Media Coverage

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucson's commitment to celebrating its rich cultural heritage, arts, and history takes center stage with the launch of ¡Somos Uno! A Cultural Heritage Strategy.

Lord Cultural Resources is jointly led by the Office of the Mayor and the Office of the City Manager and in collaboration with the Arts Foundation of Tucson and Southern Arizona. Project oversight is provided by a Steering Committee made up of citizens of diverse backgrounds representing the cultural heritage, arts, tourism, education and business communities and sectors.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 25, 2023) – The City of Charlotte and a community steering group are seeking public feedback on draft strategies for the Charlotte Arts and Culture Plan. The comprehensive plan will be implemented to sustain and grow the creative sector in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

This is an opportunity for the community to help shape the future of arts and culture by providing critical feedback on draft strategies developed by community taskforces; that feedback will be used by the steering group to refine the strategies for the final plan. Participants also will be asked to envision how they can participate in creating the future of the sector by helping to implement the plan in ways that are important to them.

During the session, residents will hear from City of Charlotte leaders and the consultant team from Lord Cultural Resources.

The Rockford Area Arts Council is organizing a series of workshops and public input sessions to explore what attracts entrepreneurs, artists, and creators to the Rockford region. These sessions aim to identify the area's artistic strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities as part of the development of a Rockford Region Cultural Plan. Participants will have the opportunity to share information about specific arts and culture sectors and discuss their role in the cultural plan, as well as find ways to highlight the unique offerings of the region. The plan will provide a comprehensive overview of the arts and culture events, programs, and initiatives in the Rockford region, fostering a sense of community among creators and spectators.

“We are so honored to be working with the unique and inspiring community of Rockford and look forward to hearing what Rockford needs and wants from this cultural plan. We invite all in Rockford to share your thoughts on ways that arts and culture are part of your life and help shape a creative and equitable vision for Rockford,” said Eve Moros Ortega, Director of the U.S. Office of Lord Cultural Resources, who will lead the planning effort.

Cultural Equity Plans are being created across the world and now one northern Illinois city is joining in. Some of its organizations, residents and other groups came together last week for the city’s first cultural plan conversation.

The Council and other community groups are partnering with LORD Cultural Resources. This global company started 40 years ago. It helps communities create cultural spaces. The Arts council has worked with this team since February.

Eve Moros Ortega is a director at LORD. She said the Americans for the Arts website is a great resource, and it explains the need for these plans.

“Each one of these little slices of the pie connects to actual studies," Ortega said. "So, when we talk about these outcomes, they are backed by data, and something really important, like why we are doing this?”

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - Area groups begin a major initiative that will, hopefully, put the Rockford region on the map of Arts and Cultural hotspots.

At 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 8, the Rockford Area Arts Council (RAAC) will host the first public meeting for the Rockford Region Cultural Plan at the Riverfront Museum Park in downtown Rockford.

Lord Cultural Resources, a consulting group based in New York City, will work with the RAAC and Rockford residents, to create the directory.

“It brings meaning to our lives arts and culture but it also has a tremendous amount of data around benefits in health, in education, in workforce development, in attracting employers,” said Eve Moros Ortega, director with Lord.

Nine state museums are the responsibility of the Louisiana lieutenant governor, and nine other sites are operated by the Secretary of State. Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser wants to place them under the same umbrella and create regional entities to handle their management.

He’s bringing forward the strategy as widespread issues within the Office of State Museums (OSM), which the lieutenant governor oversees, are aired in a Legislative Auditor’s report released this week. The review found museums have operated without a strategic plan or detailed budget for years. Low employee morale was also cited in the audit.  

The audit report also pulls extensively from a 2019 study the Office of State Museums commissioned from consultant Lord Cultural Resources to review its governance structure. 

The firm found “the current governance structure creates political interference and tension, makes fundraising a challenge, and could risk OSM losing accreditation.” The Lord report also noted a “long-standing tension” between the museum board and the Office of State Museums.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Feb. 27, 2023) — The City of Charlotte on Monday released the State of Culture Report, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area's most up-to-date study of local arts and culture conditions. Residents and all local arts and culture participants are invited to provide additional input on the city's cultural planning efforts through a survey and during a virtual public meeting about the report.

The city will host a virtual public meeting on March 8, 6-8 p.m., to walk residents through the State of Culture Report and to solicit feedback. Residents should register on Eventbrite to receive a Zoom meeting invitation from the city's consultants, Lord Cultural Resources.

Lord Cultural Resources, the world’s largest cultural professional practice, recently provided its expertise to the Abrahamic Family House project, a multi-faith campus opening on 1 March 2023 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Charlotte aspires to be a leading arts city, and a plan to achieve that may be just a few months away. The city’s arts and culture steering committee Tuesday met to refine and finalize Charlotte’s State of Culture Report, the findings that will inform an arts and culture plan expected to be completed this summer. The full report is expected to be released in detail to the public in early March, but lead planner Joy Bailey-Bryant provided “emerging insights” from the report that will guide the city’s planning process.

“We were able to really speak to people about what is important for them regarding arts and culture, and not just individual artists and arts organizations, but residents as well as educators,” said Bailey-Bryant, president of consulting company Lord Cultural US.

The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) is set to highlight sustainability and community engagement as two of its leading topics during this year’s Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo programme. The comprehensive schedule of talks and discussions will cover a breadth of industry topics when it takes place in Denver from 19-22 May 2023.

Lord Cultural Resources director Eve Moros Ortega will discuss ‘Cultural planning for museums: collaborating with culture to maximize impact’ with speakers from Mint Museum and the Museum of Arts and Sciences.