SESSION INFORMATION (workshops in bold)

Elevation Design Guidelines. URS Corporation, a cultural resource management firm, will discuss the development of guidance for residential and commercial property owners and municipalities contemplating elevation of a historic property or construction. Public input on the guidelines will be sought. Preparing for Preservation Incentives Through Survey & Planning will demonstrate how survey and planning can open the door to other programs and incentives offered by the State Historic Preservation Office. Marketing Historic Bridges for Adaptive Reuse. Can relocating a historic bridge to your community boost revitalization efforts? Many bridges are available for creative reuse. Join the Office of Cultural Development and the Department of Transportation and Development to explore this topic. Gulf Coast Presenters Forum will feature event organizers and statewide arts council executives from Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi sharing ideas about how to increase block-booking opportunities for presenters and performance opportunities for arts organizations and artists. Engaging Arts Audiences in the 21st Century. A panel will discuss taking art out of galleries and off stages and bringing it into communities to engage and create new audiences, such as with marketing. Innovative Fundraising. David Mallette, senior associate at Management Consultants for the Arts, will introduce cutting-edge fundraising solutions for arts organizations of all sizes. Panelists present will offer both local and national perspectives. Rooting Tradition in Community: A Roadmap to Cultural Sustainability. Peggy Bulger, former executive director of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center, will give a national perspective on how communities use their traditions to help build a sense of place for locals and visitors alike. Arts Education: Transforming Education Through the Arts will be a discussion of the changing models of education reform, with a new focus on transforming education through real-world and creative media such as the arts. Placemaking: Using Art to Develop Economies & Communities. Susie Surkamer, executive director of South Arts, and other panelists will discuss enhancing the cultural vibrancy of communities and the resources that can help. Toxic Buildings. Department of Environmental Quality officials will demonstrate how to recognize and mitigate hazardous materials in historic buildings. Louisiana Main Street Redevelopment Incentive Grants 2014–2015 will furnish this year's grant application and review the application process, including changes for this year.

IMPORTANT NOTES

Click here to view a map of Capitol Park, including the event locations and parking information. Click here to download the nomination form for the 2014 Louisiana Culture Awards and submit by March 26. In addition to milestone anniversaries for Decentralized Arts Funding, Archaeology Week/Month and Louisiana Main Street, the creative communities celebration luncheon on the first day of Culture Connection will honor the 10 com-munities that successfully completed the Louisiana Creative Communities Initiative and Louisiana¡¦s Cultural Districts, in celebration of five years of successfully revitalizing communities statewide. Throughout the first day of Culture Connection, the Multi-Purpose Room of the Capitol Park Museum will serve as a hospitality suite and feature a resource center for cultural organizations and artists to network and share materials, as well as a silent auction benefitting Louisiana's cultural programs. Click on the Culture Connection registration page above to sign up as an exhibitor if you would like a table to share resources and materials. Hotel Indigo in downtown Baton Rouge has reserved a block of rooms for Culture Connection on April 22 at a rate of $97. Rooms will be filled on a first come, first served basis. Click here or call 225.343.1515 to make reservations, and be sure to mention the group code: LPA. Click here to view a list of hotel accommodations in downtown Baton Rouge, courtesy of the Baton Rouge Downtown Development District. Follow the Office of Cultural Development on Facebook for up-to-date information on Culture Connection.

For more information, contact the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development at 225.342.8200.