We heard this week that Connecticut tourism is thriving. That’s great news for the state and for Hartford, but there’s still work to be done to cultivate opportunities for tourism in Hartford.
Our neighborhoods already have so much character, amazing food, and engaging history — not to mention premier cultural institutions. With so much to offer, Hartford needs a coordinated plan for arts and culture. Arts and culture can and should be a driver of economic development; expanding tourism means being able to reap the economic benefits. (My thoughts on this here.)
We need to think about ways to weave our city’s treasures together, and we need a leader who can take initiative on that planning. We should get inspired by events that define cities — like South by Southwest in Austin, or the Arts & Ideas Festival in New Haven. Our next mayor should facilitate collaboration, bringing our institutions together to imagine how to share and build on each others’ efforts.
We also need to support arts and culture in all of Hartford — in every neighborhood. Revitalizing City commissions, like the Percent for Art Commission and the Cultural Affairs Commission, to get stakeholders throughout the city engaged is a great place to start.