Creative Pinellas Hosts WE Convene Town Hall

LARGO, FL —Creative Pinellas, in partnership with the Pinellas Community Foundation, is pleased to share their WE Convene Town Hall Oct. 18 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater.

This town hall allowed the community to come together, learn about cultural planning and why it’s so important and valuable right now to the arts community in Pinellas County.

The keynote speaker, Linda Flynn, shared her expertise on cultural planning.

“This important town hall created a space for conversation with artists and arts and community leaders to discuss topics that are significantly key to the viability of our arts community.” said Creative Pinellas CEO Barbara St. Clair. “We are excited to put all of the good findings from our WE Convenings to work and be an active part in the cultural planning to create a shared vision that strategically empowers us to move forward together as an arts community.”

Community members also reviewed the results of the six WE CONVENE sessions that started in February and continued through July. Presenters shared both what was discovered during the process and the innovative ideas participants developed and shared.

“The energy and collaboration shown through the WE Convene Town Hall give me great hope for our community’s ability to create a more sustainable environment,” said Pinellas Community Foundation CEO Duggan Cooley “which will propel our arts community toward a more vibrant future.”

The town hall is an outgrowth of six meetings sponsored by Creative Pinellas and Pinellas Community Foundation and co-hosted by area arts leaders including the Florida Orchestra, the St. Petersburg and Clearwater arts alliances, the Carter Woodson Museum, Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Forward Pinellas and Arts4All. These meetings featured small group discussions with guest speakers from within and outside Pinellas County who shared their pioneering approaches to sustain, nurture and grow the arts, and to innovatively solve key challenges in their communities.

To watched the WE Convene Town Hall event or to download the presentation, go to https://creativepinellas.org/event/we-convene-public-town-hall-meeting/.