A 20-page report on Portland’s “creative economy,” supplemented
by 100-plus pages of “attachments,” used dozens of buzzwords
to rehash a meeting that happened six months ago, and left to the imagination most
specifics about who, or what, will happen next in the city's efforts to support
artists.
The folks being nominated to pick up the torch as part of the
Creative Economy Steering Committee, who are expected to be confirmed by the
Portland City Council on December 4, were not named in the report, but as
identified by city planning director Lee Urban, are:
Adam Ayan of
Gateway MasteringJim Baker, president of
MECATom Blackburn, an artist and member of the
Bayside Neighborhood
AssociationGillian Britt,
public-relations consultant to
many of the big
arts organizations in town
Doug Green of
Green Design FurnitureArt Henson of
Henson AdvertisingPandora LaCasse, whose light sculptures grace the downtown every
winter
Kristen Levesque, marketing and PR director of the
Portland Museum of ArtJoe Malone of
Malone Commercial BrokersRose Marasco, a USM professor and artist
Dan Minter, the artist working on the plaques for the
Portland
Freedom TrailAnita Stewart, artistic director of
Portland Stage CompanyJoe Wood, provost of
USMSteve Woods, president of
Key Bank in Maine
Urban says councilor
Jim Cohen, who spearheaded pro-creative
economy efforts during his year as mayor, and incoming councilor
Dave Marshall,
are likely to be the city's representatives to the group.
Those 14 non-councilors were nominated by an informal working group that
has been meeting with Urban for the past couple of years, including Ron
Spinella, owner of Three Fish gallery and a member of the Bayside Community Development Corporation; Jess Tomlinson, from MECA, PACA, and the Maine Arts Commission;
Nelle Hanig, from the city's Economic Development Division, and David Swardlick
of Swardlick Marketing.
The steering committee, once appointed, will meet in January and
begin work to implement the "top three opportunities" identified at
the summit: "connect [the] audience to artists," "publicly
supported and/or affordable public space for artists," and "build
Portland's identity as an international creative center."
In official-speak, the committee will be “tasked with moving
Portland’s creative economy and the Portland creative community forward to the
next level.” No word on whether that level is where we face the intense
creativity of
Mother Brain from the Metroid game series.