“When will we get there, I ain’t saying; how will we get there, I don’t know…all I know is I am on my way! Got a dream boy, Got a song, Paint your wagon and come along!
This stanza from “Paint Your Wagon” served as the introduction to the first – 1992 – Community Cultural Plan developed by the Shreveport Regional Arts Council (SRAC), subsequently funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Shreveport, and implemented…step by step over the next 10 years. At that time, the planning process was a 100% Grass Roots Planning effort by a “green” (as in novice) team that had a lot of passion, tons of energy, and a sense that the Arts community had not maximized its full potential to partner with other agencies to improve life in Shreveport. As a planning team, we really didn’t know where we were going, or when we would arrive. We did know that if we stayed on the path, our journey would catapult the Artists and Arts Organizations in the Shreveport metropolitan area to a distinguished role that would produce measurable results to benefit the citizens of and visitors to Northwest Louisiana.
Almost 20 years later, with a demonstrated $90 million in annual Economic Impact and the production and presentation of more than 500 Art activities every year, the Arts community has received the ultimate “charge” from the City of Shreveport through Mayor Cedric Glover: Create a Cultural Community; propel a Cultural Economy. Mayor Glover’s “edict” was forged in the throes of a devastating fire, set by an arsonist, which destroyed the offices, artists’ rehearsal space, and storage area of the Shreveport Regional Arts Council. Mayor Glover did not seem to see the flames’ destruction; he saw the phoenix…the renaissance…for a true Cultural Economy instigated by the rebirth of SRAC and the strengthening – and stabilization – of the Arts Community.
It was during this critical time…just days after the fire, that the designer for the expansion of SRAC’s arts center, artspace, Gregory Free, gathered friends and comrades to find a new home for Shreveport Regional Arts Council. He didn’t want the mourners to let the Mayor’s challenge go unnoticed. Gregory Free is a Historic Preservation Design Consultant with a master’s degree in architecture from Columbia University. Two years prior to the fire, Gregory brought his deep southern heritage, his Austin, Texas sensibility, his historic passion…or his passion for all things historic, along with his love for Strawn’s Pies to the artspace Advisory Board and began working with Richard LeBlanc, LeBlanc & Young Architects, on the design for artspace. Late one evening, Gregory saw the treasure that Shreveport residents call the Central Fire Station; he called then-Fire Chief, Brian Crawford, to ask about a tour and within minutes both had agreed that there could be no better “calling” than to move SRAC from the Fire to the Fire Station.
Mayor Glover saw the immediate and long-term benefits: SRAC would have enough space for Public Programming and expanding its mission to provide training for the entrepreneurial development of Artists and Arts Organizations; plus, SRAC would become a catalyst to transform a nine-block island of urban decay – with a handful of home owners and a plethora of cracked sidewalks and brick-laden empty lots – from blight to a vibrant community thriving with people who will live, work, recreate, make art, and make life in what is called Shreveport Common. Mayor Glover and Gregory Free were among the first to “see” the opportunity to transform a little over an acre of weathered, weed and brick filled vacant lots into an open green space that could become the heart – the Common – of Shreveport Common. Finally, Mayor Glover saw the opportunity to activate the Common Street exit/entry at Interstate 20 to become a primary entry to a revitalized downtown for visitors and residents alike.
In February 2010, Mayor Glover directed the Shreveport Regional Arts Council and City of Shreveport to submit a grant to the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts, to fund the Planning Process.
In July 2010, Shreveport was announced as one of 17 cities selected to receive matching funds to engage the community in a grass roots planning process to create a Vision Plan for Shreveport Common, spearheaded by Gregory Free. Within a few months, Gregory had assembled a local planning team to include Mischa Farrell, Architect; Landscape Architects Jerome Nicholas and Katie Martin of Nicholas Landscape; and Project Manager, Wendy Benscoter of Benscoter Consultants, LLC.
The team hit the ground running, committing to do “door to door” interviews with all residents, property owners, organizations, and stakeholders in the Shreveport Common area. To ensure that these “Listening Sessions” were comprehensive, inclusive, and addressed by the Shreveport Common Vision Plan, Mayor Glover appointed a 50 person Shreveport Common Advisory Committee, which met every three weeks from January through July.
Early in the “Listening Process” the Texas Avenue Community Association (TACA) hosted the first community “Listening Session” – by the end of the formal listening process, the team had interviewed more than 65 groups and heard more than 1,000 ideas of which 300 were “unique.” Along the way, there have been many community activities to engage current and would-be neighbors. Planning “kicked-off” with an August 2010 announcement of the Central Fire Station’s upcoming metamorphosis to the CENTRAL ARTSTATION; a spring, Great American Clean Up with Shreveport Green, TACA and the Aseana Gardens Foundation brought hundreds out to clean up the area; narrated trolley tours; a combined TACA Maker’s Fair and Aseana Gardens Festival followed; as did a Thursday Night Trolley and History of Shreveport Common Tour; four walking tours; podcasts; a Tax Incentives Workshop for potential Developers; and a June 18th “upside down Design Charrette” where more than 600 people drew, wrote, talked, touched, painted, rhymed, sculpted, and dictated their reactions to the first draft of the Shreveport Common Vision Plan.
These ideas and suggestions were translated into a final virtual Vision Plan that forms the foundation of our communication about how we envision Shreveport Common. This written document supports the virtual presentation. Together, with you, we are on the way to making Shreveport Common a true cultural community – built on the authentic history and heritage of the area; the key building block is creativity, which stems from the professional artists and arts organizations; and the foundation of the building process is sustainability – it doesn’t have to built in one day or all at one time…this is an area that will grow!
Our new tune: When will we get there? (Within three years there will be a noticeable change); How will we get there? (The Vision Plan, Strategies for “Next Steps” and the Planning Document illumine the way – the teams and partnerships that have been forged will guide our course); We’re on our way…Paint YOUR Wagon, and come along!”
Pam Atchison, Executive Director, Shreveport Regional Arts Council, September, 2011
WHO DEVELOPED THE VISION PLAN? The Shreveport Common Vision Plan is created by the Shreveport Regional Arts Council (SRAC), spearheaded by Gregory Free, Historic Preservation Specialist, and the Shreveport Common Design Team.
WHAT WAS THE PROCESS THAT CREATED THE VISION PLAN? Through the Vision Process, the Shreveport Common Design Team listened to – and processed – over 1,000 ideas, suggestions, concerns and strategies from over 65 “Listening Sessions” in nine months with the Shreveport Common Advisory Committee, stakeholders, neighbors, area businesses, property owners, non-profit organizations and artists.
What is MICD? The Mayors’ Institute on City Design is a National Endowment for the Arts leadership initiative in partnership with the American Architectural Foundation and the United States Conference of Mayors. Since 1986, the Mayors’ Institute has helped transform communities through design by preparing mayors to be the chief urban designers of their cities.
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