LOCAL PARTNER: Community Partnership for Arts and Culture
www.cpacbiz.org

CREATIVE COMMUNITIES PROJECTS
COSE Arts Network: In research and dialogue conducted through the LINC Cleveland/Cuyahoga Planning Process in 2004, the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) identified the need to better integrate artists into the business community, and led to a vision for articulating not only artists roles as entrepreneurs and small business proprietors, but also to facilitate opportunities for sales and the identification of new market opportunities. To address this issue, CPAC worked in collaboration with the Council of Small Enterprises (COSE) to develop the COSE Arts Network program, offering business-focused services to artists in Northeast Ohio. Among the many benefits this program offers are a discounted membership to COSE, which itself offers access to group purchasing programs (particularly health insurance); business training workshops; and access to professional networks.

Creative Compass: The 2004 planning process also revealed that artists face difficulties in obtaining ownership opportunities, particularly due to concerns among lenders and difficulties in acquiring comprehensive loans for combined live/work space. The Creative Compass program was thus implemented with the goal of increasing artists’ access to home and business space ownership. Aspects of the program will include an online information resource pertinent to Northeast Ohio artists; an annual artist-focused community development summit to address the viability and importance of artist space; and an annual conference where artists will be able to interact with lenders, community development corporations, and developers.

ABOUT COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP FOR ARTS AND CULTURE
The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture is a nonprofit arts and culture service agency dedicated to Northeast Ohio’s success by preserving and advancing its arts and culture sector. CPAC works to strengthen and advance the arts and culture sector as an essential asset in building a thriving community, and to prove and promote the extraordinary contributions of cultural assets to the economy, education, and quality of life. CPAC helps arts and culture prosper by fostering best practices in business development, sound cultural policy, and in-depth research.

To learn more about LINC, click on the links below to download a text-only brochure or a map of LINC's activities.