Donna Collins
For many individuals outside the circle of arts advocacy and arts policy there seems to be a recurring question: What is the role of the arts in job creation, economic sustainability, and the quality of life of our citizenry? The dollar, and not the soul, seems to be at the core of the discussion. I dare say you can’t have one without the other.
My knee jerk response to such queries is to shout from the rafters that by investing in the arts and incorporating arts and culture into every economic development plan, the yield will be abundant benefits to our economic, social, civic, and cultural vibrancy. The significance of the arts allows a community to generate an increasingly stable and creative workforce, new and increased tourism, fiscal infusion, and more sustainable neighborhoods.
Communities of varying scale can employ the arts to bolster their economies in myriad ways. Upfront investment in arts marketing and arts education will yield generational wealth which can be measured through metrics of the economy and education.
A primary element in the conversation is the importance of collaboration. We must engage, with good faith, in expanding the discourse and richness of the arts. Finding like-minded, and the not-so-like-minded, people to come to the conversation creates a real dialogue. This collaboration acts as an incubator of information resulting in a more informed public. We will be richly rewarded when we identify new partners, share material resources and intellectual talent, and harvest from other productive initiatives.
Essential aspects of collaboration are leadership and input from interested parties, agreement on a clear vision, and a highly visible campaign involving groups across a community, including policy-makers.
The pivotal role of leveraging the collaboration beyond the input stage and into action will take the heart and soul of many leaders. If the goal is to support job creation, economic sustainability, and the quality of life, we must strengthen the creative industries in every community.
We live in a time of great abundance. If we think with a prosperity mindset, we can scaffold, strengthen, and practice fostering private and public collaborations. Those among us with a passion for developing incentives and policies, targeted for the arts and culture sectors, have the propensity to change the world.
A major piece omitted from many arts leveraging plans is entrepreneurial training, marketing programs, and decisive use of the intellectual wealth of universities and colleges training the ‘creatives’ among us.
An illustration of commerce, intellectual agency, and collaboration in action is evident in the work of Denny Griffith, (President) and Kevin J. Colon, (Vice President of Academic Affairs), and their colleagues at the Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) in Columbus, Ohio. The stakeholders at CCAD understand all too well the fundamental intrinsic and extrinsic values realized from art and entrepreneurship working in tandem to directly inform the future of our society.
CCAD has this remarkable program called the MindMarket. The MindMarket is an incubator where students’ work to develop skills, while realizing an appreciation for/from new ideas and intellectual property. This enhancement of learning contributes to the overall value of the Central Ohio region and beyond.
This kind of work leads to the establishment and growth of creative companies. With initiatives like the MindMarket, CCAD can contribute to our creative economy in a way that can be measured in real dollars (in fact, literally trillions of them). This program offers something to the students and the Columbus community that is tangible and essential – the leveraging of the arts to gain a competitive edge in business.
So the simple answer to the question about the role of the arts in job creation, economic sustainability, and the quality of life of our citizenry is the dollar and the soul. Working in tandem financial and human resources bring a higher quality of life, vibrant arts, arts education for all kids, and places where everyone wants to live and play, including me!
Donna S. Collins is Americans for the Arts’ 2014 Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award Honoree. Every year, we honors individuals, organizations, and programs committed to enriching their communities through the arts at our Annual Convention in Nashville, June 12-15th. This week, we are featuring a series of blogs by our award recipients on their projects or an arts policy issue of their choice. Follow the tag Annual Awards 2014!
