Chris Satullo: Help to enliven the region's arts

You can help paint the Big Canvas - and get some holiday shopping done in the same trip.

The Big Canvas Confab, the concluding event in a months-long citizen dialogue about the future of arts and culture in this region, will take place at 1 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Radisson Valley Forge Hotel and Convention Center.

That, of course, is just a short hop from the King of Prussia mall. So come talk, then shop. Or shop, then talk.

The Big Canvas is an initiative of the Great Expectations civic project, begun last year by The Inquirer and the University of Pennsylvania for the city elections.

At this event, we'll gather arts and civic leaders, elected officials, and ordinary folks. We'll report, based on earlier forums, on the core principles for a regional arts strategy that seem to hit citizens' sweet spot, and on the specific ideas that excite them.

Then everyone will sit down together to discuss ways to turn this input into meaningful action.

Pennsylvania's first lady, U.S. District Judge Marjorie O. Rendell, a driving force for the arts in Philadelphia, will offer the keynote address.

If you'd like to take part, you can sign up by going to the project Web site,

» READ MORE: www.greatexpectationsnow.com

, or by calling 215-854-5956.

For those without cars - or who hate driving around King of Prussia - we'll be running free trolleys from several city locations out and back.

The Big Canvas grew out of forums that revealed just how proud citizens are of the region's cultural riches. Yet, at the same time, the nonprofits that maintain those assets struggle to avoid red ink. This region gives far fewer public dollars to the arts than many other regions do.

So we set out to ask people from all over the region how they used arts and culture, what they valued most, what they'd be willing to do to put the sector on sounder financial footing, and what new ideas they'd like to see tried. Since June, the Big Canvas has held 13 forums, with more than 500 citizens taking part.

Since June, a lot else has happened - much of it scary. When I look at notes from early forums, I'm struck by the confidence that this was a ripe moment, with a new City Hall team and a bounce in the region's step, to push for new arts funding.

By September's forums, though, the mood was far more somber. The focus shifted to making better use of existing resources.

At the fall forums, participants discussed four possible arts and culture strategies, which distilled ideas culled from earlier sessions.

Extend the arts experience

: This strategy focused on creating an arts fund that would remove barriers of poor information, cost, transportation or intimidation that impede individuals from experiencing the diversity of arts.

Nurture children's futures

: This approach said that, given limited funds, it made the most sense to zero in on kids, to fill in the gaps in art education increasingly being left by public schools.

Build the creative economy:

This strategy calls upon cultural leaders to work with the business community to brand Philadelphia nationally and regionally as one of the world's top creative cities, a place where innovation and artistry flourish.

Foster quality of community

: This approach notes that most people experience the arts not in a concert hall, but in their daily lives in their community. So the focus should be on helping the grassroots cultural groups that serve as civic glue.

Every participant was asked to rate these approaches by spreading 20 points over five options - these four plus the status quo.

The "creative economy" idea was the leader all along, but its margin over the "kids" and "community" approaches widened as the news from Wall Street darkened.

You can review and vote on the strategies yourself at the project Web site. Your vote will be tallied for Dec. 6.

Here's a clear message from the balloting: The status quo is finishing a distant last. People in this region want a clearer, more ambitious arts and culture strategy - if only so that it can be ready on the shelf when these dark days fade and opportunity dawns.

You can help shape that strategy on Dec. 6. Hope to see you there.