Durham Cultural Roadmap
Durham
Cultural
Roadmap
Supporting a Thriving Arts and Culture Sector in Durham
Welcome to the Durham Cultural Roadmap website! The City of Durham and Durham County invite residents to join this effort to develop a new cultural plan for our community. The Durham Cultural Roadmap is a five-year plan that will guide future arts and cultural programming and investment to strengthen and preserve our vital cultural community.
In shaping the design of the Cultural Roadmap development process, the City and County entrusted the Durham Cultural Advisory Board and others to craft a vision, mission and values statement to help Durham envision the attributes a new plan could embody. The Cultural Roadmap Planning Group was formed to broaden the Durham Cultural Advisory Board’s capacity to hear from and respond to the community during the planning process.
Vision
Envision a thriving arts and culture sector in Durham. Celebrate the cultural practices, histories, institutions, and individuals that define Durham’s art and culture sector. Work towards the preservation of Durham’s cultural heritage, the protection of cultural assets and the equitable distribution of resources to artists, cultural workers, and organizations in the arts and culture sector for the benefit of all Durham residents. Welcome new stories and strive to embrace and extend Durham’s cultural community to all residents and visitors of Durham.
'Purple S.T.E.A.M.'
Volkan Alkanoglu
'Club Crossing'
Candy Carver
Photo: Eric Waters
Mission
Create a five-year plan through inclusive, accessible, and equitable county-wide engagement that will maintain, grow, and sustain the arts and culture sector in Durham for the next decade and beyond.
To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Values:
Cultural Roadmap Vision & Values (PDF) Hoja de Ruta Cultural – Visión, misión y valores (PDF)Mission
Create a five-year plan through inclusive, accessible, and equitable county-wide engagement that will maintain, grow, and sustain the arts and culture sector in Durham for the next decade and beyond.
To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Values:
'Club Crossing'
Candy Carver
Art and Culture is Expansive
The Durham Cultural Roadmap must encompass visual arts, performing arts, literary arts, history and heritage, science, the humanities, recreation, and individual creative expression. This wide-reaching “arts and culture ecosystem” impacts the quality of individual, community, and family life and influences tourism, investment, and economic opportunities.
Durham’s vibrant community cultural expressions take place in neighborhoods, downtown, and outside of traditional arts venues.
'The Book Tree'
David Wilson
Committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Cultural and racial equity are essential to cultural planning. The very term “culture” has many different meanings among individuals and ethnic and other self-described groups. The arts and culture of these diverse populations in Durham must be supported to complement the unique ways that they exist and survive. This plan must ensure access to these practices, regardless of income, neighborhood, and racial/ethnic identity.
What are your goals for arts and culture in Durham?
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Durham Central Park
Photo: Ryan Moeller
