Art at the Heart of Picton

Project aims to enhance Main Street’s vibrancy through arts and culture activities

The Prince Edward County Arts Council (County Arts) is collaborating with the arts community and local businesses to increase social and cultural vibrancy and retail traffic in the heart of Picton by supporting and promoting arts and culture activities. This project was selected for support by the My Main Street Community Activator initiative, which is funded through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario and the Canadian Urban Institute. My Main Street adheres to the principle of supporting economic development and creating vibrant neighbourhoods that enhance the quality of life for residents. The support from My Main Street has helped County Arts develop new promotional tools for the Art in the County juried exhibition and future events at the County Arts Lab, which is located in The Armoury, and develop a new art-focused placemaking strategy for Main Street Picton.

County Arts has a mission to enrich the community by actively supporting the arts and artists throughout Prince Edward County. The County has the highest concentration of artists in Ontario, representing 2.3 per cent of the workforce, more than double the national average. The County is also home to dozens of different art organizations, including performing art groups, festivals, galleries and artisan markets. Picton Main Street itself offers many arts experiences on a year-round basis. County Arts wants to capitalize on “the artistic dividend”—the additional impact to the regional economy due to the presence of artists. A thriving arts community encourages visitors from other areas, provides residents with the opportunity to buy locally and thereby support local incomes, attracts other artists, and in the particular case of Picton helps to keep Main Street vibrant and thriving. The My Main Street Activator grant, which was awarded late last year and had to be spent by December 31, was used to create a placemaking strategy to benefit all arts organizations in the County, with a rollout planned for this spring.

Andrea Dawes, Special Initiatives Manager for County Arts, said the grant came at an opportune time as the organization had recently moved to its location on Picton Main Street. “We want to connect to the community and work together with businesses on Main Street to drive more traffic and create more vibrancy to benefit all of our offerings, not just in the arts, but also supporting local businesses,” she said. There are four strategic directions in the Art at the Heart of Picton placemaking strategy: partnering to create arts experiences; partnering to promote arts experiences; determining the impact that is being made and sharing that information with potential funders, and infusing art in public places to create a warm and inviting environment.

A couple of successful recent examples of cross-promotional strategies highlighted in the project are the Merrill House and PEC Jazz Festival collaborating on a Dinner and Jazz night and the collaboration between the County Adaptation Film Festival and Books & Company where the books upon which the films were based were offered at a discount. As part of the placemaking strategy, County Arts interviewed local businesses to confirm that they were willing partners and to determine what cross-promotional efforts would work for them, and to ensure they understood what the potential impacts would be on their establishments. “Arts events have a special ability to draw people in. Some might wander down to the Picton Night Market, for example, and then they are drawn in by the Department of Illumination’s giant puppets or the live musicians performing and then they pop in to a local business and support them as well,” said Ms. Dawes.

Part of the strategy includes a colourful new branding package to be rolled out in the spring. This will include posters, window stickers for storefronts, and brochures with a link to countyarts.ca/picton to learn more about what arts events are happening in town. The brochures will have a map of all of the arts destinations along Picton Main Street. The promotional efforts are meant to provide both residents and visitors with the information they need to engage in and support local arts events. “The strategy highlights opportunities for partnering to create accessible arts experiences for residents, which is a key priority for County Arts,” said Ms. Dawes. While the project is called Art at the Heart of Picton, Ms. Dawes said the effect will be felt across the County. “It’s important to note that while Picton might be the economic hub of the County, the arts events in town involve artists and art organizations that work and reside across the County. The focus of this grant had to be specifically on Main Street, but we are hopeful that it will have ripple effects throughout the community to all of the artists who are participating in these events.”

County Arts is working with the Picton BIA, the Chamber of Commerce, the municipality and Visit the County to ensure that the arts are central to the brand of Prince Edward County. “We want to make sure the arts and artists are on the radar. We want to make sure the connection between the arts and their impact in our community is being made in all these different spheres,” said Ms. Dawes. “We will be reaching out to all of the arts organizations in the County and drawing attention to all of the tools that are in the placemaking strategy to help equip them while they are approaching sponsors or businesses to support their events in the future.” For more information, please visit countyarts.ca/engage.