Cultural district gives city cachet
Fort Wayne City Council was on to something in May, when it gave preliminary approval to a pitch for a downtown cultural district.
Members of a state panel agreed.
The Indiana Arts Commission last month voted in favor of the Arts Campus Fort Wayne, the first state-designated cultural district in the region. It includes seven buildings housing 18 organizations between Lafayette and Clinton streets.
More than that, the district trains a statewide spotlight on local efforts to promote the arts and move Fort Wayne's already-vibrant arts scene forward.
“We see this as more than an acknowledgment of the work of Arts United, but as recognition by the state of the great work happening in Fort Wayne and Allen County,” Dan Ross, Arts United vice president of community development, said in a statement issued after the June 25 vote.