One Columbia, local nonprofit, seeks official status to better serve arts community
Sometime soon, Columbia City Council is expected to decide whether One Columbia for Arts and Culture — the local nonprofit established by the city in 2012 — should be designated the city’s official local arts agency. For such a designation to take effect, City Council would need to pass a resolution.
Columbia is at a turning point. Investments on Main Street, in the Bull Street District and in downtown residential housing have brought more vibrancy to the city center.
Ask anyone who has lived in Columbia 10, 20 or 30 years, and they’ll tell you that the change is significant and it is welcome: There are more places to eat and things to do in Columbia than there used to be.
And yet, while South Carolina has gained roughly 500,000 residents over the past 10 years, and the Midlands region is also growing, Columbia itself is only a few thousand residents larger than it was in 2010 — 136,632 in 2020 versus 129,272 in 2010, according to the U.S. Census.
Meanwhile, its median income lags behind not only that of the United States as a whole, but also compared to the rest of South Carolina.
Clearly, Columbia has work to do.
It needs to attract residents, it needs to attract investment and it needs to increase incomes. It’s already planning for that work through its comprehensive plan, Columbia Compass, which offers a blueprint for city development as it relates to population, housing, the economy and cultural resources.
The cultural sector is where One Columbia comes in. One Columbia’s Amplify plan is already part of the city’s comprehensive plan, and arts agency designation would be the first major step toward making that plan a reality.
How would all of this help Columbia? Much in the same way that previous investments in the Vista, Bull Street and elsewhere have put the city on a positive trajectory — by setting out a vision that attracts participation by investors and the public.
Culture drives tourism, and it is a significant factor in private investment decisions. When a CEO is considering whether to move employees from the Northeast to the Southeast, for example, one key thing they want to know — after tax rates, available workforce, etc. — is the quality of the cultural life.
Local arts agency designation would position One Columbia to play a leading role, along with the city and other stakeholders, in guiding the next phase of growth in the city’s cultural sector. In that role, One Columbia could — and would — advance policies that strengthen our arts organizations, boost tourism, support local artists, encourage investment and promote equity.
Arts agency designation would allow One Columbia not only to continue its leading role in promoting public art projects, but also to take a lead role in solving some of the city’s most vexing arts issues, such as the need for a mid-sized performance hall and for community-owned arts spaces.
The reality is that One Columbia is already performing many of the tasks of an arts agency, just without the official designation.
All it takes for One Columbia to be designated the official local arts agency is a resolution by City Council. The time is now, the cost is low and the benefits to Columbia could resonate for decades to come.
Dan Cook is a board member of One Columbia and served as editor of Free Times from 2002 to 2016.
