News |
Supporting the Arts Is Good Business
February 2007
By Dee Reid, member of the ChathamArts
Advisory Board
originally published in the Chatham
County Line, February 2007
Vance and Joyce Remick "got it"when they filled their General Store Café with local art and live music. Pittsboro Mayor Randy Voller got it, too, when he displayed Bynum artist Clyde Jones’ work in front of Town Hall, and when he and his wife Lesley Landis asked artist Eric Davis to create a mosaic-tile masterpiece for a new terrace at their real estate office in Chatham Forest.
Tom Roberts also got it when he allowed Ellen Bland to stage "Millworker" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" at historic Chatham Mills in Pittsboro. Melissa Frey got it when Chatham Marketplace sponsored poetry slams.
Lyle Estill and Tami Schwerin got it, too, when they displayed art all over Piedmont Biofuels’ site and invited an aerial dancer and local musicians to promotional parties at the plant. And R.B. Fitch got it when he installed sculptures along walkways and sponsored folk-art shows, dances, plays and literary readings at Fearrington Village.
What each of these local entrepreneurs "got" is a fundamental tenet of economic development: Supporting and promoting the arts is good for the artists and good for business. While enhancing the aesthetic appeal of our community, the arts also increase commerce. In fact, the arts have gradually put Chatham on the map as a new destination for out-of-town tourists and shoppers, and may be the secret weapon for downtown revitalization in Pittsboro and Siler City.
It all began 14 years ago with the annual Chatham Studio Tour, which now draws hordes of visitors to the county each December to spend thousands of dollars on art, as well as food, gas and lodging along the way.
ChathamArts and the Chatham Artist Guild have laid the foundation for newer cultural events to serve as additional magnets for commerce. Now the Shakori Hills Grassroots Music Festivals in Silk Hope, Folk Art Shows in Fearrington, and ClydeFest and First Sundays in Pittsboro draw thousands of tourists to Chatham each year.
In addition to these special events, the arts are breathing new life into our historic downtowns every week. In Pittsboro alone there are three art galleries: ChathamArts, Side Street and the Fusions Glass Gallery, whose customers also frequent local shops and eateries when they browse for art. Live music regularly draws crowds into the Scoreboard Grill and the General Store Café. And the N.C. Arts Incubator and streetscape murals are drawing new visitors to downtown Siler City.
Arts organizations generate about $723 million in annual revenues for North Carolina, about 6,700 full-time jobs and $32 million in federal and state taxes, according to a 2004 Economic Impact Study conducted for the NC Arts Council.
Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, argues that a vibrant arts scene is crucial for communities like Chatham that wish to attract clean knowledge-based businesses, whose employees expect to have access to cultural and recreational activities.
So, what’s next if Chatham wants to significantly increase the role of arts in economic development?
An important first step is to cooperate with neighbors like Orange County, where tourism contributed $127 million to the local economy last year. About 100 artists, volunteers and public officials – including a healthy contingent from Chatham – gathered at the Arts Center in Carrboro in January to discuss how to increase the synergy between the arts and economic development to benefit the region spanning Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Pittsboro. Center Director Jon Wilner asked the group to envision ways to increase business in the area by 25%, by coordinating, packaging and promoting a series of arts events to tourists across the nation, as Bucks County, Pa., did through its annual "Buck’s Fever" performances and exhibitions. Wilner's group, called Culture Shock, is eager to hear from Chatham arts advocates and elected officials.
Meanwhile, ChathamArts is planning to support more local art in public spaces through ventures with county and local government and business groups such as the Pittsboro Merchants Association. Plans call for handcrafted benches downtown and art exhibits at government and business sites, schools, parks and residential neighborhoods.
If Chatham really wants to revitalize downtown Pittsboro, it needs an Arts and Cultural Center like the one that just opened in Holly Springs. How about a facility with a first-rate theatre so that directors like Ellen Bland would have a place to rehearse and stage productions throughout the year? It could also include a multi-purpose space for art and history exhibits, films, readings, concerts, dance and fundraising events, and arts classes.
This should be a non-profit, public-private partnership, supported by a combination of state, county and local government funds, foundation grants, corporate and individual gifts, bank loans, office and studio rental fees, exhibit commissions, and event ticket sales. Economic development officials should be reminded that, beyond the price of tickets to arts events, audiences typically spend nearly $23 per person on related businesses, such as restaurants, gas and souvenirs, according to the N.C. Arts Council.
Our County Commissioners are studying new ways to enhance economic development for all of Chatham County. This is a good opportunity to let them know that the arts are an important part of the infrastructure needed to re-energize our downtowns and attract clean business and industry to the county.
– Dee Reid can be reached at dee@chathamcommunity.com.