Transmittal - 10/4/2022DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ERIN MENDENHALL
MAYOR
LORENA RIFFO-JENSON
INTERIM DIRECTOR
CITY COUNCIL TRANSMITTAL
_______________________ Date Received: ___________
Lisa Shaffer, Chief Administrative Officer Date sent to Council: ___________
__________________________________________________________________
TO: Salt Lake City Council DATE: September 28, 2022
Dan Dugan, Chair
FROM: Lorena Riffo-Jenson, Interim Director, Department of Economic Development
SUBJECT: Cultural Core Year-5 Executive Summary & Year-6 Budget Plan
STAFF CONTACTS: Felicia Baca, felicia.baca@slcgov.com, 385-256-5588
DOCUMENT TYPE: Information Update
RECOMMENDATION: n/a
BUDGET IMPACT: n/a
COORDINTATION: Downtown SLC Presents (THE BLOCKS) & Salt Lake County Arts &
Culture
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
In 2010, the City and County of Salt Lake formed a partnership to promote and develop arts and
culture in the Cultural Core and established a taxing district to provide a reliable revenue source
for a 20-year period. In 2011, a series of community conversations with stakeholders established
foundational goals for the plan including creative placemaking - physical development of the
district, and creative programming - marketing, promotions, and audience development. The
City and County’s Interlocal Agreement for the Cultural Core is governed by a six-member
advisory Budget Committee, with direct oversight from City and County staff. At that time, a
public RFP process resulted in a 5-year contract with Downtown SLC Presents (THE BLOCKS)
which expired in July 2022. Earlier this year, City staff engaged in another public RFP process
with Salt Lake County to select another contractor to execute on this contract. Downtown SLC
Presents (THE BLOCKS) was once again selected to manage this contract. The Cultural Core
Budget Committee has reviewed and approved the budget presented below, as well as a plan for
Year-6 of the Cultural Core Initiative.
The annual appropriation from Salt Lake City (approved for FY23) is $250,000. This briefing on
budget and plans is a requirement of the Interlocal Agreement. The appropriation from Salt
10/4/202210/4/2022
Lisa Shaffer (Oct 4, 2022 12:38 MDT)
Lake County was also allocated, approved by the Budget Committee, and The Blocks is
scheduled to present to County Council in tandem with this transmittal.
YEAR-5: July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022
THE BLOCKS continued to heavily invest in marketing and promotion efforts related to arts,
culture, entertainment, and nightlife programming in the Cultural Core. Digital ads, social
media, radio, and online/mobile content are the biggest areas of investment. These efforts
resulted in consistent growth and public awareness of THE BLOCKS offerings. Through a data
feed partnership with Now Playing Utah, listings were prominently displayed on
theblocksslc.org. There are, on average, more than 100 events, programs, and happenings each
month that are promoted and amplified through THE BLOCKS. Additional amplification and
support are lent through social media and blogging efforts. Promoted posts, paid social media,
targeting and retargeting are some of the ways THE BLOCKS engages a wide demographic.
Additional investments in Spanish language radio ads, social media ads, and translated press
releases, has expanded reach, and continues to be an area of focus.
Recently, THE BLOCKS engaged in a full closure of Main Street, assisting in the creation of a
pedestrian promenade featuring vibrant and diverse arts and culture offerings to patrons of the
area, and allowing businesses to safely expand their premises to serve additional customers; an
effort which continues to be a huge success. THE BLOCKS diligently programmed more than
150 artists per month to entertain visitors as they stroll along Main Street. These performances
highlight the breadth and depth of our creative community and provide a platform for creatives
to share their craft with more than 25,000 visitors each weekend.
Success was validated with data collected through website, media partners and social
media channels as well as feedback from the creative community. Visitation to the Cultural Core
and dwell time within the Cultural Core are both very meaningful metrics that have increased
over time. Additionally, ticket sales cannot be the only metric for measuring audiences and
marketing performance as they do not accurately capture the diversity of artistic content (much
of which is highly accessible and free), nor the diversity of the audience. THE BLOCKS has seen
a direct correlation between Open Streets and THE BLOCKS programming to the number of
weekend visitors to the Cultural Core. Additionally, industry data from the Kem C. Gardner
Policy Institute is also very helpful in understanding the economic impact that is generated by
direct and indirect spending inside the Cultural Core and across Salt Lake City and Salt Lake
County.
Year-6: July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023
After being awarded the contract in 2017, Downtown SLC Presents worked with stakeholders,
creatives, and consultants to dream and imagine an apparatus that would be efficient with
limited resources, malleable to serve our community, and dynamic and agile to achieve lofty
goals. Downtown SLC Presents is uniquely qualified to take up the next five years of
implementation and will do so in collaboration with the artistic community and under the
guidance of the Cultural Core Budget Committee. In elevating arts, culture, and entertainment
downtown, Downtown SLC Presents has helped exhilarate the economy for the entire region.
Continued investment in the individuals and organizations programming in the core remains a
priority. We are focused on building audiences and growing awareness of the vast arts, culture,
and entertainment opportunities in THE BLOCKS.
In year-6 THE BLOCKS will focus on promoting existing arts organizations’ programming and
investing in placemaking throughout the cultural core. Marquis events may include Open
Streets, Glow Sculptural Garden, Last Hurrah!, NBA All Star week activations, Groove at
Gallivan, Locally Made, Locally Played, and BLOCKS Social House. THE BLOCKS Social House
is a quarterly event aimed at our local arts and culture leaders to better understand their
changing needs so we can continue to support Cultural Core programming.
The marketing and promotion strategies will continue to target audiences across the city,
County, State, and Intermountain west. As more and more organizations take advantage of
THE BLOCKS resources we will continue to invest in photographic and video assets. This will
ensure not only a rich asset bank for use in our ongoing promotions and marketing campaigns
but will help THE BLOCKS and the creative community have a greater online presence. A
specific focus on Spanish language content is aimed at growing audiences and increasing equity
and inclusion.
Program and event expenses are focused on increasing artist opportunities, supplementing
existing arts organization programming, working closely with arts organizations to curate
content and offerings, audience development, and providing opportunities for our creative
community to program through the continuation of various placemaking projects and strategic
deployments of the BLOCKS Truck and assets.
THE BLOCKS continues to be a leader in programming, placemaking, and promotions. In the
last 12 months THE BLOCKS has supported more artists than ever before, created strong
placemaking and programming opportunities that have driven audiences to the Cultural Core,
built audiences, and strengthened our economy. The work completed, investments made and
overall impact in year-five garnered great support from our creative community stakeholders,
Cultural Core Budget Committee Representatives, businesses, and audiences. THE BLOCKS
reach, brand awareness, and overall impact continues to grow and the implementation of the
Cultural Core Master Plan is on target. The partnerships that have been forged will continue to
strengthen and grow, creating exciting opportunities for arts and culture to flourish and guide
THE BLOCKS over the coming years. Thank you for your support.
For more information about marketing, programming and outreach, and other communications
efforts, please refer to the full overview and budget attachment below.
Attachments:
o Cultural Core – Salt Lake City Memo/Letter from Lucas Goodrich, Program Director
o Cultural Core Year-5 Overview & Year-6 Budget and Plan Salt Lake County Council
o Cultural Core July 1, 2022- June 30, 2023 Contracted Services Budget – Salt Lake City
Council Memo
September 19, 2022
To: Felicia Baca, Executive Director, Salt Lake City Arts Council and Cultural Core Contract
Manager for Salt Lake City Corporation
Re: Cultural Core Year-5 Executive Summary and Year-6 Budget and Plan
The Cultural Core Budget Committee has reviewed and approved the budget and plan for Year-6
of the Cultural Core Initiative. This memo serves as an executive summary and presentation on
Year-5 performance, and plans for Year-6.
Five years ago, Downtown SLC Presents was selected to implement the ambitious Cultural Core
Action Plan, a 20-year investment to advance downtown Salt Lake as the premier cultural district
in the Intermountain West. We are pleased to continue as the implementation manager for the
Cultural Core. We reassert our commitment to our mission of building a vibrant downtown
creative community.
After being awarded the contract in 2017, Downtown SLC Presents worked with stakeholders,
creatives, and consultants to dream and imagine an apparatus that would be efficient with
limited resources, malleable to serve our community, and dynamic and agile to achieve lofty
goals. Comprehensive conversations led our organization to construct the brand identity of The
Blocks, a cue to Salt Lake’s history of numbered blocks that delineated distinct districts. We are
proud of the work completed: activations like Open Streets, fully-animated by funding from The
Blocks for street buskers; marquee placemaking like GLOW, a free winter activation using
large-scale experiential sculptures; promoting legacy arts organizations and amplifying smaller
entrepreneurial artistic endeavors; large scale murals painted by artists and art lovers; and
literally dozens of other projects focused on expanding and diversifying Cultural Core artists and
audiences. We learned a lot during the inaugural five years and are excited about the potential
before us all in the core. We are uniquely qualified to take up the next five years of
implementation and will do so in collaboration with the artistic community and under the
guidance of the Cultural Core Budget Committee. In elevating arts, culture, and entertainment
downtown, we have helped exhilarate the economy for the entire region. We look forward to
working with you to continue making this an extraordinary city.
YEAR-5: July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022
THE BLOCKS continued to heavily invest in marketing and promoting arts,culture,
entertainment,and nightlife programming in the Cultural Core.Digital ads,social media,radio,
and online/mobile content are our biggest areas of investment.These efforts resulted in
consistent growth of public awareness of offerings.Through our data feed partnership with
Now Playing Utah,we prominently display event listings on theblocksslc.org.There are,on
average,more than 100 events,programs,and happenings each month that we promote and
amplify.Additional amplification and support is lent through our social media and blog efforts.
Boosted posts,paid social media,targeting and retargeting are some of the ways we engage a
wide demographic.We have seen an increase in social media reach on Facebook and Instagram
and reached more than 100,000 users just on those two platforms.Across all our social media
platforms we consistently reach more than 250,000 users.Additionally,our partnership with the
Salt Lake Tribune resulted in growth in pageviews and average views per article.From July 1,
2021 -June 30,2022,48 Salt Lake Tribune articles were written featuring Cultural Core content
and reached more than 230,000 users.
Additional investments in Spanish language radio ads,social media ads,and translated press
releases,has expanded our reach and continues to be an area of focus so that we can be on the
leading edge of equity and inclusion.Our Main Street kiosks provide more than $80,000 in
advertising value each year for Cultural Core programmers.We proudly and prominently display
program and event advertisements in our 4 kiosks located along a high traffic area of Main
Street.
THE BLOCKS worked hard to highlight the people,spaces,places,and opportunities to engage
with the arts.Nimble activations and new audience experiences were created through Open
Streets activations,including the expansion of our Eccles Lobby activation partnership with Salt
Lake County Arts &Culture,Alleyways Amplified on Edison Street,Groove at Gallivan,Glow
Sculptural Garden,and a series of musical activations in partnership with Visit Salt Lake.These
activations were enjoyed by businesses and their employees,conventioneers,and of course the
many visitors who come to Salt Lake City to enjoy all of the amenities found in the Cultural Core.
We deployed our event programming assets 40 times to 30 programmers and provided an in
kind value of $15,000.In the last year we have deployed more than $50,000 to artists,makers,
and creators and facilitated more than 300 activations that featured more than 800 performers.
We continue to invest in THE BLOCKS Public Art and Mural Trail app with videos,photos and
artist information on over 60 pieces of public art and murals within THE BLOCKS.We also
invested in street pole banners to promote organizations producing programming within the
Cultural Core and recently unveiled a new multilingual banner campaign as par t of our diversity,
equity and inclusion efforts.
Other signature events and programs include Last Hurrah,an annual legacy event on new years
eve that welcomes 10,000 visitors to the Gateway to ring in the new year and Locally Made,
Locally Played,a partnership with KUAA radio to showcase local musicians.This program,airing
twice a week,continues to reach viewers internationally,nationally,and throughout our state.
More than 40% of listeners come from outside of Salt Lake City, but within Salt Lake County.
We recently brought Locally Made, Locally Played out of the studio and onto the stage. On July
24, 2022, the Locally Made, Locally Played live music stage presented by THE BLOCKS,
entertained more than 8000 people with a free concert. GLOW Sculptural Garden and Groove at
Gallivan continue to grow! Immersive, outsized experiential and interactive lighted sculptures
along with live music created and performed by local artists of diverse backgrounds, delight
visitors in the heart of our city. These activities, especially popular during the holidays, are an
additional amenity brought to you by THE BLOCKS as part of our larger holiday campaign efforts
to welcome audiences to the Cultural Core.
Open Streets returned again this year from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend.
The closure of Main Street, creating a pedestrian promenade and allowing businesses to safely
expand their premises to serve additional customers, continues to be a huge success. We
programmed more than 150 artists per month to entertain visitors as they stroll along Main
Street. These performances highlight the breadth and depth of our creative community and
provide a platform for creatives to share their craft with more than 25,000 visitors each
weekend.
Success was validated with data collected through our website, media partners and social
media channels as well as feedback from the creative community. Visitation to the Cultural Core
and dwell time within the Cultural Core are both very meaningful metrics and we have seen
increases in both. Ticket sales cannot be the only metric for measuring audiences and
marketing performance as they do not accurately capture the diversity of artistic content nor the
diversity of the audience. That is why we utilize Placer.ai and Zartico. Placer.ai is a data tool that
allows us to compare visitation in specific areas, time of day, and events to understand visitor
trends. For example, Placer.ai allowed us to see the increase in visitors and increase in dwell
time for Open Streets. These figures validate our marketing and promotion efforts as well as our
programming efforts. We saw a direct correlation between Open Streets and BLOCKS
programming to the number of weekend visitors to the Cultural Core. Zartico is a new tool we
will begin using in the 2022-2023 fiscal year. It provides insights on Cultural Core patrons and
their economic impact. This data will inform how we adjust programming and promotions to
expand and diversify the audience. We have access to this powerful data source through our
strategic partner Visit Salt Lake. Industry data from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute is also
very helpful to understand the economic impact that is generated by direct and indirect
spending inside the Cultural Core and across Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County.
Year-6: July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023
Continued investment in the individuals and organizations programming in the core remains a
priority. We are focused on building audiences and growing awareness of the vast arts, culture,
and entertainment opportunities in THE BLOCKS. In year-6 THE BLOCKS will focus on promoting
existing arts organizations’ programming and investing in placemaking throughout the cultural
core. Marquis events may include: Open Streets, Glow Sculptural Garden, Last Hurrah!, NBA All
Star week activations, Groove at Gallivan, Locally Made, Locally Played, and BLOCKS Social
House. BLOCKS social house is a quarterly event aimed at our local arts and culture leaders
to better understand their changing needs so we can continue to support Cultural Core
programming. These marquis events led by THE BLOCKS are in addition to the more than 100
programs and events that happen on a monthly basis.
Our marketing and promotion strategies will continue to target audiences across the City,
County,State,and Intermountain west.As more and more organizations take advantage of
BLOCKS resources we will continue to invest in photographic and video assets.This will ensure
not only a rich asset bank for use in our ongoing promotions and marketing campaigns,but will
help THE BLOCKS and the creative community have a greater online presence.A specific focus
on Spanish language content is aimed at growing audiences and increasing equity and
inclusion.
Program and event expenses are focused on increasing artist opportunities,supplementing
existing arts organization programming,working closely with arts organizations to curate
content and offerings,audience development,and providing opportunities for our creative
community to program through the continuation of various placemaking projects and strategic
deployments of the BLOCKS Truck and assets.We will measure success through visitation,
ticket sales, artist and arts group participation, and economic impact.
THE BLOCKS continues to be a leader in programming,placemaking,and promotions.In the
last 12 months we have supported more artists than ever before,created strong placemaking
and programming opportunities that have driven audiences to the Cultural Core,built
audiences,and strengthened our economy.The work completed,investments made and
overall impact in year-five garnered great support from our creative community stakeholders,
Cultural Core Budget Committee Representatives,businesses,and audiences.THE BLOCKS
reach,brand awareness,and overall impact continues to grow and the implementation of the
Cultural Core Master Plan is on target.The partnerships that have been forged will continue to
strengthen and grow,creating exciting opportunities for arts and culture to flourish and guide
THE BLOCKS over the coming years. Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Lucas Goodrich, DMA
Cultural Core Program Director
C: 217-621-9037 O: 801-364-3631
E:lucas@downtownslc.org
201 S. Main Street #2300
Salt Lake City, UT, 84111
THE BLOCKS is Salt Lake’s Cultural Core and a visionary initiative of
Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County to promote the abundance and
vibrancy of our creative community, facilitate partnerships and
collaborations with our creative community, and activate underutilized
spaces to establish downtown Salt Lake City as the premier cultural
district of the Intermountain West.
Cultural Core Goals
Celebrate and promote Salt Lake’s rich array of arts and cultural activities and experiences.
Enhance Salt Lake’s brand and support increased visitation from the region and Intermountain West.
Support increased collaboration and creative development among Salt Lake’s creative community.
Expand and diversify audiences for Salt Lake’s arts and culture.
Foster downtown as an inclusive, diverse, and welcoming place.
Support downtown residential growth.
Enhance the downtown business environment.
Enrich the urban experience and sense of place.
Cultural Core
Year-5 Overview &Year-6 Budget and Plan
The Cultural Core Budget Committee has reviewed and
approved the plans and budget for year-six of the
Cultural Core Initiative.
Salt Lake City: Salt Lake County:
Erig Egenolf (co-chair) Grace Lin (co-chair)
Durga Ekambaram Lia Summers
Shaleane Gee Isaac Gonzalez
Felicia Baca: City Contract Manager Matt Castillo: County Contract Manager
Year-6 Cultural Core Operating Budget: $500,000
PROGRAMS & EVENTS: $242,700
MARKETING & PROMOTION: $198,270
OFFICE & ADMINISTRATIVE: $59,030
Cultural Core contract allowable annual administration costs: $215,000 or 43%
Downtown SLC Presents year-6 annual administration costs: $59,030 or 12%
Competitive administrative costs are one of the many operating efficiencies
Downtown SLC Presents provides as the Cultural Core Action Plan Implementation
Manager. Downtown SLC Presents has added a fundraising staff member to the
Cultural Core team to raise funds to augment the $500,000 budget of the interlocal
agreement and the costs of existing and new programming. Our 2022 - 2023
fundraising goal of $10,000, outlined in the budget document below, has been met.
However, we are still pursuing additional funding sources to further our plans for this
fiscal year and beyond.
On our website, theblocksslc.com, we prominently display more than 100 event
listings each month utilizing data feed services from Now Playing Utah. Search
engine optimization is used and drives traffic to our website. Users may then click the
link that drives them to the organization/venue website to find out more information
about the event and to buy tickets.
In addition to the amplification of these events through our website, we promote these
programs and events across all of our social and digital platforms to our 250,000
collective followers. For example, through our data feed efforts on our website and
social media, we tracked 13,000 ad exposed viewers from our listings/postings to
Utah Symphony/Utah Opera websites.
These banners are representative of the physical and digital banners we use on
social and digital media and throughout the Cultural Core on street poles. Our goal is
to display the vibrant imagery that captures the breadth and depth of our creative
community and the wide range of opportunities to engage with the spaces, places,
and opportunities within the arts, culture, nightlife, and entertainment sector.
These banners are part of our new multilingual campaign. Efforts such as these
embrace the diverse offerings of the Cultural Core and the diverse audiences who
visit. These 12ft banners are placed along Main Street between 300 South and 100
South.
Our Main Street kiosks provide opportunities for arts organizations to display their
event listings in a high traffic area in the heart of the Cultural Core. There are 4 kiosks
along Main Street with 6 windows in each. These kiosks provide organizations an
annual in kind value of more than $80,000 in advertising value. From July 1, 2021 -
June 30, 2022, our 4 Main Street Kiosk displayed event listings for 48 organizations
presenting 53 events. The lower portion of the kiosks contain revolving artwork from
local artists. Artists are compensated for their commissions.
From July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2022, 48 Salt Lake Tribune articles were written featuring
Cultural Core content and reached more than 230,000 users.
Radio ads drive an 18.5% increase in website traffic
Radio advertising continues to be an effective way to reach audiences across Salt
Lake County, Salt Lake Valley, and our drive in markets in Southern Utah, Nevada,
Idaho, and Wyoming.
THE BLOCKS broadcasts English and Spanish language radio ads
There are more than 140,000 spanish speakers in Salt Lake County. We continue to
increase our investments in Spanish language social and digital ads and blog content.
This post reached more than 7,000 Facebook and Instagram users.
Locally Made, Locally Played: out of the studio and onto the streets!
We recently programmed THE BLOCKS Locally Made Locally Played Live Music
Stage at the Gateway on July 24, 2022. 8,000 visitors enjoyed live music from 6 acts.
This is an increase of approximately 3,500 visitors based on the weekends leading up
to and following this event. This also drove additional visitation to Hall Pass, Seabird,
Flanker, and many other Gateway food & beverage and retail locations.
GLOW Sculptural Garden at Gallivan: For two years, Downtown Alliance and THE
BLOCKS have added vibrancy through interactive lighting and sculptures at Gallivan
Center. Three, outsized and interactive sculptures augmented downtown holiday
lighting, Gallivan holiday lighting, and the plethora of other holiday offerings and
amenities in the Cultural Core. These installations drove a 30% year over year
increase in Gallivan Plaza foot traffic during the 3 months these installations were
programmed.
Groove at Gallivan: We partnered with Gallivan to program 3 weekends of live music,
specifically forced on featuring BIPOC artists and BIPOC led creatives. Eight artists
were hired and all self identified as African American, Hispanic, Latin, or Spanish
speaking. Our marketing and promotion efforts targeted audiences within a 75 mile
radius and were specifically targeted at diverse audiences in West Valley City, South
Jordan, West Jordan, and other zip codes that have higher diversity. Gallivan staff
reported increases in concession sales, skate rentals, and foot traffic on these 3
weekends.
Data is very important to our success. We have a whole suite of data partners that
provide critical information on visitation, spending, marketing impact, community
impact, and economic impact.
The Cultural Core is an integral part of the massive economic engine of the arts,
culture, and entertainment industry in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, the region,
and across the state. The Cultural Core has the highest concentration of arts, culture,
and entertainment opportunities in the region, with more than 3 million tickets sold
annually within the Cultural Core.
Cultural Industry jobs in Salt Lake County, a majority of them within the Cultural Core,
account for nearly 7% of the Salt Lake County jobs.
Tax revenue generated from arts, culture, and entertainment industry sales supports
health and human services, public safety, education, and a broad array of other
services that impact our community.
Arts and entertainment promotion is economic development
Consumer spending by arts and entertainment patrons:*per event
MUSEUMS AND EDUCATIONAL EVENTS $183LIVE PERFORMANCES $170PUBLIC EVENTS $131
In addition to the 3 million tickets sold annually in the Cultural Core, there are
hundreds of free and non ticketed, revenue producing events. For example, visitors
spend on parking, dining, retail, etc. Across all categories of events, the average
spend per customer is more than $100 per event, even for free, non-ticketed events!
The economic impact is immense and the return on the City and County’s investment
in arts,culture and entertainment, specifically the Cultural Core, is exponential and
continues to grow.
Arts, culture, entertainment, and nightlife is leading the economic recovery. The
industry is currently hovering around 90% of pre-pandemic levels and continues on an
upward trajectory. This visitation chart details the number of visitors to the Cultural
Core between July 1 and June 30 (3pm - 12am) and provides a 3 year comparison
(2019-2021).
Last Hurrah! Every December 31st, we partner with the Gateway to ring in the new
year. This graph shows December 31, 2021 visitation to Last Hurrah! and tells us
where audiences were coming from. A key item in the Cultural Core Action Plan is to
market and promote to audiences within a 75 mile radius of the Cultural Core. We
also regularly market, through a diverse mix of media, to drive in audiences in
Southern and Northern Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, and Idaho. Understanding visitation
patterns, including where we are drawing from, is crucial to to our marketing and
promotion strategy and audience building and diversification strategy. We also track
dwell time. Visitation + dwell time + data outlining economic spending = IMPACT and
return on investment.
Our creative community comes from across Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, and
beyond. This graph represents approximately 250 vendors served (artists +
entertainers hired directly). This graph only represents about 25% of the true number
of artists that we programmed this past fiscal year. One vendor may include multiple
artists. In the 2021 - 2022 fiscal year, more than 800 artist and entertainers were
engaged with a paid opportunity.
During Open Streets 2022 (May 2022 - September 2022), we averaged about 150
artists per month. These artists and arts groups delighted downtown audiences as
they strolled Main Street. We provided a platform to perform and of course
competitive, market rate wages. This direct artist support is in addition to other artist
and arts group resources, programming assets, and marketing and promotion support
that we provide.
In the last year we have deployed more than $50,000 to artists, makers, and creators
and facilitated more than 300 activations that featured more than 800 artists, makers,
and creators.
In the 2021 - 2022 fiscal year we deployed our event programming assets 40 times to
30 programming organizations and provided an in kind value of $15,000.
THE BLOCKS mobile art truck regularly transports assets to and from events, serves
as a temporary canvas, and can be used as a backdrop or advertising space for
events.
Artist Testimonials
●“Thank you for all of the wonderful opportunities! Can't even tell you how much fun I had at both Pie
& Beer Day and Busking downtown for the Blocks! Hope to continue working together. I'm so
grateful to be included in your creation of culture.”
●“The festival was a tremendous success from my eyes. The phenomenon of so many brewers,
bakers, local businesses, volunteers, performers, etc coming together is truly incredible!”
●“I honestly think that you guys KILLED IT! Free programming every weekend? Open Streets rocks!”
●“The turnout was HUGE. You guys deserve to take a bow. I know that was months and months of
work and preparation leading to the big day.”
Year-6 Cultural Core Operating Budget: $500,000
PROGRAMS & EVENTS: $242,700
MARKETING & PROMOTION: $198,270
OFFICE & ADMINISTRATIVE: $59,030
Cultural Core Action Plan Implementation and Management Services
Contract No. 08-1-17-9279
Downtown SLC Presents Contractor Services for: July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023
FUNDING
Year-6 Disbursement approved by Cultural Core Budget Committee: $500,000
$250,000 Salt Lake City Investment
$250,000 Salt Lake County Investment
It is important to note that the current inflation rate is 7.9% in the U.S. This will directly impact future
program and production costs. Downtown SLC Presents has added a fundraising staff member to the
Cultural Core team to raise funds to augment the $500,000 budget of the interlocal agreement and the
costs of existing and new programming.Our 2022 -2023 fundraising goal of $10,000, outlined in the
budget document below, has been met.However, we are still pursuing additional funding sources to
further our plans for this fiscal year and beyond.
EXPENSES
PROGRAMS & EVENTS: $242,700
Programmatic expenses are focused on producing arts and entertainment content to develop audiences
and raise awareness of all arts and entertainment offerings in the Cultural Core. Funding for direct artist
payments are also funded under this programming.Programmatic payroll, taxes and benefits =
$209,530.
MARKETING & PROMOTION: $198,270
Marketing expenses are focused on promoting 40 Cultural Core arts organization programming via
social media, print, outdoor, broadcast and digital advertising. An innovative arts coverage program with
the Salt Lake Tribune is budgeted here and will generate 50 articles on Cultural Core content. There are
also investments budgeted to capture photographic and video assets to use in ongoing promotions and
marketing campaigns.
ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES: $59,030
Office & Administrative expenses:rent, office expenses,meetings, travel, seminars, bank fees,
equipment, payroll services, accounting.
The Cultural Core management contract allows for annual administration costs, not to exceed $215,000
or 43% of the overall budget. Under Downtown SLC Presents management of the Cultural Core Action
Plan,our 2022-2023 fiscal year administration costs are estimated to be just 12% of the overall budget
or $59,030.00. This is one of many efficiencies and economies that we provide as the contractor.
Budget follows on pages 2 and 3.
1
Year-6 Cultural Core budget 2022-2023
Admin Program Total
Estimated Revenue
Cultural Core Allocation: City and County 60,000.00 440,000.00 500,000.00
Grants 0 5,000.00 5,000.00
Sponsorships 0 5,000.00 5,000.00
TOTAL REVENUE $60,000.00 $450,000.00 $510,000.00
Payroll Expenses
Cultural Core Payroll, Taxes, & Benefits 10,600.00 128,730.00 139,330.00
Downtown Alliance Allocated Payroll Taxes, & Benefits 13,830.00 56,370.00 70,200.00
TOTAL $24,430.00 $185,100.00 $209,530.00
Office/Admin
Occupancy/Rent 21,830.00 0 21,830.00
Office Expenses 7,420.00 0 7,420.00
Meetings.Travel, Seminars 2,250.00 0 2,250.00
Bank Fees 100 0 100
Equipment 2,500.00 0 2,500.00
Payroll Services/Accounting 500 0 500
TOTAL $34,600.00 $0.00 $34,600.00
Marketing Expenses
Printing 0 10,000.00 10,000.00
Graphic design 0 500 500
Broadcast Media 0 30,000.00 30,000.00
Social Media 0 75,000.00 75,000.00
Outdoor Advertising 0 4,000.00 4,000.00
Web design & support 0 1,000.00 1,000.00
Marketing & Public relations 0 60,000.00 60,000.00
Studies and Survey 0 12,000.00 12,000.00
Video Production 0 7500 7500
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Year-6 Cultural Core budget 2022-2023
TOTAL $0.00 $200,000.00 $200,000.00
Contracted Services
Entertainers, Bands, Speakers 0 15,000.00 15,000.00
Visual arts/installations 0 30,000.00 30,000.00
TOTAL $0.00 $45,000.00 $45,000.00
Events
Venue Rental 0 750 750
Equipment Rental 0 250 250
Vehicle Expenses 0 1,000.00 1,000.00
Permits 0 250 250
Contributions & Grants Given 0 5,000.00 5,000.00
Event Parking 0 250 250
Event Supplies 0 5,000.00 5,000.00
Event Planning 0 100 100
TOTAL $0.00 $12,600.00 $12,600.00
TOTAL EXPENSES $59,030.00 $440,970.00 $510,000.00
*The Cultural Core Budget Committee has reviewed and approved the budget and plan for Year-6 of the
Cultural Core Initiative.
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