Culture champ
February 1, 2022
Priya Sircar, the city’s first arts and culture officer, will spearhead development of a new plan for supporting the arts in Charlotte.
by Michael J. Solender
Late last summer when the city of Charlotte announced the appointment of Priya Sircar as arts and culture officer, City Manager Marcus Jones used the moment to emphasize the cultural community’s role in helping shape a more vibrant Charlotte. “A thriving arts community is a priority for the City of Charlotte,” Jones said in a news release. “[The city looks to] ensure that the next chapter for artists and arts organizations here in Charlotte is the most successful one yet.”
Arts and cultural organizations have been hit particularly hard during the pandemic as venues were shuttered and creatives were left without performance or exhibition space or viable markets for their work, along with strained philanthropic support. Sircar was brought on to lead the creation of a new cultural plan for the city.
The plan, crafted through a collaborative public-private partnership, defines a new chapter in the city’s funding relationship with the arts community. It represents a shift away from the nonprofit Arts & Science Council as the primary fundraiser and grant-maker for the local arts community. Sircar serves as liaison with a new 18-member advisory board, which will oversee public investment of $18 million, matched by an additional $18 million-plus in private-sector funds over the next three years. Six board members are appointed by the City Council, three by the mayor, eight by Foundation For The Carolinas and one by the ASC.
Before coming to Charlotte, Sircar served as the director of arts for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in Miami. An artist herself (she’s a dancer and choreographer), Sircar has spent two decades working in philanthropy and nonprofit management and consulting. Her background includes developing cultural plans for cities such as Dallas, Houston, and Louisville, Ky.
SouthPark Magazine sat down with Sircar in early December. Her responses are lightly edited for length and clarity.
Why was this new role established for the city?
United Arts Funds like ASC (Charlotte Arts & Science Council) across the country have been on a long trajectory of declining support. Workplace giving has been in decline, not just in the arts and culture sector but in other areas as well. The city felt that model was not working well. The city wanted to try something different and is engaging in a public-private partnership model in collaboration with the Foundation For The Carolinas.
What is your mandate?
My mandate coming in is to oversee an inclusive citywide arts and cultural planning process and work with the newly appointed arts and culture advisory board. Part of those responsibilities include advising on funding allocations from the newly established Infusion Fund. I’ll also work to support my city and my colleagues in other areas outside of this process such as city placemaking, transit and public art. … This role is a dream and a confluence of my passions and expertise in bringing together many things I know how to do and care about deeply.
What are the goals of the plan, what issues will it address and how will results be measured?
We are very early in the process, though one initial goal is to stabilize the sector. Sustainable funding is clearly a core issue we look to address. A plan like this needs to have local context surrounding the background of arts and culture in our community. How did we get here? What is going on? There also needs to be deep research and analysis, both quantitative and qualitative, and extensive community engagement.
Part of the process is also looking across the country to determine what is going on in other places. We’ll likely look at other cities (Austin, Denver and others) to identify potential solutions and approaches to sustainable arts. We’ll be looking beyond funding. One thing the pandemic has highlighted is this whole notion of resilience. In many arts circles the conversation has shifted from sustainability to resilience. … Our plan needs to look at the full ecosystem, including for-profit and nonprofit models.
One of the priorities of the city’s public/private partnership is economic impact, certainly. What I also believe is important and don’t want to go missing in this equation is the social impact that arts and culture can have in the community. We saw that become more obvious during the pandemic and during the implications of the racial justice movement. The pandemic certainly underscored many of these inequities. Charlotte became a nationally significant player and venue for these conversations when the Black Lives Matter mural was installed on Tryon Street last year, for example. We have an unusual opportunity in this moment to talk about return on investment in a more nuanced and holistic fashion.
When meeting with artists, administrators and community members, what do you look to learn about them and Charlotte’s cultural community?
I want to connect with people where they are — in different neighborhoods around Charlotte. My goal is to immerse myself as much as possible. With artists and administrators, I’m interested in learning about their partners and collaborators in [supporting their] work, what their revenue sources are, who’s being served, who their audiences are, where is their work performed and consumed, volunteers, what their programing is, and what are the toughest areas to be funded. Themes I’ve already heard are, of course, operating funds, but also space for rehearsals, art-making and performance. Another huge theme I’m exploring is how people get training, education, exposure and opportunities to pursue creative development. Are these resources available here? What are the gaps, how do artists build careers here?
Charlotte has shown me there is tremendous creative energy and arts and cultural amenities here. I’m hopeful to help the city build upon that. SP
