A common misconception is that community support of arts and culture occurs at the expense of economic development. Business leaders worry that funding the arts takes resources from other initiatives that create jobs and build the local economy.
In fact, arts and cultural events and programs can be a key tool in recruiting corporate investment, retaining skilled and professional workers, revitalizing tourism and urban centers, and adding to the qualities that make people choose where to live and work.
The Arts & Economic Prosperity IV report published by Americans for the Arts summarizes 2010 data from 182 diverse U.S. regions. Nonprofit arts and culture organizations nationally drive a $135.2 billion industry – supporting 4.1 million full-time equivalent jobs and annually generating $22.3 billion in government revenue.
This report measures the ripple effect through local economies when nonprofit arts and culture organizations create events and encourage audience spending. Event-related spending at gas pumps, restaurants, hotels, parking decks and retail shops generates tax revenue.
Additionally, these organizations buy goods and services; their employees spend paychecks and pay taxes.
In the Springfield region, this translates into $16.3 million in consumer spending, 431 full-time equivalent jobs, and $2.1 million in local and state government revenue generated annually.
This report on nonprofit organizations shows only a partial picture of the arts in our local economy. The Creative Vitality Index by the Western States Arts Federation integrates nonprofit and for-profit data using Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Labor, Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
In this index, provided by the federation to the Springfield Regional Arts Council, Greene County boasted 2010 sales for photography, music and bookstore/record stores that are higher than the national average. Art gallery and individual artist sales totaled $13.6 million in 2010 and $19.8 million in 2009.
In 2010, Greene County had 647 photographers, 348 graphic designers, 450 public-relations specialists, and 359 writers and authors. The 36 creative professional categories provided 5,125 jobs in the creative industry – a field called an “emerging target” for economic development in the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s Market Street Report.
Aware of the economic benefits the arts can create, the Urban Districts Alliance led a 25-member delegation of community leaders to Des Moines, Iowa, in June. We saw presentations on the role public art plays in Des Moines’ downtown revitalization, urban sculpture park and top-ranked arts festival.
Des Moines has won numerous accolades for its economic strategies, including Forbes magazine’s No. 1 city for young professionals, and No. 2 city for jobs and family living. It has helped retain national companies such as Nationwide Insurance and attract new investment from Microsoft.
So, is the best way for the arts to augment economic development a top-down, grassroots, public or private approach? Because there seems to be no magic formula, we encourage creative collaboration. Locally, we work to leverage public funding, private investment, nonprofit efforts, and educational initiatives with the significant donations of time, talent and resources by thousands of volunteers.
The Cultural Plan segment of Springfield’s community-driven Vision 20/20 plan emphasizes arts, culture, education and public art. Future strategies developed for the city’s strategic plan are pending Springfield City Council approval.
Most recently, council is considering proposals jointly developed by the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, Springfield Regional Arts Council, Springfield Hotel and Lodging Association, and the Sports Commission to reallocate hotel/motel tax revenue released by the Wonders of Wildlife museum last February. When this deliberation resumes at the Aug. 14 council luncheon, the SRAC endorses reinvesting those voter-approved funds in education, tourism, culture and recreation capital-improvement projects.
Pam RuBert is the president of the Springfield Regional Arts Council. She can be reached at pam@rubert.com.[[In-content Ad]]
