Piedmont Council for the Arts
Piedmont Council for the Arts (PCA) was an organization dedicated to promoting the arts in the Charlottesville area, including the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, with outreach to Fluvanna, Greene, Nelson, Louisa, Staunton, and Waynesboro.
The organization was founded in 1979 and provided professional development resources for artists and arts professional, networking and resources for the arts community, and local arts advocacy, among other programs and services. [1]
PCA was a participant in the 2010 Design Marathon sponsored by the Charlottesville Community Design Center. In the summer of 2011, PCA took over the office space formerly used by CCDC.
PCA folded in 2017. [2]
Create Charlottesville: A Cultural Plan for Charlottesville/Albemarle
In January 2013, PCA launched the first-ever cultural planning process for the Charlottesville/Albemarle area. The planning process involved a 28-member Steering Committee, PCA working group, and task forces, as well as interviews and focus groups with more than 200 area citizens and an electronic survey completed by 1,000. This plan will help community stakeholders prioritize and strategically respond to needs and opportunities in the area’s cultural sector.
The finalized cultural plan was adopted on September 13, 2013 and presented to the public in January 2014 during a month-long exhibit in CitySpace. [3]
Based on examples from other cities, the cultural plan was intended to enhance quality of life and creative economic development initiatives. The plan was intended to enable more strategic local investment in arts and culture, with a greater return on that investment for the community. It was also intended to better equip PCA and their partners to respond to arts-related needs. Planning was intended to enhance promotion of cultural, economic development, and tourism interests; increase collaboration among artists and arts organizations; and improve services provided to our citizens and visitors. The plan was also intended to help area funders, public and private, understand prioritized needs in the arts community so they can make more informed funding decisions.
Goals
- Goal 1 – Diversity and Inclusion Achieve diversity and inclusiveness in arts and culture as core values and strengths in programming, artists, audiences, staff, and boards.
- Goal 2 – Arts Education Ensure all Charlottesville-area youth have access to arts in their education and all the community’s cultural resources.
- Goal 3 – Cultural Destination Build awareness and participation of residents and visitors to Charlottesville/Albemarle as a destination for arts, history, festivals, food, and wine.
- Goal 4 – Creative Workers Create an environment where artists and other creative workers may thrive.
- Goal 5 – Creative Placemaking Develop richly layered public places that welcome and connect people and provide opportunities for creative expression and memorable experiences.
- Goal 6 – Cultural Infrastructure Build community-wide capacity to represent and coordinate the cultural sector and implement the cultural plan. [3]
The perennial question of funding
In December 2010, the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation awarded PCA $5,000 to support an expansion of professional development programs for artists and art organizations. [4]
In 2012 and 2013, PCA received financial support for Create Charlottesville: A Cultural Plan for Charlottesville/Albemarle from the City of Charlottesville, the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Albemarle County, the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors endorsed the plan in early January 2014. [5]
Some stakeholders, such as UVA's vice provost for the arts, sought to demonstrate the power of the arts as an economic catalyst and sought direct government funding. [6] [7]
In February 2017, City Council debated the idea of creating an arts coordinator position in city government. [8]
Economic impact of the arts
In June 2012, PCA released a study which calculated the economic value of the arts to the Charlottesville region is $114.4 million a year. [9] The study was conducted as part of the American for the Arts' Arts & Economic Prosperity IV study which looked at 184 communities nationwide. A higher impact may be possible given that only 37 percent of the area's arts and culture organizations participated.
Art in Place
On September 21, 2015, Charlottesville City Council voted unanimously to allow PCA to take over management of the Art in Place program of roadside sculptures and other public installations. [10]
Board of Directors
- Bryan Wright, President
- Bobbi Dunn, Vice President
- James Carnes, Treasurer
- Alex George
- Erica Goldfarb
- Jane Goodman
- Rob Jiranek
- Nina Ozbey
- Melissa Palombi
- Teka Phan
- Arthur Rashap
Jean O. Wilhelm, Board Member Emeritus
Former Staff
- Victoria Long, Communications Director
- Danielle Bricker, Membership and CitySpace Manager
- Amie Whittemore, Office Manager (2013-2014)
- Sarah Lawson, former executive director
- Carly Griffith, Communications & Cultural Plan Coordinator (2013-present)
- Maggie Guggenheimer, Consultant for Research & Planning
- Gram Slaton, former executive director (as of November 15, 2015)
- Lindsay Chamberlain, former associate executive director [12]
- Deborah McLeod, appointed executive director in April 2017 [13]
Funding history
- In 1987, Council appropriated $7,650 for PCA [14]
- In 1989, the PCA split a $5,000 grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts with the Virginia Discovery Museum. [15]
Map
Coordinates:
38°01′50″N 78°28′41″W / 38.030593°N 78.478068°W
References
- ↑ Web. Charlottesville City Council meeting minutes, .pdf, Council Chambers, City of Charlottesville, August 1, 1988.. . Also available in older archive.
- ↑ Web. Piedmont Council for the Arts Closing in Charlottesville, Lowell Rose, News Article, WVIR NBC29, Charlottesville, Virginia, August 18, 2017, retrieved August 7, 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Web. Arts leaders adopt cultural plan, Brian Wheeler, Charlottesville Tomorrow, September 14, 2013, retrieved August 15, 2025.
- ↑ Web. More than $500,000 in grants awarded, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, December 15, 2010, retrieved December 15, 2010.
- ↑ Web. Albemarle Supervisors endorse cultural plan for region, Sean Tubbs, News Article, Charlottesville Tomorrow, January 8, 2014, retrieved August 15, 2025.
- ↑ Web. Groups seek greater investment in arts & culture, Brian Wheeler, News Article, Charlottesville Tomorrow, May 18, 2013, retrieved August 15, 2025.
- ↑ Web. Three years after cultural plan, arts nonprofits still seeking steady funding, Aaron Richardson, News Article, Charlottesville Tomorrow, August 20, 2016, retrieved August 15, 2025.
- ↑ Web. [1], Sean Tubbs, News Article, Charlottesville Tomorrow, February 22, 2017, retrieved August 15, 2025.
- ↑ Web. Economic impact of local arts quantified as $114 million, Graham Moomaw, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, June 8, 2012, retrieved June 11, 2012.
- ↑ Web. PCA Takes Over Management of Art In Place, Press Release, Charlottesville Tomorrow, September 22, 2015, retrieved August 15, 2025.
- ↑ Web. [2], Piedmont Council for the Arts, retrieved November 11, 2015.
- ↑ Web. Lindsay Terrell joins Piedmont Council for the Arts, Press Release, Charlottesville Tomorrow, December 2, 2015, retrieved August 15, 2025.
- ↑ Web. Piedmont Council for the Arts Names Deborah McLeod as Executive Director, Press Release, Charlottesville Tomorrow, April 5, 2017, retrieved August 15, 2025.
- ↑ Web. Charlottesville City Council meeting minutes, .pdf, Council Chambers, City of Charlottesville, July 20, 1987.
- ↑ Web. Charlottesville City Council meeting minutes, .pdf, Council Chambers, City of Charlottesville, August 7, 1989.