Gloucester Daily Times
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/
Published: April 15, 2008
'State cultural chief addressing Rockport Chamber dinner
By The Times Staff
Staff writer
The business community set to welcome a new, $17.5-million performance hall will get a visit Thursday from the state's new chief of cultural affairs.
Anita Walker, named in January as executive director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, will be the guest speaker Thursday night when the Rockport Chamber of Commerce hosts its annual meeting and dinnner at Brackett's Oceanview Restaurant.
Walker's appearance will come less than two weeks after an 11th-hour settlement of a lawsuit filed by an abutter against the Rockport Chamber Music Festival helped clear the way for the RCMF to advance its plans for the $17.5-million Shalin Lin Performance Center on the site of the Haskins Building on Main Street. The settlement came just before a "cultural overlay district" zoning proposal was to come up at Town Meeeting. The zoning proposal would have included 26 Main Street properties.
The festival's private development of the music hall — with some $12 million already raised — is seen by many as a project that will raise Rockport's visibility as a destination community for the arts and cultural events, and Walker's background is steeped in "creative economic" development — utilizing the arts as an economic development tool.
In her Iowa post, Walker served simultaneously as executive director of the Iowa Arts Council, administrator of the State Historical Society, and the state historic preservation officer, overseeing a $10-million budget and 100 employees. During her tenure there, she engaged more than 400 state and local businesses to consider the role of the "creative sector" as a driving force in economic development. She led the first comprehensive study of the state's creative economy and spearheaded several other initiatives that have since become national models. Those include the Iowa Cultural Trust, legislation establishing $10 million to support the operating budgets of the state's cultural organizations, and "Iowa Great Places," which placed arts and culture at the forefront of community development efforts.
"I think (Walker's Rockport visit) is a perfect fit," said Rockport Chamber of Commerce Manager Peter Webber, whose local business group is a division of the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce. "It's very fortuitous timing.
"It will give her an opportunity to see and hear firsthand from the folks in town how important the new performance center will be for Rockport — and what a positive impact it can have on the town. We're delighted that she's coming."
The visit to Rockport will mark Walker's second trip to a Cape Ann meeting focusing in part on arts as an economic development tool. She was also a guest at the seARTS meeting in January at the Gloucester House. That was a gathering that featured guest speaker and North Adams Mayor John Barrett III, whose city has been revitalized through the development of the Mass. Museum of Centemporary Art.
A limited number of tickets for the Rockport Chamber dinner and meeting are still available for $50 each and may be purchased or reserved by calling the Chamber office at (978) 546-6575. The event begins with a social hour at 6 p.m., dinner at 7, and the speaking program to follow the Chamber's brief business meeting.