Art activists, residents and organization leaders gathered in the East End’s Goodyear Hall Wednesday morning to pose questions and discuss the sustainability of arts and culture in Akron. From the untapped potential of the arts to the impact of federal funding cuts on local arts, culture and entertainment, panelists answered questions about the growing arts and culture scene in the city.
The event was hosted by the Akron Press Club. Panelists were John Garofalo, CEO of the Akron Community Foundation; Nicole Mullet, executive director of ArtsNow; Howard Parr, executive director of the Akron Civic Theatre.
Andrew Meyer, deputy editor for news at Ideastream Public Media, moderated the discussion and asked the questions.
Listen to the discussion
Editor’s note: The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What do the arts mean to Akron in Summit County?
Something to enjoy a weekend, an economic engine for the region, something that makes our city, our county a destination? Would you believe all the above and more? According to analysis of Ohio’s Creative Industries, all things arts, generated 10s of millions of dollars in tax revenue in Akron region in 2019 it supported a payroll of more than 18,000 people and an economic output of $2.9 billion, but that was 2019 and we know what happened the following year with the pandemic.
Now we live in a time when the Trump administration in Washington D.C. has its own views on many facets of life in this country and is using its authority to both impose, restrict and remove funding from those it does not believe should have government support.
What is the state of the arts at home here in Akron and Summit County? What are the challenges that local arts organizations and local artists face? What are the opportunities? We pulled together this panel to talk about this, sustaining the arts in Akron and Summit County, because they all have skin in the game. They have something to say.
I want to give each of you the opportunity to do an elevator pitch on what your organization does and how it impacts regular people across the county.
Nicole Mullet:
ArtsNow serves as your local arts and culture agency for Summit County. That means we work across the sectors, both with arts organizations, with recreation and parks, with organizations that are essentially working hard to improve the quality of life in Summit County, with the goal of providing opportunities for residents and also proving attractive to residents and making this someplace people want to go.
Howard Parr:
It is interesting that you mention the pandemic, because the pandemic was obviously very traumatic and difficult, but for the Civic it was a catalyst in that as we were shut down. As we came out of that period, we acquired the management of the Goodyear Theater. Due to an ongoing capital campaign we opened the Knight Stage and Wild Oscar’s.
We had an ongoing relationship with the University of Akron and E. J. Thomas [Performing Arts Hall] that has continued with Lock 3 coming out of the pandemic. We launched it in August of 2022, Live Akron, which is a consolidated marketing platform for all of those venues.
Our organization changed pretty dramatically post pandemic. We grew substantially, but we also consolidated a lot of the programming that was happening in town, and were able to communicate it in, hopefully, a more effective way. That has been a big piece of what we have been doing the last five years; trying to really consolidate all this activity in a way that helps rebrand Akron and Summit County as the center for arts, culture and entertainment.
John Garofalo:
The Akron Community Foundation is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. We were founded back in 1955 with a million dollar bequest from the estate of Edwin Shaw and that has since grown into an endowment for our community of just over $330 million.
We have given back almost $260 million into the community to support programs and services that benefit all residents through specific pillars. One happens to be arts and culture, which is why it is so important to us, the other three are civic affairs, education, health and human services. We work very closely with nonprofit organizations to possibly give them grants to operate their programs. On the other side of our house, we work with donors who want to leave lasting legacies here in our community by starting their own charitable fund, and we help them with their charitable plans and wishes.
You all agreed that ArtsForward was important to talk about. What is ArtsForward?
John Garofalo:
The culmination of funders working very closely with ArtsNow, who is our backbone organization for arts and culture here in our community, where, thanks to the leadership of the GAR Foundation, the Knight Foundation and other funders in town, we pool money together so that we can offer grant dollars to support the cultural plan that was established by ArtsNow, many, many years ago.
It was a great partnership. It was one of those examples of organizations and funders coming together for a great cause. I’ve been on the panel for three rounds of funding so far, and to see the innovative ideas and programs that our community comes up with has been amazing, and it’s all thanks to Nicole and her leadership at ArtsNow.
Nicole Mullet:
ArtsForward launched in 2023 thanks to the support of local philanthropic partners, with the goal of ensuring that, while there are many things in the cultural plan across the 10 priorities that can be moved forward without resources, we were very aware that some of those priorities and some of the strategies were going to require a little bit of fuel in the fire.
And so the funding that came together, really initially driven by our philanthropic partners, helped to fund programs and work that was specifically advancing the cultural plan.
One of the things that I really appreciate that I think has been important to mention, and most unique to Summit County, was the fact that while this started with our philanthropic partners, it has expanded to include public funding from Cuyahoga Falls, from the Ohio Arts Council, from the County of Summit, which has been imperative to moving this forward.
It has driven business investment, both from philanthropy based within our corporations and beyond, and it’s brought together non-traditional arts partners, so people who have learned, because of the cultural plan, how arts impact their work.
So the ADM board understands how recovery and addiction and mental health can be impacted positively because of arts and culture. [Summit County Developmental Disabilities Board] has been a tremendous partner in ensuring that all people, regardless of their ZIP code or their developmental disability, are not identified by that first, but instead are identified as an artist first, thanks to partners like Summit Artspace network as it has moved forward.
It was a great example of how philanthropy led the charge, proved the concept and other partners came to the table.
The idea of this collaborative effort — is this unique, or, if not, at least, distinct? Has this been tried anyplace else in the country?
Nicole Mullet:
Not as successfully? It can be very challenging to rally people around a cultural plan, to the extent that’s happened in Greater Akron. And while you see funding pockets from all of these groups coming together to fund specific projects, I think one of the things we talk about a lot in Summit County, but I have to reiterate, is the collaboration.
So because these leaders across sectors work together so successfully on many different projects, there’s a trust there, So that when philanthropy buys into something and goes to other partners and says, ‘This is vitally important, not just to the economic development and vibrancy of Summit County, but to all of the work that we’re undertaking together, there’s a trust that allows that work to move forward.
John Garofalo:
I can tell you that this community came out when we asked them to participate in the development of the cultural plan. I mean, the amount of interviews that took place, the amount of focus groups that took place, we wanted to make sure that everyone had their input in what this cultural plan would look like in our community.
And once they came back with the 10 priorities that were identified, the last thing we wanted to do is to put that on a shelf somewhere and not do anything with it, which happened with a lot of plans that are developed by organizations.
So ArtsForward was critical in order to move the priorities forward, because people were actually getting dollars to implement their programs, which was the whole intention of the program.
Howard, to bring you into the discussion of ArtsForward, What has it meant for organizations like yours having ArtsForward present in Akron and Summit?
Howard Parr:
The biggest thing is that it provided funding for direct opportunities to look at the cultural plan and implement those things directly. So we’re already getting funding from ACF, GAR, Knight, all these other sources, and so just adding a program, unless we had some other way of funding, it wasn’t going to happen.
But with that, we were able to then go to the cultural plan, say, ‘We’re already doing some things that align with the cultural plan. But what else can we do? How can we grow our impact?’ And that’s really what it allowed us to do.
Those 10 priorities. What are they? What was the driving mindset behind them?
Nicole Mullet:
It was community driven. Over the course of the 18 months that went into the planning and implementation of the cultural plan … we had everything from five priorities to 12.
At every point we went back to the community and said, ‘How does this feel? Is this what you told us? Does this reflect your vision for Summit County and how this is going to impact your life, your family’s life, your kid’s educational experience?’
It was very much driven by the community feedback. The steering committee, which was representative of both artists, funders, neighborhood residents and those ‘block mayors’ that we all know in our neighborhoods who really know what’s going on in our communities.
I really appreciate the way they sat in discomfort at various points, because it can be hard to hear feedback that says, ‘You’re not getting this done for my family yet.’
This is still an opportunity that I want to see the sector come together around. That committee was able to sit there and take that feedback and do something productive with it.
Howard Parr:
I think this is really important from the perspective of the cultural plan and its development. You guys all know the story of … everybody standing around and saying, ‘Oh, that’s beautiful. It’s beautiful.’ But everybody thinks it’s ugly as hell, but we’re not going to admit it, right?
You can’t get away with that in Akron, in Summit County. You can get away with it in some bigger cities, but you can’t get away with it in Akron. You have to be authentic.
And I think what set the cultural plan process apart from every other cultural plan that we’ve known of is how authentic it actually was. And that one thing is, what is making this cultural plan more impactful than maybe some other cultural plans.
And I think it’s important to note that we just don’t have the luxury of being inauthentic here, and there’s just not enough resources to get away with that. We are very authentic here, and the cultural plan is a prime example of that.
John Garofalo:
One of the priorities of the cultural plan is public art. And although Akron already had a public art commission and a plan for public art, it allowed other communities to start looking at, ‘Hey, what should we be doing with public art in our communities?’
So I think the city of Stow, City of Green, have taken ArtsForward dollars and really looked at how they can implement art in their communities.
How have your organizations been involved with Akron’s bicentennial?
John Garofalo:
We have a great asset in the Akron History Center that our friend Dave Leiberth spearheaded in this community. If you have not been to the Akron History Center on Main Street in Downtown Akron, right in the heart of the city, you need to do that.
It’s a gem that Dave put a lot of heart and soul into that really tells the true story of Akron and our history. So as a funder, we were proud to support it and continue to support it.
Nicole Mullet:
I think one of the things that I really appreciate, both about the leadership of the bicentennial and certainly Mark [Greer] and the steering committee, is the intention that we knew that arts, culture and history were going to be imperative to telling the story of the 200 years of Akron.
Not only do we have a story in the past in Akron relative to the arts … but there was a sense that in order to tell a story, we were going to have to lean on the arts.
Numbers alone aren’t going to encompass what the bicentennial means to this community. So we’ve seen a real intention on behalf of Mark and his team, to use the arts, to use the facilities that have become mainstays and anchors to tell the story, which I think is wonderful.
Howard Parr:
We do work with Dave in the History Center whenever we can. We obviously are happy to have them as neighbors and work with them as much as we can.
We also promoted the History Center, but also the bicentennial events, even ones that aren’t the venue, we had promoted on our live Akron platform, the social media and the website and the video wall outside.
So we’ve done everything you know possible to fully incorporate and it’s been an important part of our program.
I’m imagining that, despite being able to spread the wealth among a number of organizations, the competition for ArtsForward funds must be fierce.
What’s the demand for support versus the financial support that you have to distribute through ArtsForward?
Nicole Mullet:
I can give you the example for 2025. We had about $4.7 million come in in requests, and we were able to distribute a little over $400,000 this year.
Regrettably … they were great projects. The opportunity in Summit County is that to fund really exciting, innovative and ‘meaningful to the community’ projects is, I think, one of the most exciting things that has come out of ArtsForward.
I think it’s been important for our funding community to see that, but also our partners, who are not traditionally funding the arts and the business community and our government partners. While a financially fragile ecosystem exists in the arts, we are over delivering every day.
And that, to me, is exciting and shows the capacity where additional strategic investment in the partners who are doing this work every day can totally change the face, and will continue to change the face of Summit County.
John Garofalo:
And I think the program allowed organizations who applied, who didn’t get the grant, then to really refocus their efforts and submit another grant the following year.
The fact that here, now, three years into this really has fine tuned those applications that come in. In the philanthropy world, we do have to say no to certain organizations — we know that the only way we’re going to be able to meet more need is to raise more money.
And organizations like ours already supports ArtsNow for operating because we believe in their mission. So for us to give additional dollars to ArtsForward is different for our work. We want to support one project or an organization, just we’re kind of combining our efforts in both, of having to raise additional dollars from the community, and thanks to the generosity of the Knight Foundation, who has matched up to $250,000 for the last three years of dollars that we’ve raised.
I know Nicole has a huge task of having to raise that money every year. There’s never a given, there’s never a commitment that she doesn’t question that she has to go after every year. So if this community can continue to support ArtsForward, we ask you to do that because it’s such a critical program.
Do arts and culture events in this area ever compete with similar events in programming in other cities such as Cleveland, where you find that people are more willing to stay and take advantage of arts in their own community?
Howard Parr:
We have actually really good information on that from the community survey that we did, which predates the cultural planning process, but actually led to the formation of ArtsNow.
We got a lot of information by doing a market study — we did talk to arts people, but you know, 90% of people we talked to were people in the community that were not affiliated with a particular arts organization.
What they told us, very clearly, was they really don’t mind going to Cleveland to see Hamilton, Lion King, the Cleveland Orchestra. What they were looking for was more of the medium and smaller aspects of the artists’ and entertainment ecosystem performing here.
People do certainly go back and forth between Cleveland, as I like to say, 77 runs both north and south, and about 20% of our audiences for our national shows are coming from Cleveland and Cuyahoga County at the Civic. And about 15% or so are coming from Canton and Stark County.
So absolutely we have people coming from Cleveland to events in Akron, and absolutely we have people from Akron that are going to events in Cleveland. But the thing to keep in mind is that Cleveland obviously gets much of the focus on a national level from people who have offices in LA and New York and Nashville.
What they know about Ohio is Cleveland, Cincinnati, maybe Columbus. And those are the people that control the entertainment products that are out there.
But the point is that there are 2.1 million people within a 50-mile radius of Downtown Akron. That is much bigger than a 50-mile radius around Downtown Cleveland. There are 2.1 million fish within a 50-mile radius of Cleveland. So here are people.
I mean, if we just talk about volume of people, there are actually more people within a 50-mile radius of Downtown Akron than Cleveland, and so the market is exceedingly strong.
Now, there’s a bunch of reasons why we’re not going to see Hamilton … but it doesn’t mean that the market isn’t able to support the shows when they play here. Obviously, this is just probably from my perspective — there’s a whole other perspective that has to do with events that aren’t happening in the venues that I work with.
But the marketplace is extremely strong. We are bringing people in from, not not just Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Stark County, but really from all over the region. They’re coming only for our national shows. Only about 40% of our audiences are from Summit County. 60% are coming from outside Summit County.
So the market is strong — if the right show is here, people will come.
John Garofalo:
I think because of the quality of venues here in our community, it’s a strong asset for us. The Goodyear Theater, the Knight Stage, which is for smaller audiences, Lock 3, which did tremendous this past summer.
So the fact that we’re able to give the community quality venues and quality acts. The fact that the Book of Mormon is coming to E.J. Thomas Hall in a few weeks is amazing, because I never thought I would see that here in Akron.
If you look at Cuyahoga County, it has an arts tax. It’s based on cigarette taxes. In Stark they also have an art-support tax, which I believe is based on a bed tax. What are the prospects for something similar coming to Summit County to help add additional financial support for the arts?
Nicole Mullet:
So I think it bears mentioning that there already is public support for the arts in Summit County, independent of the tax. So I know Phil [Montgomery] is here from the County of Summit. During the pandemic, the county committed $1.5 million to ensure that our arts and culture nonprofits were able to survive and thrive throughout that process.
We know that the National Endowment for the Arts commits over $1 million to the state of Ohio annually. We all hope that that investment continues, because it’s vitally important, and we have, I believe it’s $1.6 million that comes in from the state of Ohio just to Summit County.
So there is public investment that’s been proven to be very successful in Summit County. And I think it’s important to start with that knowledge, because we’ve proven the case for support.
I think that there is always opportunity, especially around a fragile ecosystem, to ensure that we are always looking for ways to sustain and grow support for the arts. Increasingly, as we’re in a world where people can choose their place before they choose their job, so for Summit County to remain relevant, for it to remain a place where people want to live, we’ve got to lean into arts, culture and entertainment. The time to assume that that might be a ‘nice to have’ has passed. The world and the workplace has told us what is important and the resources that we have here have to be invested in, if we are going to see the kind of growth in population and tax base that we all want to see in this community.
Are there specific things that local governments can do to help add to that support? Would you advocate for a county tax? Are there other revenue streams that local governments can help with?
Howard Parr:
Of course, public funding is important, and I think that we need to be looking at that and whatever the avenues are. However, as Nicole said, the county already is heavily invested, and the City of Akron has heavily invested in arts and culture.
You know, the [Akron Art Museum], the Civic, the symphony. You can go to many of the organizations — certainly the History Center has had support from, I assume, the county and the city.
So that support exists. However, what doesn’t exist in Summit County is any kind of a dedicated public-funding stream that is just there like an Ohio Arts Council, or like the cigarette tax in Cleveland and in Cuyahoga County.
So I think there are a lot of positives to it. I think you go through and see what’s happening in Cuyahoga County [with the arts tax], there’s been some ups and downs, but overall, the impact has been incredible.
It passed the first time somewhere in the mid-50 percents, but it renewed at 70-plus percent. What does that tell you? That’s not because they did great advertising in the campaign. That’s because the citizens of Cuyahoga County actually think it’s a good idea.
That’s a positive thing, and I think something we ought to be thinking about.
John Garofalo:
And I also think it’s important that the community understands that it’s not that easy to put a sales tax on the levy for our community. We do it for our zoos. We do it for our libraries, our metro parks. To add another one to the mix, I don’t envy County Executive [Ilene] Shapiro or [Akron Mayor Shammas] Malik, and having to do that within our community. And people say, stand in line, because I know our community is in desperate need of a senior levy to support our senior programs. The arts are definitely in need of a program. So where does it fit into the whole culture of taxes here in our community? Because, as we all hear, people feel like they’re overtaxed.
Nicole, you had mentioned, among other things, that there’s federal funding that comes through the National Endowment of the Arts. There are other sources. Another question from the audience is about how that federal funding, across the board, has been impacted in the current administration.
Nicole Mullet:
I think for many reasons that go beyond only the funding, the impact that the current administration has had on the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the arts broadly in our country, has been rather heartbreaking to watch.
The arts have always been inherently about storytelling and community and ensuring that our nation’s history is reflected back to us. Sometimes that is a wonderful thing, and sometimes we love the way that looks, and sometimes it is a wake-up call for things that need to be done differently.
So in addition to the money, which we know has been impacted dramatically, there is a social value that cannot be understated when we’re talking about what’s happening right now.
In terms of resources, specifically coming into Summit County from the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, the much larger impact for Summit County is going to be from Columbus and how we watch our state budget process and the resources and sustainable funding that’s being discussed right now around cultural facilities and the Ohio Arts Council’s capacity to continue to fund.
So right now, while we’re watching the national stage and we’re very impacted by it, Summit County is very focused on what’s happening in Columbus right now.
I wanted to ask about not just the impact of potential funding cuts, but the direction that Washington D.C. is trying to give on what local groups can and cannot do. How is that impacting each of you in the programming choices, in the funding that you extend to artists in Summit County?
Howard Parr:
There’s been a lot of conflicting information out there, and the position that we’ve sort of taken at The Civic is, unless we’re told directly to do this or to do that, we’re going to continue with our mission, which is to offer the broadest and most diverse programming options, to have the facility available for, again, the broadest and most diverse group of folks in the community that we possibly can.
We’re going to continue on that mission until we hear very specifically that we should do something different. And so far, we have not heard that.
Nicole Mullet:
I would echo that — unless something is directly stated as being illegal, our organizations are going to continue to do the incredible work that they have been doing, with an eye on ensuring that all community members, regardless of ZIP code, age, background, race, have access to excellent arts and culture and recreation experiences in Summit County. I’ve been enormously proud of my colleagues for maintaining that and expanding that this year.
John Garofalo:
I was on a call this week with Steve Millard at the Greater Akron Chamber, as well as other community leaders including a judge in Columbus, talking about the impact of the elimination of DEI in our communities.
You take a step back and think, wow, this could really impact the work that we do at a community foundation because of what is happening in Washington D.C. We just have to be vigilant about what is happening and be ready to respond if there is a situation.
What efforts have been made to ensure that local arts and culture is reflective of all sections of our community, particularly underrepresented residents?
Nicole Mullet:
There are a myriad of programs that my colleagues are doing to ensure that everyone in Summit County has access to the arts, and not just access to the arts but access to excellent and high-quality arts and culture experiences.
Part of that goes back to the cultural plan. The community told us that equity and accessibility were the two most important things for the health and future of the arts. We knew in 2019 and 2020 that in order for the arts to be sustained and to grow, we had to look at ensuring that all audiences would have access to not just attending and participating in the arts, but making and contributing to the creation of art in our communities.
A part of what our And I think that a part of what arts forward has been really focused on are funding those initiatives county wide that are advancing that work.
Howard Parr:
I think that again, I’m going to go back to the issue of authenticity, and that in order to make sure that our programming is as diverse and serving the most and broadest part of our population that we can, we have to authentically and proactively seek out opportunities to do that.
And I think that is happening. I think the art museum has tremendously moved in that direction in recent years. I think Weathervane [Playhouse] does a great job with that. I think our public art organizations and digital arts organizations — notably Summit Artspace and Curated Storefront — are very actively choosing the type of programming they’re doing to authentically represent as broad a possible base in the community as they can.
And I think that’s what’s making it work here in Summit County, is our really, truly being authentic about it.
John Garofalo:
That’s something we look at at the Community Foundation is looking at those arts and culture programs that come into us, and we look at who are their intended audiences. The fact that we’re engaging Akron Public Schools’ kids who have never seen the arts before, and putting them in the Akron Civic Theatre to see a ballet, to see their faces, is priceless.
How do arts organizations serve as economic drivers in the community, especially in Downtown Akron?
Nicole Mullet:
I think we had a great recent example when we learned that over 85,000 people have experienced the arts and culture sector and artists at Lock 3 park so far this year.
That is not encompassing the entire summer. People love green space, and they will travel too. We have amazing metro parks and the [Cuyahoga Valley] National Park. And the reason that people went to Lock 3 this summer is because there were creative, excellent arts and culture experiences for them to go to.
I think that Downtown Akron, Downtown Cuyahoga Falls, the work that’s being done in Main Street or in West Tusc in Barberton, is indicative of the fact that leaders are increasingly seeing that, if you want to have a downtown that people participate in and go to, you have to have things for them to do.
They are not going to downtown, forgive me, because they heard there were fewer potholes there than in other parts of the city. They are going because there are things for their families to do. They’re going to the art museum on Thursday, because it’s free, they’re participating in creative aging programs.
That is what is drawing people, not just to our downtown, but to Summit County.
John Garofalo:
Nicole brought up a great number. Eighty-five thousand people went to downtown Akron this past summer. They didn’t go just to see the Lock 3 venue. They didn’t go just to see the acts there.
They went to the peanut shop. They spent money. They went to Cilantro [Thai & Sushi Restaurant] and Crave and ate dinner. The fact that it drives the economy, and the fact that we were able to do this in our community, thanks to the generosity of the Knight Foundation again, and other funders, who had the vision of looking at that Lock 3 Park and decided what it could be for our community.
Howard Parr:
I view our operation, with the exception of when we’re at the arts and culture cycle there at ACF, or when we apply with the Ohio Arts Council. I view our organization more as an economic development community development organization, and less an arts organization. Because we are using arts, culture and entertainment as a vehicle to achieve the community development and economic development goals.
So in a lot of ways, that’s really what we’re out there to do, and why we’re there. Generally speaking, we are seeing the impact of what collectively arts and culture can do for Akron and Summit County. We’re beginning to see that.
This thing right here, where we are sitting right now, that the Civic got into Goodyear Theater, we increased the number of events substantially. Everything was great.
They wanted us to look at getting into the business of catering and events and this kind of thing. We didn’t have the capacity to do that. We suggested that Tangier and Angelica be that group. They, independent of us, came in here and negotiated a whole deal to completely renovate the bank building that’s now a great wedding venue.
If you want to know about economic development from the arts and culture, we started a ball rolling here that ultimately ended up with a non-arts organization investing, I don’t know how much, but a lot, in the bank building and has an exceptional building. And in fact, they’re here today, helping out with this event.
So there’s a very direct connection between arts and culture and economic development, without question.
Nicole Mullet:
I think that we’ve done an amazing job of getting people down for performance and artists and creative experiences. The next thing that I am excited about, relative to Lock 3, that I think is going to be imperative, is the installation of excellent public art.
We have the people working on that right now. Thank you, Heather Meeker and Curated where that work is moving forward and is going to happen. I think that community support around that, and community calling for that kind of excellent public art is going to be really important.
I think where Lock 3 is going to have a true central park for the city, public art is going to be inherent in its future.
Howard Parr:
Our impact, the impact of the arts, culture, entertainment sector, is far broader than how many people will walk into Lock 3 or how many people will walk into the Civic Theatre.
We are literally talking about millions and millions and millions of impressions out there all year long, about all the activity that’s happening.
People are getting emails, they’re seeing it on their social media, they’re seeing it, they’re hearing it on the radio, whatever they’re doing, all of those things are putting a positive spin on how people feel about Akron and Summit County, whether they ever step foot in one of our venues.
It’s the collective nature of that communication that is having the impact and the public art is incredibly important, because who knows who sees that public art? There’s nobody standing out there with a clicker counting people as they walk by.
And you know, the incredible growth of public art in our area, Curated Storefront being a huge catalyst of that. But you know, the Civic Theatre has three major murals that have happened in the last five years. This major public art installation that we’re talking about for Lock 3 that we don’t still know exactly what it’s going to be.
Ten years ago, there was not the rubber worker statue, these things did not exist. The Sojourner Truth statute, these things did not exist 10 years ago.
Akron, in Summit County, was not seen as a place where there was an abundance of public art. And while we’re not done yet, we are much closer to that today than we were 10 years ago.
John Garofalo:
I think another project that we all should be excited about is the University of Akron’s commitment — and thank you to President Nemer and the entire team at U of A — to open up the Polsky Building to downtown Akron again.
It’s going to be opening up Main Street. Doors will be open, the Myers School of Art is going to be located right at the entrance there.
There’s going to be a coffee shop, a performance space. The fact that the university sees it as imperative that their students to come into downtown, and for downtown to come into the university as well, something that’s on the horizon, and we’re looking forward to that.
For the arts, do you see untapped potential out there that maybe, if it’s not going to completely replace what could be lost to federal funding, could go a long way toward helping to stem the gap?
John Garofalo:
I can tell you from our grantees, the fear of the unknown is real. People don’t know if they’re going to get their monthly installments, their quarterly installments. So that’s real.
To be able to run your organization knowing that that can be pulled from you at any moment is criminal. And we as funders, we as the philanthropy community here in Akron, we know we can’t fill all the gaps that are going to happen. We’re going to have to look and be creative on where we can get additional dollars.
Individuals are still the main source of funding in our country, so finding those generous folks who support your programs is going to be critical as we move forward with this time of uncertainty.
Nicole Mullet:
I want to pull out the business and corporate community and their responsibility and opportunity to invest in a place and a community where their employees actually want to stay and grow and have families.
I can’t overstate the reality that as we are increasingly in a world where you can choose to live anywhere and keep your job and work remotely. Businesses need to be, and I know they are, paying attention to the fact that investing and ensuring that there is a thriving quality of life in their communities, so that people stay here and want to be here is imperative.
I also do think that, we are all continuing to look at what opportunities exist around public funding and other creative mechanisms to support the ecosystem in Summit County.
The one thing that I appreciate about the board of arts now and our partners are that they are creative thinkers about what that sustainability looks like and are working in tandem with philanthropy, with government and with business, because increasingly, people are aware of what we’re going to be able to do and what we need to do to keep residents here.
When it comes to sustaining the arts in this city, in this county, what keeps you up at night?
Howard Parr:
For me, it’s easy, the economy right now.
We are looking at a period of time where the most recent jobs report was relatively low, and over time, and, you know, flow we’ve all been through, or those of us that have been around long enough have been through it a couple of times.
What we’re seeing is that folks who have resources and want to see the highest level of programming are able to continue to do that, but folks in the middle and lower end of the economic spectrum, we’re seeing a much higher level of high sensitivity there.
John Garofalo:
I think the arts organizations as well as nonprofits in general, in our community, I think have worked really hard over the last couple of years to get back to pre-COVID levels of funding, of attendance at events.
The fact that that may all be torn away from them, to have to start over again with federal funding cuts, is what keeps me up, and how our community is going to respond to that.
Nicole Mullet:
I would say that in addition to what these gentlemen have talked about, I am keenly aware that our sector, the third sector, as it really starts in culture have been over delivering for a really long time.
I am worried about my colleagues. I am worried about the executive directors, their staff across the board, who are exhausted, who have been working over and above what they need to do, because they believe so much in the impact their organizations, their artists and their work can have on our community.
That is inherent in the people that I work with. They care deeply. This is not necessarily unique to arts and culture. I believe the third sector, writ large, as it relates to nonprofits, have this capacity in them.
I worry about my colleagues. I worry about their capacity to keep going in the face of some pretty dramatic changes that they’re navigating.
What’s on your wishes for the arts list in Akron?
Nicole Mullet:
I would say really two things, one is an increased pride in community members around the excellence that are happening across this county in arts, culture and entertainment.
We are punching way above our weight.
I think that is incredible, and I think it’s something we should be enormously proud of and talking about it more.
I am excited about the work that’s happening around polymers. I am energized by the small businesses that are being resourced and set up, and all of them are dependent on our sector.
So I am energized and ready to see our community come out in full force in support of that. I am also ready to see a sustainable funding mechanism, all the work that has been happening for a very long time that is excellent and that is deserving of that support, because it will positively impact our community.
The residents and visitors will benefit. It is an investment, not a ‘nice to have.’
John Garofalo:
The fact that we’re seeing people say that the arts are more than just a nicety to have, the fact that it is an economic driver in our community, the fact that it does bring people together for that community, pride, community appreciation for all the work that’s taking place.
We have great venues in this community that you may not even have visited — how many of you have been to the new screen at The Nightlight Cinema? [Jenn Kidd, the executive director] will take you on a personal tour.
But the fact that there’s so much investment taking place in the arts, with the Akron Art Museum embarking on a capital campaign to refurbish part of the building — every day, there are things that we hear that excite me about arts and our community, and we hope that just continues.
Howard Parr:
The whole concept of nice to have versus must have, we’ve been saying that for years.
But the pandemic changed everything, and the emergence of remote work is taking it away from ‘it’s not just nice to have. We have to have it.’
If you want people to live in your community, when they can live anywhere they want, you have to provide them with great arts, culture and entertainment and great public spaces.
That’s a very concrete thing, and we didn’t have that pre-pandemic.
The other thing is the impact of social media today — it’s a different animal than it was even five years ago, and it certainly is a different animal than it was 10 years ago. What are we doing as a sector to respond to the way people are talking to each other in a different way than what they used to.
I’m not sure we’re spending a lot of time, enough time, thinking about that concept. In the past, you turned on Ideastreamer, WKSU, WCPN at the time, right? That’s what we did, and you heard what was happening in the community.
Now you can do that, or it just flows into your social media feed every five minutes from wherever you’re from. So it’s the much, much, much different infrastructure for communication today and I think that really matters.
We’ve talked a lot about the focus on the arts in downtown, but what about broadly across Akron in the neighborhoods? What efforts are being made to ensure that there are arts accessible and available throughout the 17 neighborhoods in Akron and beyond.
Nicole Mullet:
I would say the 31 communities in the county, because we’re increasingly seeing that people want and one of the things that came out of the cultural plan was that over 70% of the people who were interviewed and who completed the survey and participated said that they want access to the arts where they live.
They will come downtown. They’re excited to do that. We saw that this summer, but they want access to the arts in their neighborhood. A lot of times that looks like neighborhood arts and culture organizations. A lot of times that looks like partnering with our community centers and our libraries.
There needs to be authenticity in everything. You can’t plop yourself down in a neighborhood and expect people to come to your table because you’ve generously showed up in the middle of their block.
You have to partner with organizations that want you, that are willing to invite you in, authentically learn your neighborhood and then respond in kind. And I think that’s something we’ve been seeing, both from our larger organizations and anchors, as well as some really amazing smaller grassroots organizations and efforts that I’ve been so happy to see through those funding mechanisms with ArtsForward.
John Garofalo:
I was here at the Press Club luncheon a couple months ago and met the CDC talking about the importance of CDC and communities and the work that I’ve seen them do to revitalize their neighborhoods, and what a component arts and culture is in that revitalization, I think, tells you that the work is being done.
I mean, if you haven’t been to a Kenmore First Friday in the summertime, go to it. It’s a great event.
If you haven’t been to PorchRokr or Highland Square to any of their arts and culture events, I encourage you to go to them. There are great things happening in this community and we’re going to continue to support those.
What are you most excited about in the year to come?
Howard Parr:
Easy — it’s the potential. What happened at Lock 3 this summer was amazing. 2026 will be more amazing. I mean, there’s no question about it, the potential is huge.
And Polsky, having a Starbucks on Main Street, not that that’s been announced or anything (laughter), but in the event that there would be a Starbucks on Main Street.
Let me rephrase that, seriously.
I think the potential is amazing.
John Garofalo:
I think the continued momentum of what’s happening in downtown Akron is critical. So much good is happening. And once we get more residential units, because they’re, believe it or not, there is a demand for residential living downtown. I think we’re at 90% capacity right now. And the fact that there are investors willing to support downtown Akron by bringing in more residential units, I think will add to the enhanced culture plan that we have here.
Nicole Mullet:
I have two responses. One, I think I’m really excited about watching the creativity of my colleagues as they continue to address both the opportunities and the challenges that are going to be coming our way in the next few years.
I am really excited to continue to partner and watch. I am also really excited about the communities across the county that are increasingly embracing arts and culture, recreation and environmental assets as core to what they believe is necessary in their communities.
We’ve seen this expand to municipalities across the county, thanks in no small part to the leadership of Executive Shapiro in the county and her team, who believes in this work, and I think we’re going to continue to see that growth in the years ahead.