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The City of Tybee Island on April 14, 2005 re-activated the Tybee Island Fine Arts Commission as a means of managing the growth of the arts on the Island.
The City revised Municipal Code Chapter 7-4 Fine Arts and appointed a nine-member Fine Arts Commission to serve as an advisory group to the City.
Patricia Miller, Master of Arts Administration, New York University was named Chair of the Commission.
As a first step in fulfilling its mission, the Commission wrote and received a grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts to employ a consultant(s) to develop a Strategic Plan whose ultimate goal is to transform the City of Tybee Island from a community with scattered, disparate arts organizations and uncoordinated efforts for the arts into a community with a focus on building community culture and promoting cultural tourism.
Additional goals of the plan are:
- To help create an identity for the Fine Arts Commission as a support system for all local arts groups,
- To eliminate duplication of efforts, increase the sharing of ideas, promote resource sharing,
- To increase advocacy for the arts and create a unifying force for a wide variety of arts expression to allow the achievement of collective goals.
The consulting firm of Blackmarr, Tibbetts & Associates of Tifton, Georgia, specialists in visioning, planning and marketing, was employed after a search of appropriate consultants to conduct the planning process and develop the strategic plan.
Strategic Analysis
The consultants researched the history and current status of Tybee through individual interviews and contacts, printed documents, multiple web sites and community meetings. They also reviewed the Georgia Department of Community Development Quality Growth Team's plan for the City in development to determine its implications and opportunities for the arts.
The information gleaned from this research revealed:
- a small island city undergoing dramatic changes with the potential to destroy or dilute those elements which have attracted residents and visitors to its shores for decades.
- many active and healthy cultural and cultural-related organizations, but no common threads or communication tools, which bind and strengthen those groups for the good of the community.
- a rich historical bounty in architecture, museums and legends, but no locally organized plan for celebrating and sharing those riches.
- a kaleidoscope of fun-focused events, but a dearth of viable alternatives which could provide a more balanced cultural community.
- a business community with vast financial potential to support a lively arts city, but no plan for advocacy or education.
- media professionals with a commitment to marketing Tybee cultural events, but no coordinated system among arts presenters and organizers.to share their information
- a dynamic group of artists and advocates for the youth who live on and visit Tybee, but only minimal programs to develop budding creative talents.
- nearly 1200 citizens 55 and over, but a limited range of arts programs for their specific interests.
SUMMARY
Tybee is a resort island which attracts more than 30,000 people in the summer months. Its full time residents number close to 4,000. The City is dependent on tourist dollars for its economic well being. Its greatest strengths are its beaches, marshes and marine life - and its strategic location.
Only 18 miles from historic Savannah, which attracts 5 million visitors annually, Tybee's own unique history could be an even mightier magnet for the well-educated, well-heeled heritage and cultural tourist, who would spend time and dollars on Tybee in the economically-challenged off season periods.
Travelers who include cultural events on their trips spend more time and money than other travelers - $631 vs. $457; are more likely to spend - $1000 -18% vs. 12%; use a hotel, motel or a Bed and Breakfast - 62% vs. 56%; travel longer - 5.2 nights vs. 4.1 nights, and are more likely to shop- 44% vs. 33%.
The Strategic Cultural Plan for Tybee Island, then, addresses both the potential for cultural and heritage tourists and the need for a varied cultural life for its residents.
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To fulfill its mission, the Fine Arts Commission has taken specific action steps to meet the goals outlined as Powers and Duties in the City Code.
In July, 2005, an abbreviated strategic planning session was held with two officials from the Georgia Council for the Arts, Susan Weiner, Director, and Karen Lawton, Community Arts Manager. Determination was made to retain a consultant with experience in strategic planning for public entities, arts council development and cultural and eco-tourism development.
The Tybee Island Fine Arts Commission secured a $5,000 grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts, matched by the City of Tybee Island, to conduct strategic planning leading to a Cultural Plan.
The consulting firm of Blackmarr, Tibbetts & Associates of Tifton, Georgia was contracted to develop the plan from January 1 - June 30, 2006.
(Resume in Appendix.)
A two-day intensive planning session was conducted with members of the Fine Arts Commission February 1-2, 2006, concentrating on specific areas defined in the Georgia Council for the Arts grant application.
This session laid the foundation for a series of Focus Group meetings to involve Tybee citizens. Potential participants were identified to represent a broad cross section of Tybee. They included full and part-time residents, arts organizations and artists, educators, food service workers, businessmen and women, the Tourism Council, realtors, developers and the media.
(Complete list in Appendix.)
Six Focus Groups with 59 participants were held March 28, 29 and 30, 2006 to explore the six topics identified in the planning session:
- Preserving, promoting and celebrating native arts and coastal low country traditions while maintaining quirky, unique Tybee
- Developing strategic alliances among organizations
- Ensuring access to venues and program, and promoting diversity within the arts on Tybee
- Enhancing arts for youth
- Developing a marketing strategy for the arts on Tybee
- Securing the commitment of the public and private sector for arts development
Surveys were presented in the Tybee Breeze and the Tybee News, at strategic points in the community, and at all six Focus Groups. A copy of the survey and the results are included in the Appendix. Survey responses were analyzed and incorporated in the plan.
The six topics from the Focus Groups were used as the framework and served as goals for developing the plan. Input from the participants was incorporated in the Positive Points and Missing Elements for each topic.
These points were analyzed and recommendations were then developed which included ideas generated in the Focus Groups, as well as from the consultants' own experience and expertise. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs
Quality Growth Team's plan for the City was studied for its relevance to the arts on Tybee. Certain recommendations related to that document are included in the Strategic Cultural Plan.
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A crescent-shaped piece of land just over the marshes from Savannah, Tybee Island's rich history began with Indians roaming its beaches, and ranges through years when slaves and visitors were buried in mass graves at Lazaretto Creek.
Tybee was used as a dueling ground by South Carolinians who sought to avoid their own state's dueling laws. Looting pirates were here, too, and British and Civil War soldiers. American soldiers from the Spanish American War, World War I and World War II trained on and protected this sandy soil.
Today, remnants of forts, battlements and lighthouses skirt the beaches and marshes, telling part of the Tybee story.
But there is much more to Tybee than wars, pirates and duels.
From 1887 to 1933, Tybee was the greatest seaside resort in Georgia, made available to everyone by the railroad which ran from Savannah to the Island. The railroad brought thousands of people of every kind to Tybee's shores. It was the "people's beach," as opposed to Jekyll for the wealthy. Greeks, Italians, Jews, Chinese, African Americans, Gullah - all contributed to the bohemian, quirky character that has, for generations, defined the Island.
Most of the town's residents are pretty proud of its reputation as a place where the Beach Bum Parade is one of its major attractions and where many unique personalities, including plenty of artists, and even a movie star or two, have chosen to make a home on Tybee.
New York Times writer, Denny Lee, said recently of the island, "…people still leave their doors unlocked, meeting times are rarely honored and flip-flops are standard fashion at weddings and Sunday mass."
Yet, beyond the revelry perpetuated by numerous festivals, 13 bars and night spots, 50's-inspired themed motels, and Chu's legendary general store, there is real hidden treasure on Tybee: a host of historical, low-country cottages, appealing back-river residences, and whimsical, Caribbean- inspired vacation spots tucked away on the off-beach streets.
America's oldest and best-preserved Light Station sits proudly in view. The Marine Science Center is full of amazing creatures and eco-experiences, and a small museum tells 400 years of Tybee history in its numerous exhibits.
But things are changing fast. New people, new buildings, and new money are creating a sea change on Tybee, economically and culturally. The root of the change is real estate. Landmarks that reflected Tybee's unique culture are being rapidly being replaced with modern condos and beach units. Houses, large and small, are crunched into too-small lots. In 1986, it was difficult to sell any property on Tybee. Today, an average house costs $389,000, and on the Atlantic, at least $1 million and a half. The average annual household income has more than doubled: from $30,000 to $69,000 and there is an 8% increase in household incomes over $150,000.
The population is atypical in today's ethnically diverse America. Of Tybee Island's 3,534 individuals, only 138 are Black, Asian and American Indian. The average age is 47.5, which accounts perhaps for the love of revelry? 1,716 residents are between the ages of 25 and 54. Seniors (55 and over) account for 1,134 residents. 552 are twenty and under.
People on Tybee are better educated than most of America: 88% percent of residents have a high school diploma and 33% have at least a bachelor's degree, a higher percentage than the national average. 50% of the population is employed; most work in education and health, and the rest in construction, arts, entertainment, recreation and tourism-related businesses.
Then, there's the big summer-time variable: From June through August, 30,000 people swell the population as visitors and warm weather residents swarm the shores and stores.
There are opponents to the sweeping changes happening on Tybee. There are those who love its quirky, kitsch side, its all-out fun side, and those who treasure its historical roots and lush landscape. And then, there are the change boosters, dreaming of a bountiful portfolio and a thriving economy.
These essential elements -- the shifting demographics, the dramatic changes in the landscape, culture and economy, the wisdom, opinions and attitudes of groups and individuals -- create both the backdrop and the framework for this Strategic Cultural Plan for Tybee Island.
(Demographic data from 2000 US Census)
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