What is the FRACC?
Formed in March of 2019, community members came together around a common mission - Arts, Culture, and Economic Prosperity for the City of Fall River. The Fall River Arts & Culture Coalition (FRACC) is a committee of the One SouthCoast Chamber and the Bristol County Chamber Foundation (501c3) is the fiscal agent for the Coalition.
The FRACC was founded in early 2019 based on an idea discussed at a small meeting of civic-minded individuals at the Pink Bean. The topic of conversation? Multiple people and organizations were creating arts-based projects and initiatives in the city but they were working in silos. How could things, such as the Barney Zeitz sculpture project and Michael Benevides’ FABRIC arts festival, benefit from sharing ideas and collective action and advocacy within a larger coordinated effort? That was the central organizing question of FRACC.
Starting with 15 members, the group began meeting monthly and attracted people excited about collaborating. These original members felt that Fall River somehow was never able to leverage its “parts” for a greater whole, that somehow the cultural treasures of the City were hidden, that all of the volunteer time and efforts and struggles for funding weren’t allowing everyone to move forward, to grow, to flourish. The group also understood that it needed broader expertise in how to go about its work. They developed a Request for Proposals for a consultant in May 2020 and hired the planning firm Civic Moxie in October 2020 to guide their work. During the planning process for this report, the twelve-member FRACC Steering Committee met bi-weekly and the entire FRACC membership did the same.
FRACC’s members are invited to participate in Working Groups where they focus on the mission and goals of the Fall River Arts and Culture Creative Economy Plan. The FRACC is proud of its open-source commitment, inviting anyone and every organization to join who is committed to collaboration and improving the quality of life for Fall River residents by growing opportunities and support for the arts, culture, and creative economy of the City.
FRACC'S GUIDING PRINCIPLES
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Commit to equity in arts and culture in the city.
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Ensure all events are accessible and reflect the diversity of cultures in content, artists, and audience.
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Ensure that the distribution of funding and arts and cultural support of all kinds is equitably distributed throughout the city, both geographically and demographically.
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Commit to payment for all artists engaged in work for the Fall River Arts & Culture Plan and FRACC.
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Ensure that events and activities are ADA accessible for participants
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and that individuals with disabilities are offered the full spectrum of participation as artists. The Americans for the Arts Statement on
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Cultural Equity will be a guide for Fall River Arts & Culture Plan actions.
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Embrace collaboration and partnerships with local and regional arts, culture, and business organizations, community groups, and public officials.
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Maintain the initiative’s open-source framework to ensure transparency and access.