Chesterton wants to capitalize on one of its attributes by moving toward creating an arts and cultural district within the town.
For years, it was evident that Chesterton — with a population around 14,500 — had quite a number of art and cultural assets considering its size.
“It’s something that has been talked about for a long time,” said Jayde McAloon, who runs Pieces of Jayde, a handmade art and jewelry store.
Talk is becoming action after the Indiana Arts Commission awarded a $10,000 grant to the Chesterton Branding and Leadership Corporation.
The award was made after four members of the Chesterton Brandling and Leadership Corporation in November attended a creative convergence conference in Fishers, sponsored by the Indiana Arts Commission and Indiana Communities Institute.
Eventually, probably in the fall, the Chesterton Town Council will be asked to formally recognize the arts and cultural district.
Hannah Hammond-Hagman, executive director of the Chesterton Art Center and a branding corporation member, said that the $10,000 will be used for a request for proposals to create way-finding sculptures or plaques to visually represent the district.
In the coming months, the Chesterton Branding and Leadership Corporation will have five meetings to gather community input. Further information can be obtained from the visitchesterton.org website. The initial meeting was held Tuesday at the Chesterton Art Center.
Rebecca Riley-Vargas, owner of Three Moons Fiberworks who is leading this Chesterton Branding and Leadership Corporation effort, said that they are looking for help in cataloging Chesterton’s assets.
“We would very much like to know what is important to the residents of Chesterton,” Riley-Vargas said.
A prominent feature of the first meeting was a map, on which people could place an orange round sticker to designate an arts/cultural location. The dots represented arts organizations, creative businesses, studios, galleries, performance venues, and cultural and historic assets.
As might be expected, many of the orange spots were clustered around downtown.
“What we may discover is that Chesterton has multiple district possibilities,” Hammond-Hagman said. “What a beautiful problem that would be.”
The town of Chesterton recently started the process of updating its comprehensive plan, drafted in 2010. The plan helps guide development decisions in the community.
There has also been an increased focus by the town on economic development strategies.
Arts and culture are considered economic drivers because they are important factors when people look to settle in a community, said Kevin Nevers, the town’s public affairs liaison and a branding corporation member.
“When you are thinking about economic development, you need to think about the arts community,” Nevers said.
McAloon, who is also a branding corporation member, said that she believes the town now has the right combination of doers to make the arts and cultural district a reality.
She also believes that it could help the town economically.
“We are trying to get the 4.5 million people that come to the national and state parks (each year) to make that three-mile journey into town. Let’s be honest. That’s part of it,” McAloon said.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
