Arts and Craft: Implementing an Arts-Based Development Strategy in a “Controlled Growth” County

This study examines the partnership between local growth machines and the arts. Specifically, it focuses on the nine-year struggle over the construction of a performing arts/hotel resort complex on a large tract of central California coastal property. Through interviews with key persons connected with the project, and through analyses of campaign literature and other archival sources, this case study attempts to provide empirical evidence for the thesis that construction of arts facilities in commercial real estate projects is used to blunt opposition to development. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of recent work on the arts/growth machine alliance, neighborhood mobilization against development, and the symbolic politics of land-use disputes.