I’ve lived and breathed cultural plans for so long, it feels as though I’ve looked at the work from every angle. I’ve read many. I’ve talked to a lot of people in different places that have developed them. I’ve taught cultural planning in the U.S. and China. Most importantly as a municipal cultural leader, I had the great fortune to head up the creation of Boston and Chicago’s cultural plans. I then spent two years implementing each. Pre-planning started with fundraising, goal setting, vision development, drafting an RFP, and engaging consultants. During the planning process, we built a team, trained volunteers, collaborated with artists, engaged stakeholders and the public, crafted research and synthesized data, articulated a compelling shared vision, and launched the actual plan. That plan launch then triggered a whole new set of work—we cultivated partnerships, identified funding, devised programs, created pilots, crafted policies, adopted legislation, commissioned follow-up research, and finally institutionalized the work and communicated our accomplishments. Phew!

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