The Cork Arts Development Plan, which will cover the next five years, is in preparation. A draft plan will be presented to the city council in September and the full plan should be in place by the end of this year.
In association with the Arts Council, Cork Corporation is responsible for the new plan. However, before getting down to the details the corporation is engaged in a wide consultative process.
Those involved in the arts sector, organisations relevant to the arts in Cork and the public were invited to put their views and ideas on how the arts should be developed over the coming five years in writing. The closing date was last Friday, and many submissions were received.
These will now form the basis of a series of public meetings to be held next month. The outcome of the meetings will help the corporation develop the final decision as to how the plan should be constructed.
In July 1990 the corporation produced the first arts development plan for Cork. Last year it appointed Mark Mulqueen as arts officer for the city. Now the aim is to consolidate and support what has been achieved already, to reach out to greater numbers, and to make greater participation the bench mark as the latest plan begins to take hold. Fundamental to the plan is the principle that inclusion rather than exclusivity is what the arts should be about, that the arts can and should be of relevance to all walks of life.