The St. Petersburg renaissance has been in full swing for more than a decade. We’ve excelled in many areas and struggled in others. In our series St. Pete 2.0, we’re partnering with the St. Pete Catalyst to explore what lies on the other side of our potential – what will it take to move to the “next level” as a city? Through this series, we’ll dig into specific topics with the hope that you, our thoughtful citizens, will share your insight, experience and wisdom.
Art has been an integral part of St. Pete’s cultural identity and a key driver behind its economic growth. In October, the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, Downtown Partnership and City of St. Pete launched a new planning effort to create a Comprehensive Arts Strategy for the community. A Catalyst St. Pete 2.0 survey that month helped to inform initial efforts, concepts and recommendations. Since then, researchers have conducted focus groups, held virtual public meetings and put together initial ideas about how to build the city’s strong foundation to support artists, strengthen arts organizations and support community prosperity through arts and culture.
In this edition of St. Pete 2.0, we asked Catalyst readers and Downtown Partnership members to refine and prioritize some of the themes that have emerged. Though final recommendations for the Comprehensive Arts Strategy won’t be released until April, click here to read what we learned from our survey on the St. Pete Catalyst.