Cultural Planning
What is Cultural Planning?
Cultural Planning is a place-based approach to planning and development. It is a process for identifying and leveraging a community’s cultural resources, strengthening the management of those resources, and integrating those resources into local planning and decision-making.
At the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission (MVPC), we recognize that arts and culture are more than amenities; they are essential drivers of economic growth, social connection, and community pride. Protecting, preserving, and expanding cultural assets—whether historic landmarks, arts festivals, or creative spaces—makes our cities and towns more dynamic, inclusive, and desirable places to live.
MVPC collaborates with municipalities and community partners to strengthen the creative economy, enhance public spaces, and expand opportunities for artistic expression. Through cultural planning, we ensure that arts and culture remain at the heart of thriving, connected communities across the Merrimack Valley.
MVCulture: Elevating Public Transit Through Arts & Culture
Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF), Merrimack Valley Planning Commission (MVPC), and Merrimack Valley Transit (MeVa) have received a prestigious Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. This funding supports MVCulture, an initiative that reimagines public transit as a vital part of community culture in the Merrimack Valley. Through artist-led projects, cultural mapping, and creative placemaking, MVCulture will enhance bus stops, improve wayfinding, and connect residents with the region’s rich arts and cultural hubs—making the public transit experience more welcoming, vibrant, and accessible for all.
MVCulture: Arts & Culture Specialist
The Merrimack Valley Arts and Culture Specialist position was created in 2023 through a partnership between Essex County Community Foundation’s (ECCF) Creative County Initiative and the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission (MVPC) to integrate arts and culture into local development efforts. The MV Arts and Culture Specialist works to connect artists, municipalities, and businesses across the Merrimack Valley, ensuring that arts and culture play a central role in creating vibrant, inclusive, and economically strong communities. This pilot initiative reflects a growing recognition within Essex County that cultural planning is a worthwhile investment.
Cultural Planning Resources
Essex County Community Foundation: Creative County Initiative
Through its Creative County Initiative, ECCF is committed to supporting cultural planning initiatives that create better conditions for the arts sector to thrive, and investing in knowledge and technical support to engage communities in municipal planning that is inclusive of arts and culture.
Mass Cultural Council: Cultural Districts Program
Launched in 2011 by an act of the state legislature, Cultural Districts drive economic growth, strengthen our distinctive local character, and improve the quality of life of families across Massachusetts. By supporting arts, humanities, and science organizations, Cultural Districts attract tourists and entrepreneurs, which in turn help communities foster their cultural sector and expand their tax base. And that benefits everyone.
Americans for the Arts: Arts Impact Explorer Tool
The Arts Impact Explorer is your advocacy case-making tool to educate local decision-makers about the social, cultural, educational, and economic impact of Arts and Culture in building healthy and vibrant communities.
Mass Cultural Council: Local Cultural Council Program
The largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation, the Local Cultural Council (LCC) Program enriches the cultural life of all cities and towns in Massachusetts. Led by municipally appointed volunteers, LCCs award $7.5 million every year, supporting 7,500 cultural programs that include everything from field trips to lectures, festivals, and dance performances.
Past Cultural Planning Projects
Place and Meaning 2020
The Merrimack Valley Cultural Mapping project had two goals: 1) Produce a Cultural asset map and 2) Strengthen the regional infrastructure between artists, cultural producers, and stakeholders. The project was a collaboration between MVPC, Essex County Community Foundation, Elevated Thought, Creative Community Builders, and the Lawrence History Center.
Cultural Planning Labs 2019
During the winter of 2019, MVPC partnered with Essex County Community Foundation and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council to coordinate four cultural planning labs for municipal officials, planners, and arts leaders from the nonprofit and private sectors in Essex County.