Mayor Marc Laredo’s idea for an Arts & Culture Department took a huge step closer to reality recently when the City Council’s Programs and Services Committee voted unanimously to approve its creation.

John Rice, former city councilor and City Hall’s new chief community services officer, said the department will be spun out from Parks, Recreation and Culture, with the new department able to work with other departments as well, such as the Planning Department. And arts and culture, Rice added, can help a city’s economy thrive.

“Culture will be there to tie back into economic development, creating revenue with it for the businesses, creating audience and foot traffic for businesses to be successful in the city of Newton,” Rice said. “The new standalone department will signal the administration’s commitment to arts and culture and allow arts and culture to be a growth sector within the city of Newton.”

Set to head up that department is Meryl Kessler, who has experience leading nonprofits, including Spark Newton (which used to go by the name Newton Community Pride), and the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, for which she served as executive director. She’s also a amateur ceramicist, thanks to the New Art Center.

Kessler said she believes “a community’s commitment to arts and culture reflects its commitment to building bridges among people, creating enlivened and activated public spaces and supporting the thriving local economy.”

Kessler laid out a list of priorities for the new Arts & Culture Department, which include promoting and leveraging the city’s talent; building a local creative economy; expanding arts and culture programs offered by the city; finding and pursuing additional funding sources for arts and culture; and celebrating Newton’s arts and culture heritage.

Funding for the department, including Kessler’s salary, is set to go before the Finance Committee as it involves moving money from Parks, Recreation & Culture.

You can watch the entire Programs and Services meeting here.