Noblesville Arts Council will request $100,000 from the Noblesville Common Council to fund a Noblesville Arts Endowment.

That endowment would promote the future of arts, particularly for children in Noblesville.

The Council also plans to solicit private donations, merging public and private funding sources.

The announcement was made at the Arts Council's Wednesday meeting during the discussion of the latest draft of the Noblesville Cultural Arts Blueprint, a 51-page document outlining the future of Noblesville arts.

The Arts Council refined the document itself, as well as discussed changes in governance and financial models.

The Cultural Arts Blueprint outlines the council's goal to build and maintain a collaborative arts community and will be used in the future as the council seeks the creative of a city-designated cultural arts district within Noblesville. Similar to districts established in Bloomington and Carmel, this designation would support not only the arts, but local tourism as well.

After nearly 18 months of collaboration, the Arts Council, a 28-member team comprised of various members of the local art community, has come to its final stages of blueprint revisions. A fine-tuned draft of the Cultural Arts Blueprint will go to the Common Council for ratification.

While budgetary information and statistics are still being compiled, Noblesville Community Engagement Manager Cindy Benedict said she hopes to have a near-complete draft in about two weeks.

"This is about creating a sense of place so that our residents are really proud of living in Noblesville," Benedict said in the meeting.

At Wednesday's meeting, the Arts Council specifically discussed a new governance section to the Cultural Arts Blueprint, in which the future structure of the council would be significantly different.

According to the model, seven members would serve on the council, four members having been appointed by the mayor and three by the previous council. An economic development specialist would also join the team and each member would serve a two-year term. The new council will focus on approving and providing grants for public art projects.

"What can we create for today that will grow for tomorrow?" Benedict asked the council.

The current Arts Council also further discussed the Cultural Art Blueprint's financing model, noting the importance of local partnerships with Nickel Plate Arts and the Central Indiana Community Foundation.

It was budgeted in the model that the City of Noblesville would provide $10,000 annually to fund at least one downtown beautification project each year. The model also budgets for $30,000 in annual support from Nickel Plate Arts and Noblesville Main Street.

Once finalized, if the blueprint is passed through the Common Council, it would then need to be passed as an ordinance, a process that could take at least six months.

Mayor John Ditslear has vetted and supports the Cultural Art Blueprint.

"This is really what we want to do to promote art within the City of Noblesville," Ditslear said. "Whether it's visual art or photography or welding or drama, I think this is a tremendous document."
© 2011 The Times