The DC Council approved its 2016 budget on Tuesday, June 30; in the budget, the Council included $200,000 in dedicated funding to research and draft a unified cultural plan for the District of Columbia.

In 2014, a coalition of arts professionals formed Arts Action DC and worked with council member David Grosso to sponsor legislation for the cultural plan initiative. The research will assess “how to stimulate a creative economy, increase cultural participation, and identify needs neighborhood by neighborhood.”

In partnership with the DC Arts Commission, the Office of Planning will begin collecting proposals for organizations interested in conducting the study and developing the strategy with the plan projected to be submitted by December 15, 2016.