Illinois Central College and Arts-Partners of Central Illinois are looking for community input to form a Tri-County Arts and Culture Plan. The groups are holding a series of public sessions to gather input on area strengths and opportunities for growth in the arts. Chris Gray is the Dean of the Department of Arts and Communication at ICC. He says the plan aims to make Peoria a place that people want to live, work and function:
“So the overall arts and culture planning has lots of positive benefits. For instance, in 1986 Chicago went through a similar process and Navy Pier was a result of that. There arts community got together and realized there was an opportunity there to further the culture of the Chicago area by creating a tourist destination.”
The next art-and-culture input session is tonight at 5:30 at the Prairie Center for the Arts in Peoria. Two other sessions will follow May 20 and June 3. The sessions are a part of the Brilliant-Bright-Community initiative, which is a regional effort to create a long-term arts and culture plan in Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford counties. The groups hope to have a final plan by the end of the year.