June 17th, 2011
Commission slates town meetings for arts master plan

The sculpture of Chief Placido of the Anglo settler-friendly Tonkawa tribe overlooks a park near the San Marcos River. It was cast and erected as a Leadership San Marcos project in 2007. The San Marcos Arts Commission is the process of developing a public arts master plan for the city. PHOTO by DIANA SCHRAMM

SUBMITTED REPORT

The city of San Marcos Arts Commission will host two town meetings at the San Marcos Activity Center seeking citizen comments on the development of an Arts Master Plan for San Marcos.

The sessions are scheduled on Wednesday, June 29 at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, July 9 at 2 p.m. at the Activity Center, 501 E. Hopkins.

The purpose of the meetings is to seek citizen input in the development of an Arts Master Plan, a five-year strategic plan that defines the role of the City of San Marcos in supporting the arts, and the role of the arts in accomplishing the City’s broader goals of quality of life and economic development.

The meetings will be led by Grady Hillman, Director of the Center for Community Arts at Texas State, who has been conducting research on San Marcos cultural planning history and interviewing key stakeholders in the community.

Hillman has created a survey composed of needs and recommendations that have been identified by citizen stakeholders and previous cultural planning processes.

People attending the meetings will be asked to rank the survey items and will be offered the opportunity to suggest new recommendations and ideas that benefit the cultural life of San Marcos.

Hillman will use survey responses and citizen input to develop the Arts Master Plan which will be shared with the community in public hearings in the fall. The final plan will be provided to the City and the San Marcos Arts Commission in November 2011.

For information, contact Grady Hillman at 512-245-1318 or gh24@txstate.edu or the Parks and Recreation Department at 512-393-8400.