The Arts Council of Greater Lansing served as the facilitator of a coalition of

organizations and agencies from across a region encompassing Lansing, MI and

the cities and towns within the three counties around Lansing. Creative 517 (the

region’s area code) builds on extensive efforts in creative economic development over the past several years through a collaboration of arts, economic development and municipal leadership agencies. The plan was developed with extensive stakeholder input from over 130 individuals through individual interviews and discussion groups. As stated on the Arts Council’s webpage: “The primary goal of this plan is to articulate an actionable set of strategies to support Tri-County Region artists, non-profit organizations and institutions, creative workers and industries for the purpose of fully integrating the creative sector in regional planning and economic development.” The plan was presented at Lansing’s Creative Placemaking Summit in early October 2018.