Experts say that an average public art project provides 50 times the economic impact of arts events in traditional venues. The Dreaming is an evolution of Shared Vision's strategy of deploying large scale, participatory works of public art to become economic engines that build prosperity and community health, easing tensions between groups while supporting jobs downtown where they are most needed.

The best way to understand the strategic intention and economic impact of The Dreaming is to review Shared Vision's prototype, the large-scale participatory public project called Community Bridge. This project transformed the unattractive but strategically located Carroll Street Bridge into the stunning illusion of an old stone bridge. Ideas for objects representing community were gathered from thousands of residents, and these ideas shaped every part of the bridge mural, its symbolism and meaning. Scores of local organizations became involved in the effort. The project was intended to build the spirit of community and anchor that spirit on Carroll Creek, creating an economic engine and a cultural and social catalyst. As the initiative grew, it reached people around the world, drawing ideas from people in 38 states and 22 countries on 5 continents. The bridge became one of Frederick County's leading attractions, highlighted on highway signs and in visitor's guides. It draws 50,000 visitors a year, and appears in a number of textbooks in art history, art appreciation, and science. Many national travel web sites highlight the project. It has drawn over one million dollars worth of advertising for the city. Leading business, civic and educational organizations use the bridge in their leadership programs.

The project helped break a fifteen year deadlock and leveraged the development of the ten million dollar Carroll Creek Park around it. This park is Frederick's most important economic development project, now underway. Equally important, it played a crucial role in shifting the identity of the park to a more sustainable economic engine, an urban gathering space filled with amenities and public art, crossed by a series of art bridges, lined with restaurants and retail sites, and with a far deeper sense of community ownership and involvement than before. This wide sense of community ownership is essential to successful, large scale downtown redevelopment efforts.

Community Bridge became a powerful demonstration of the impact of large-scale works of participatory public art as economic engines that repay their investment many times over.

“Community Bridge has been tremendously successful at redirecting public and private interest downtown, building a broad sense of ownership and creating a catalyst for reinvestment.”
–– RICHARD GRIFFIN, Frederick City Department of Economic Development

“As one who has dealt with art and its relationship to society since the 1960’s, I have not experienced a more successful effort in dealing with issues of race, ethnicity and community participation.”
–– FLOYD COLEMAN, Chair, Art Department, Howard University

“I’ve conducted tours of Frederick County for state legislators and staff. We have many historic and cultural sites, but nothing I can show them grabs their attention like Community Bridge. They are captivated by the magnificence of the artwork, by the way it expresses the history and spirit of the area, and by its development power for tourism and the economy. Many of them say they will return to the bridge with their families.”
–– JACK DERR, Former Maryland State Senator, District 3

“Community Bridge is a clear demonstration of public art at its best –– the highest quality of art and a community completely engaged.”
–– CINDY KELLY, public art administrator, Baltimore, Maryland

Civic-minded developer Ted Rouse of Struever Bros Eccles & Rouse with Jim Mills, Key Team leader.	Map showing strategic location of Community Bridge in Carroll Creek Park

The Dreaming is in a more strategic location than Community Bridge, and has the potential to become a beacon for the Arts and Entertainment District and a catalyst to strengthen the downtown by raising the general level of engagement in the arts, contributing to what the National Governor's Association calls the "innovation habitat" of the county. Many arts groups are currently struggling and yet the benefits this sector offers to the community are immense.

In their report titled "The Arts and Economic Development, the NGA says:

"the arts are a potent force in economic development nationwide. States and communities have integrated the arts into their economic development arsenal to achieve a wide range of direct and indirect economic goals. Arts programs have served as components of high-impact economic development programs by assisting state and local government in:

• Leveraging human capital and cultural resources to generate economic vitality . . . through tourism . . . and cultural attractions;
• Restoring and revitalizing communities by serving as a centerpiece for downtown redevelopment and cultural renewal;
• Creating vibrant public spaces integrated with natural amenities, resulting in improved urban quality of life, expanded business and tax revenue base, and positive regional and community image; and
• Contributing to a region's "innovation habitat" by simultaneously improving regional quality of life -- making communities more attractive to highly desirable, knowledge-based employees -- and permitting new forms of knowledge-intensive production to flourish."

This report urges local leaders to harness the power of the arts and culture as tools that unite communities, create economic opportunity, and improve the quality of life.

The Dreaming is intended to become a more advanced prototype than community bridge, and to demonstrate the power of large scale participatory art to build lasting and efficient economic engines that also bring benefits on cultural, social and educational levels.

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Shared Vision • The Prototype • Social Impact of the Arts • Economic Engine
Cultural Catalyst • Educational Spark