debate, especially in the media, which included many comments that were felt to
have recast Silver Spring as an
unsafe place to visit. This, of course, is precisely the opposite of what we
would like to convey; Silver Spring is a clean, safe place where everyone from
families to young people are welcome and can find something fun to do.
The Fillmore Silver Spring has proven to be the successful
street activator we all hoped it would be, and their close cooperation with
county agencies has kept any potential problems to a minimum. We note, for
example, several threads on close-by neighborhood email listservs commenting
about the lack of problems many of them had feared, and their pleasure at
having such a fine venue close by. This type of cooperation should continue as
a model for the entire downtown.
For example, we note and support the efforts of the county
police department to bring new ideas to bear on the downtown, especially
reopening Ellsworth Drive
However, there are other solutions that should be
explored. For example, how can we encourage additional pedestrian traffic along
those blocks of Georgia Avenue Ellsworth
Drive Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center
In addition, we believe there is an important role for the
Urban District and the Red Shirts to
play in keeping downtown clean and safe beyond their current duties. We
supported the budget to hire additional Red Shirts this year and hope that
takes place quickly. In addition to the services these individuals already
provide, we think there’s value in asking them to be sure street lighting is
adequate, burned-out bulbs are replaced quickly, and so forth to ensure people
feel safe walking on all the streets in A&E District.
Finally, we note that some public facilities, including
the civic building, are already showing signs of wear and tear that do not
reflect well on the community to outside groups. We urge the county’s
Department of General Services to develop a comprehensive maintenance and
repair program, adequately funded by the county, to ensure our facilities
remain something in which we can all take pride.
Marketing
& Promotions
The ability to inform potential audiences about all the
arts and entertainment options available in the A&E district is a concern
to groups both large and small. Large groups want to draw from a regional
audience. Small groups looking to attract an audience often don’t have the
resources for advertising. This committee would like to see a marketing program
designed to establish Silver Spring as a
regional destination for arts and entertainment, which would help not just arts
groups, but downtown hotels, restaurants and retailers, as well as increase
county tax revenues.
In the absence of a marketing plan and budget for a
big-picture campaign, we have turned to social media and other low-cost methods
of promotion. For example, we created a Silver Spring
Arts & Entertainment Facebook page where anyone who “likes” the page
can post an event. Other groups have similar outlets, and organizations like
the Montgomery County Arts & Humanities Council and the Regional Services Center
It is the committee’s intention to take advantage of local
expertise and develop an educational program, designed for small organizations
limited in both financial and human resources, to teach them how to better
market themselves on a low or non-existent budget. We intend to make this part
of the committee’s agenda for next year agenda.
Tax
Benefits of the A&E District
As you know, the committee worked with the county’s
Department of Economic Development on the application to the state asking for
redesignation of the A&E District. In the course of our review, and in
talking to artists and organizations, it was apparent that there are few who
know what tax incentives the enabling legislation provides for, let alone how
to take advantage of them.
An attempt to provide a tax education seminar (or
seminars) for property owners and artists met with frustration last year, as we
learned there was no one at the state level who was really “in charge” of this
area, making it hard to find the right people to participate. Relatively
recently, the secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development has
named several individuals to be the experts on these issues. We intend to
invite one or more of these officials to present next year to area property
owners and artists, explain the incentives, who qualifies for them, how to
claim the credits, etc. In order to take maximum advantage of their presence in
Montgomery County Bethesda
Wayfinding
The committee was briefed on the state’s Tourism Area
Corridor project and heard a presentation from state’s consultant, Informing
Design Inc. We support the plans to guide drivers to the parking areas in
downtown, which seems a sensible way to get cars to the appropriate garages
while minimizing their presence on Georgia and Colesville.
We have informally discussed pedestrian wayfinding signs
to guide visitors to specific venues, and the committee agrees there is need to
provide this valuable service. However, we recognize this is an expensive
proposition to do correctly. We would support funding such a project, as long
as it doesn’t take funds away from other, more critical areas such as clean and
safe programs.
Space
for Artists and Organizations
The A&E district clearly lacks adequate, affordable
studio, office and gallery/performance space and that is a concern. In addition
to dearth of knowledge about tax incentives noted above, some groups have
simply been priced out of the Silver Spring rental
market. Furthermore, the hurdles to renting space through the Community Use of
Public Facilities, which are not limited to pricing alone, are an issue as
well.
One solution is pop-up and temporary exhibit space. This
summer, the committee will begin to compile an inventory of spaces that could
be made available for artists and organizations to use for exhibits, etc. These
spaces could range from empty storefronts to hanging works in building lobbies,
on restaurant walls, etc. This information will be made available to local
artists and organizations.
We are generally supportive of the idea, put forth
primarily by some residents of East Silver Spring, to turn the Sligo Avenue police
station into an arts center with studio space once the department vacates the
building. However, in the absence of a concrete proposal for funding and
property management, we lack the ability to examine the pros and cons of such a
use of the building and land, so we tabled any further discussion.
In the meantime, the committee has briefly discussed how
to encourage placing art that meets Park & Planning criteria in public
spaces, especially under the optional method of development. This could be an
agenda item in 2012-13. In addition, we had an initial meeting with a WMATA
representative about art in the transit center. Right now, there is no money
budgeted for art in the center, nor are any grant proposals or other
fundraising efforts underway. Given that it’s unknown when the transit center
will open, this has been tabled indefinitely.
Finally, we were pleased to be asked to draft criteria for
the charitable and community use of the Fillmore, that so much of our draft was
adopted and applications now are available. However, we have heard questions
raised by individuals and organizations concerning the fees and how they were
derived. In addition, the process is not managed by the Community Use of Public
Facilities Office (where most people assume it would be), which makes it
difficult to find the application on the county website. We would urge the
county to look into ways to bring more transparency to this process.
Thank you for this opportunity to serve the arts and
entertainment community in Silver Spring , and to
share our activities and thoughts with you. We would be happy to meet with you
at your convenience to discuss any part of this summary or any of the
suggestions that we have made.
Sincerely,
Michael E. Diegel
Chair, Silver Spring Arts & Entertainment District
Advisory Committee
APPENDIX
A
Arts organizations presenting to the committee in 2011-12
included:
·
Arts on the Block
·
Class Acts Arts, Inc.
·
Discovery Communications
·
Montgomery County
·
Montgomery County Arts Center
·
Pyramid Atlantic/Artspring w/local artist Kari
Minnick
·
Round House Theatre (also representing Lumina and
Forum theaters)
·
The Fillmore Silver
Spring
Other groups presenting during 2011-2012:
·
3rd District, Montgomery County Police
Department
·
East Silver Spring Civic
Association
·
Informing Design, Inc.
·
Montgomery County Department of Recreation
·
Montgomery County Parks
·
Silver Spring
Regional Advisory Board
·
Silver Spring Urban
District
·
Silver Spring Urban District Advisory Committee
·
WMATA’s Art in Transit program
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