In September, 1975, the Nebraska Arts Council embarked on a major project to develop a long range plan for the second decade of its existence. The goals of that project were:

1. To define the common cultural needs of the citizens of the state.
2. To establish priorities for services and programs to meet those needs.
3. To develop delivery systems for those services and programs.

The Council decided to go directly to its constituents for information and ideas to aid in the formulation of the policy and guidelines that would govern its actions over the next ten years. With the assistance of Arts Development Associates, members of the Nebraska Arts Council and its staff spent the next nine months designing and executing a process for obtaining constituents' opinions, a process called Dialogue on the Arts: a public planning project.

The process consisted of the following major elements:

1. An arts constituency questionnaire aimed at isolating areas of concern for the state's arts community.
2. A television program designed to communicate information on the Arts Council, and questions about its future directions.
3. Town meetings held throughout the state for citizens to view the television program and discuss the questions it raised.
4. A citizen questionnaire distributed throughout the state to gather the opinions of an even larger number of citizens.
5. Regional meetings around the state as an additional public forum for discussion.
6. A statewide conference to synthesize information and opinion into priorities and possible programs.

That dialogue process, and the information and data gathered in it, are detailed in the report that follows.

CONTENTS
Section 1. Introduction and overview. 

Section 2. Designing a planning process. 

Chapter 1. A plan to plan. 
Chapter 2. Defining primary issues. 
Chapter 3. Presenting the issues to thePublic: the test of a  concept. 

Section 3: The dialogue on the arts. 

Chapter 1. Inviting citizen participation. 
Chapter 2. The Dialogue on the arts television special. 
Chapter 3. Organizing the town meetings. 
Chapter 4. The citizen questionnaire. 
Chapter 5. The regional meetings.
Chapter 6. The dialogue of One Hundred. 
Chapter 7. A ten-year timeline.

Section 4. Issues and questions for the future. 

Chapter 1. On matters of policy and philosophy. 
Chapter 2. One last question.

Appendix.

In September, 1975, the Nebraska Arts Council embarked on a major project to develop a long range plan for the second decade of its existence. The goals of that project were:

1. To define the common cultural needs of the citizens of the state.
2. To establish priorities for services and programs to meet those needs.
3. To develop delivery systems for those services and programs.

The Council decided to go directly to its constituents for information and ideas to aid in the formulation of the policy and guidelines that would govern its actions over the next ten years. With the assistance of Arts Development Associates, members of the Nebraska Arts Council and its staff spent the next nine months designing and executing a process for obtaining constituents' opinions, a process called Dialogue on the Arts: a public planning project.

The process consisted of the following major elements:

1. An arts constituency questionnaire aimed at isolating areas of concern for the state's arts community.
2. A television program designed to communicate information on the Arts Council, and questions about its future directions.
3. Town meetings held throughout the state for citizens to view the television program and discuss the questions it raised.
4. A citizen questionnaire distributed throughout the state to gather the opinions of an even larger number of citizens.
5. Regional meetings around the state as an additional public forum for discussion.
6. A statewide conference to synthesize information and opinion into priorities and possible programs.

That dialogue process, and the information and data gathered in it, are detailed in the report that follows.

CONTENTS
Section 1. Introduction and overview. 

Section 2. Designing a planning process. 

Chapter 1. A plan to plan. 
Chapter 2. Defining primary issues. 
Chapter 3. Presenting the issues to thePublic: the test of a  concept. 

Section 3: The dialogue on the arts. 

Chapter 1. Inviting citizen participation. 
Chapter 2. The Dialogue on the arts television special. 
Chapter 3. Organizing the town meetings. 
Chapter 4. The citizen questionnaire. 
Chapter 5. The regional meetings.
Chapter 6. The dialogue of One Hundred. 
Chapter 7. A ten-year timeline.

Section 4. Issues and questions for the future. 

Chapter 1. On matters of policy and philosophy. 
Chapter 2. One last question.

Appendix.