Aurora arts leaders touted the success of the city’s Cultural Services in 2022 with more than $500,000 in revenue generated and 15 new public art installations. 

Midori Clark, the Library and Cultural Services director, told city council members Monday of priorities identified in the city’s arts plan for the next three years, based on community input.

The Cultural Services division has four program areas: art in public places; Aurora Fox Arts Center; cultural arts education; and Aurora History Museum and Historic Sites.

These four program areas have seen growth in the past few years, but the city’s new arts plan — the third such arts plan created for the city — will develop them further using priorities based on community input, Clark said.

In 2022, cultural services in Aurora saw more than 100,000 participants, according to Clark. 

The Fox Arts Center raised $38,000 in private donations, sold almost $130,000 in tickets and held five total shows.

Arts education included 826 classes in 2022, generating over $300,000 in revenue. 

Art in public places added 15 new installations in 2022, bringing the citywide total to 356 public art installations with a value of $4.5 million.

Aurora dance arts had 2,700 participants in 2022, generating $48,000 in revenue. 

The History Museum and Historic Sites had 47 exhibits at nine locations, drawing more than 10,000 museum visitors in 2022. 

“Arts and culture are really the building blocks of personal agency as well as voice,” Clark said. “It’s really that kind of activity that spurs creativity and imagination, stimulates empathy, deepens cross-cultural understanding and encourages discipline and teamwork.” 

Economically, the arts have a significant impact on the city, but that impact is not always communicated to the public effectively. 

“We know the arts have a strong impact on Aurora’s economy, but we don’t always do the best job of sharing that business case,” Clark said.

Bringing that strength forward is one of several priorities of the next arts plan. 

Aurora’s first arts plan was published in 1993, the second covered 2016 to 2020 and the third, presented Monday, will cover the arts through 2026. It was created with the help of contractor Purpose Aligned Consulting. 

Through surveys, input sessions, focus groups and interviews, arts leaders gathered input from a total of 665 participants to come up with goals based on their main findings, Clark said. 

Findings included that Aurorans want more cultural arts programming, arts and culture facilities are a top priority for community members, communications and marketing have gotten better but still need improvement, festivals are important and Aurora’s diversity is a strength and residents want more access, inclusion and equity in the arts.

Using these findings, Clark and their team created several priorities for the new arts plan, including: 

• Programming and space: Enhance and expand access to the arts, culture and history through diverse programming and improved facilities.
• Visibility: Elevate the profile of Aurora’s arts, culture and history. Improve outreach, marketing and communications to share opportunities. Make sure all residents feel represented and included with better multilingual marketing.
• Connection: Strengthen connection in Aurora’s creative community by fostering collaboration between creatives.
• Economic impact: Quantify the economic impact of the arts and share it.
• Internal infrastructure: Increase internal effectiveness by streamlining planning, improving customer service, etc. 

The plan priorities did not draw any objections from city council, meaning the cultural services team will move forward to create an implementation plan — which will be presented at a retreat in November, Clark said. 

More information about available classes and events are available on Aurora’s Arts, History and Culture webpage.