Downtown Urbana, Ill., has flourished under its Art Gallery Incentive Program, even during tough economic times.

How do you grow an arts district? For Urbana, Ill., residents, it was about organizing locally and enlisting city officials to offer tangible economic incentives to potential galleries.

In the spring of 2006, there were three core arts-related businesses in close proximity: Cinema Gallery, International Galleries and Griggs Street Potters. Cinema Gallery owner Carolyn Baxley saw a potential for growth. “I wanted to develop a creative cluster of arts-related businesses with common goals,” she says.

Baxley teamed up with 40 North | 88 West art council’s former executive director Jennifer Armstrong to start working with the city to establish an incentive program.

The official City of Urbana’s Art Gallery Incentive Program consists of a monthly rent subsidy and a one-time start-up grant. Arts-related businesses that qualify receive up to 50% of their monthly rent amount or $600 per month for 12 months. To offset relocation, advertising or tenant improvement costs, businesses may also apply for a $2,000 grant.

“The incentive program has helped attract 14 retail businesses to downtown Urbana over the past two years—in a struggling economy,” local redevelopment specialist Ryan Brault explains. “It has helped fill spaces that would have otherwise been vacant, generated tax revenue and increased the overall vibrancy of downtown Urbana.”

But the cooperative spirit doesn’t stop there. Through the Urbana Business Association, local businesses band together to produce co-op advertising and events, including gallery openings, festivals and art installations.

To learn more about the program, click here.