Arts Advocacy Update IX

I'm beginning this week's Arts Advocacy Update with an announcement:

Upcoming Event: Forum for New Ideas
September 20, 2007
Morgan Stanley Building
Learn how to think differently, explore non-traditional ways for business and the arts to work together, and network with some of today's visionaries at the Forum for New Ideas.
Tickets / Registration /Contact: 718-482-9900
http://www.bcainc.org/programs.html

Economic Impact of the Arts in Maryland
Maryland State Arts Council, 2006
"The arts generated $1.05 Billion in economic impact for Maryland in fiscal year 2006, according to a recent study released by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED). The study, prepared for the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC), also showed the arts generated an estimated $37.3 million in state and local taxes, up from $35.1 million In FY2005, and generated 13,762 full- and part-time jobs. In addition, for every dollar of direct spending by audiences attending arts events, another $2.10 was generated on other goods and services."
I mean, 13,000+ jobs in Maryland? Wow. Very interesting...I'd be interested to know just how, by genre/medium/profession, that breaks down.

Eugene council endorses report on state of the arts
Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), 7/26/2007
"To the applause of arts supporters, the Eugene City Council took a first step Wednesday toward playing a larger role in the city's arts and culture. Councilors voted 7-0 to accept a consultants' report that includes five priorities to help strengthen the city's many arts and cultural offerings. The city should play a broader role in arts and culture, including providing financial and staff support, the report said. The city also should help start an alliance for the arts, fund an endowment and conduct a 'thorough review' of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, partly to halt its operating losses, the report urged.
Years ago I worked for the architectural firm that designed the Eugene Performing Arts Center. There's quite the infrastructure there...I guess the city's powerbrokers need to get on the proverbial stick.

Report: Tucson dreadful at nurturing its culture
Tucson Citizen (AZ), 7/26/2007
"The draft Pima Cultural Plan unveiled Wednesday pulls no punches in describing Tucson's innate reluctance to make the most of the 'immense and diverse range of arts and cultural resources.'" Plan author Bill Bulick says the area lags in both government funding and private contributions, and sorely lacks collaboration, "be it among arts and heritage groups, the arts with government, the arts with schools, or the arts and the greater community." Bulick's document "spells out exhaustive recommended strategies to overcome pitfalls in arts and cultural facilities, creative sector economy, government policy and arts education and to increase cultural resources."
Smart...now let's see them move forward...

Richardson tries to build on appeal
USA Today, 7/24/2007
An article on Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson mentions that among his ideas are a "'massive federal program' for arts education."
Yeah...massive...we like that idea. Let's see anyone vote for him, though.

Arts council awards $21.5 million in grants
Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ), 7/25/2007
"The New Jersey State Council on the Arts awarded $21,535,237 in grants to more than 800 organizations, programs and projects across the state Tuesday at its annual meeting in Trenton. Boosted by a larger appropriation from the New Jersey Legislature for fiscal year 2008, the council increased its funding by $2.8 million over fiscal year 2007."
Little known fact: New Jersey has traditionally been a huge supporter of the arts, and this is an example of such largesse.

Arts funding up 20 percent with grants of $1.36 million to groups
The Oregonian, 7/30/2007
"Oregon's biggest cultural scarcity, funding for the arts, got a boost Friday. . . . Gov. Ted Kulongoski announced more than $1.36 million in funding for various Oregon cultural institutions and programs. All of it comes courtesy of the Oregon Cultural Trust, a state-run trust for culture and the arts funded by three sources that sometimes elude the public's imagination: tax credits, the sale of cultural license plates and the sale of surplus state assets -- a third leg that remains on the books but has never actually been used."
And then there's the whole subject of dedicated taxes for the arts...something every state should investigate and, quite frankly, legislate.

Sphere: Related Content