What is Creative Edge?

Creative Edge is A future, for Sacramento designed by Sacramento.

Creative Edge is the City of Sacramento's first cultural planning process in nearly two decades. The City of Sacramento, a globally diverse city, is rapidly evolving not only as the capital of the great State of California, but also as a regional center for commerce, education and culture. Each day, the City of Sacramento is in the process of culturally redefining itself as a community.

As the Bay Area expands further to the east, Sacramento is poised to become an anchor of a mega-region. Situated equidistant from agricultural centers - including multiple wine regions, the mountains and national forestland, and the Bay Area, Sacramento continues to attract creative businesses and artists of all kinds at a rapid pace. This thriving environment of opportunity is yet another feature of culture and innovation that has made Sacramento the great city it is today. Known for the Gold Rush and rail, the city was founded as a diverse center of commerce and innovation, which continues to this day.

Creative Edge, a robust community engagement initiative, will assess existing arts, culture and creative economy assets, identify needs as well as opportunities, and set both a vision and priorities for advancing creativity in our community.

Areas of exploration will include education, infrastructure design, philanthropy, neighborhood services, artist housing and creative space, access and equity, cultural tourism, and expansion of the overall creative economy through targeted investments. Additional areas will be identified throughout Creative Edge's engagement with community officials and leaders, organizations, and neighborhood residents.

This planning project is funded by the City of Sacramento, with additional funding by the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, and support from Sacramento County. In June 2017, The Cultural Planning Group was contracted to lead the planning effort, with additional support by AEComm, a Sacramento-based planning and community-engagement firm. 

The community engagement phase began in September 2017, with a town hall meeting at Clara Studios, which drew more than 250 engaged citizens.

Examples of Cultural Plans:

Denver, Colorado

Chicago, Illinois