Strategic planning is that necessary but excruciating process that drives nonprofit arts organizations to distraction. From the artistic director to the box office manager to the marketing and development departments, everyone has to put down their jobs when the consultant comes a calling, and together they examine all the nooks and crannies of the organization - sometimes restructuring along the way — in order to make things better.

At its monthly board meeting last week, Cuyahoga Arts and Culture heard a strategic planning report from consultant Amy Main Morganstern. Just 17 months in existence, and having just distributed its first round of checks, CAC is already examining its future.

This is a good thing. Founded on the fly and headed by a political appointee, CAC Director Cathy Boyle - whom the report notes does not have an arts or grant-making background — it's no surprise that the organization would invest in a look at its performance and direction.

The biggest challenge, though, seems to be that it was established in the shadow of another group with much more experience in the arts economy and much closer ties to the artistic companies it serves. For almost 10 years, Tom Schorgl and the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture have met with, gathered information from, organized and rallied the region's theaters, orchestras, art galleries, individual artists and other organizations that comprise that part of the economy. These days, CPAC serves a consulting role to CAC, offering advice and developing models for grant-making programs, and in a significant way steering policy before approval by the CAC board. No wonder then that Morganstern's interviewees told her that when people in the arts community have questions about funding from the cigarette tax or other issues related to the arts economy, they're unsure whom to ask, and often turn to CPAC.

So in this early stage of its life, CAC finds itself needing to climb a "steep learning curve" (from a Power Point presentation) and get out of the shadows. In addition to looking to its own future - which will include a new advocacy effort and figuring out whether to continue with the cigarette tax or find another revenue stream after that expires in nine years - key messages from research conducted by consultant Morganstern include clarification of responsibilities between CPAC and CAC.

At its next meeting, at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 10, CAC will approve 2008 project support grant awards. — Michael Gill