One Columbia is key to city’s vitality

I had lunch on Main Street recently with a friend from Greenville, and as we parted ways, she said, “Main Street Columbia really has it going on.” High praise coming from someone who lives in the city that everyone in South Carolina talks about — with envy — when it comes to downtown revitalization.

Many people, organizations and efforts have made Main Street Columbia and its surrounds the happening places they are today, but without artists and arts groups working their magic both in front of and behind the scenes, we’d be just another boring business district.

Artists, designers, creative people and the organizations that employ them are typically underpaid, underfunded, underrepresented and under-appreciated. That is, unless you live in a city that recognizes how vital the creative class is to a thriving and sustainable economy and high quality of life. And I believe that Columbia is on the cusp of being such a city.

We need groups like One Columbia for Arts and History — which convenes, champions and supports the arts — that exist without competing with those same groups and individuals for funding. If the recent dust-up about One Columbia’s operating expenses has brought to light anything, it is that this group does amazing work on a tiny budget. Its impact far exceeds what the city allocates.

Any memorable, resilient, tourist-worthy city has an office of arts and cultural affairs, often just like public works, the city attorney or the health department. These offices do many things, from creating public art policy to distributing funds to artists and cultural organizations to ensuring the cultural assets of a city are a driving force for tourism. There are many models to choose from for ensuring that artists and arts organizations are represented, supported and acknowledged as key to economic development.

I urge Columbia City Council to use this opportunity to develop a model that strengthens — not hampers — One Columbia’s vital role in my city’s amazing transformation.

This story was originally published April 30, 2016 at 11:05 AM with the headline "One Columbia is key to city’s vitality."