Fun Facts

The Future

By cultivating a healthy and sustainable creative economy, we ensure that Rogers County remains a great place to live, work, and play. Our achievements on this front are not the work of the MoH alone, but instead result from the exemplary collaboration of many partners. Together we have built a livable downtown (where livability refers to its tangible, physical attributes), and together we can ensure vibrancy (the positive emotional qualities of a community) in the Lilac District for years to come.

The MoH contributes to this effort in 2022 and beyond by forging boldly ahead with our inventive offerings, and working with collaborators to breathe new life into our cultural scene and public space. This work has become more important than ever as we emerge from the pandemic, reconnect, and rebuild.

And yet, it is no secret that these are challenging times for arts and culture. Around the world, museums have experienced reduced funding, operational issues due to COVID, and other difficulties. In Claremore our cultural landscape has been altered in unprecedented ways. At a time of such uncertainty, we believe it is crucial to recognize the enduring value of creative enterprise to drive community development. We need to celebrate our local cultural organizations and do what we can to support the sector. We need to develop vision, strategies, and priorities, and ensure longterm funding to sustain high-quality programs and facilities.

To continue moving this work forward, our plans for the future involve the following emphases.

Placekeeping

Similar to the placemaking movement in community development, placekeeping is an effort to recognize and celebrate a community’s extant cultural identity, history, and people by elevating local culture, heritage, and landscapes through artistic and historical interpretation. Not only do the MoH’s exhibitions, activities, and programs encourage localism as well as the tourism that financially benefits businesses, workforce, and City and County tax revenue, they also invest in our cultural profile in a way that enriches the lives of our local community, invites visitor participation, and ensures we remain attractive and relevant in these rapidly changing times.

Community Belonging

Nurturing a sense of belonging among all people contributes to healthy, meaningful lives and safe, inclusive neighborhoods. When we encourage culture and identity to flourish, civic participation increases. MoH programming enhances belonging by animating our museum, historic sites, and public spaces in a way that acknowledges and honors our diverse cultures and histories, while encouraging interaction and community building. We use interventions to engage people as active collaborators around art and history; to make and offer space that fosters encounter, dialogue, and social cohesion; and to build individual and collective capacity to sustain socially and place-connected, resilient communities. Claremore Museum of History

Social Connectedness

Connectedness is key to growing a sense of belonging, and the experiences we craft around it are designed specifically to encourage people to come together, interact, and engage in mutual value creation through an exchange of knowledge and information. Residents who are engaged become invested in the MAH and one another. This builds the public value and perception of the organization, while contributing to the community’s wellbeing overall. Here are some of the specific visioning, organizational, and programming approaches the MAH uses to increase creative capacity and competitive advantage within the aforementioned emphases: •Articulating narratives that represent the beliefs, values, and ideals of Santa Cruz County to guide our programming •Launching a biennial festival series to connect and inspire patrons and guests in and around the MAH and County •Unveiling temporary public artworks that invite engagement and interaction while creating a draw to our civic spaces •Creating new artistic work and cultural content in addition to preserving and presenting our collections •Designing virtual activities Annual report 2022 that invite online interaction to • Investing in local artists,

historians, and creative

practitioners via commissions, residencies, space, and resources • Encouraging a shift toward

regenerative economy

within our community to capitalize on opportunities • Building support for

citizen artists and

storytellers to increase involvement in creativity and cultural exchange • Committing to accelerating diversity and equity in our cultural workforce and leadership pipeline 30 • Collaborating with other cultural organizations to strengthen our mutual impact • Engaging in the global conversation by connecting local and regional initiatives to broader contexts A renaissance of art, culture, creativity, and community is upon us. By recognizing and strengthening the institutions, businesses, and individuals who make our creative economy flourish, we can harness it to the benefit of all.