City of Austin creates new office dedicated to culture and entertainment scene
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The city of Austin announced it’s launching a new Office of Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment (ACME). According to a news release, it is meant to focus on “sustaining and growing Austin’s creative sector.”
The release said for many years, cultural affairs programming and resources were spread cross five different city departments. Each department separately focused on music, special events, cultural centers, heritage centers, cultural arts and art in public places.
This new office would unite related programs under one umbrella.
“When you have people that are just siloed, that all they do is music, or all they do is event production, what happens is a lot of things get lost in translation, or things fall through the gap,” said The Foxtones Band Manager Kimberly Chung.
Chung said in this new initiative, it’s important to have people experienced in different parts of the creative industry.
“Bring their expertise together and go, ‘Okay, how can we effectively collaborate?'” Chung said.
The city said it intends to do the following:
- Streamline coordination
- Provide a more cohesive and accessible experience for residents and visitors
- Amplify the reach and effectiveness of joint initiatives
“How does the city promote its creative community to visitors, to tourists and even to the people in Austin? I think with this unified front, we have an opportunity for services like Visit Austin to really maximize and showcase the different kinds of arts that are happening in Austin” said Conspirare Managing Director Ann McNair.
McNair said she’d also like to see this new office help with funding for the arts as well.
“Long term, more direct funding can go directly to the different creative pursuits in Austin,” McNair said.
Both Chung and McNair felt hopeful about this move and eager to see how it shapes up in the future.
“After months of engaging with numerous organizations and individuals who are dedicated to the success of Austin’s creative community, it became clear to me that we needed to realign our resources to better support our cultural ecosystem,” said Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax. “Under a unified office, we can improve how we provide services and create synergistic opportunities that attract tourists, generate revenue, and elevate Austin’s profile as a cultural destination.”
