Art Fuels the Economy: When numbers aren’t enough, what is?
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 by Lucinda M. Dugger
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We know that art fuels the economy. We can see it in the numbers: Across the nation, the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $166.2 billion in economic activity every year. Statistics also show that the copyright industries add an estimated $1.38 trillion to the U.S. economy each year.
Towns and cities across the country have long understood this. They have used art as a tool for revitalization and local economic development. Artists are eager to move into affordable areas that seem a little edgy. They create an interesting, attractive culture for arts patrons, who in turn invest money into housing, restaurants, and shops.
City officials have capitalized on arts as an economic development tool, and some have implemented formal arts development programs. Cities like New York City’s SoHo; Chicago, Illinois; Lansing, Michigan; and Paducah, Kentucky have seen economic growth due to either artist inspired movements or city official implemented programs.
Some towns, however, have seen great success – with big return numbers – by using the arts to revitalize the area. But, for whatever reason, this is not enough.
There is a debate waging in North Adams, a small town of 13,000 people in the Northwestern corner of Massachusetts, over how valuable the city’s contemporary art museum, MASS MoCA, is to the town. Built in abandoned factory buildings in 1999 in a dying post-industrial town, MASS MoCA has become a world-renowned contemporary art museum.
I had a chance to visit the museum shortly after it opened when I lived in Boston. Though the town at the time had a lot of small town charm potential, there were few shops and restaurants. Quite frankly, I had a hard time understanding why such a cutting-edge, amazing art museum would choose this sleepy off-the-path town. But, as the museum gears up for its tenth anniversary, numbers show how it has impacted North Adams.
One study measuring MASS MoCA’s economic impact found an increase in the number of jobs since it opened, along with higher property values and tax revenue. It’s pumping $14 million a year into area hotels, restaurants and shops. After a decade of operating in the red, Director Joe Thompson says MASS MoCA is seeing more than 110,000 visitors annually, and the museum is finally making money.
However, some residents, a mayoral candidate, and some state officials wonder why the city’s old factories are dedicated to art. Some want manufacturing back in the buildings (to build what, I wonder) while others complain that the “MASS MoCA effect” is not truly effective and over-touted.
When numbers aren’t enough, what will encourage people to understand the value that the arts bring to their lives and to their communities? Are old, empty factory buildings better than an art museum? If the dollars don’t speak, what will?
