From the National Governors Association to the White House, the economic impact of the creative industries is being recognized and optimized.
A new administration is in the White House and policies, pending and requested, for the support and optimization of the creative industries, are flowing.
Robin Pogrebin writes in her recent New York Times article, Arts Leaders Urge Role for Culture in Economic Recovery, “the American Recovery and Reinvestment bill, approved last week by the House Appropriations Committee, includes a $50 million supplement for the N.E.A. to distribute directly to nonprofit arts organizations and also through state and local arts agencies.”
As Jack Dew recently noted in the Berkshire Eagle, for the Berkshires this allocation “could translate to increased grants for Berkshires institutions from Mass MoCA in North Adams to Jacob’s Pillow in Becket.”
Pogrebin describes Obama as “One of the few candidates with an arts platform, he called for a young “artist corps” to work in low-income schools and neighborhoods; affordable health care and tax benefits for artists; and efforts at cultural diplomacy, like dispatching artist-ambassadors to other countries.”
Pogrebin also writes that “the president is considering the establishment of an arts-and-culture portfolio within the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, according to Bill Ivey, who served as the administration’s transition-team leader for the arts and humanities, including the future of the N.E.A., the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.”
In addition to the acknowledgment of the importance of the arts, the use of the creative sector as a development tool (already well recognized in the Berkshires) is gaining prominence. John Thomasian, director of the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices said of a recently released report, Using Arts and Culture to Stimulate State Economic Development, “Leveraging a state’s creative industries can be a valuable asset and play a meaningful role in state long-run economic strategies….As cited in this report, many states have found ways to harness the economic benefits the arts and culture sector can have on a region.”
The ground swell of acknowledgment, does not stop there. Pogrebin writes “Some cultural figures have even been calling for a cabinet-level arts czar. In a radio interview last fall on WNYC’s ‘Soundcheck,’ the music impresario Quincy Jones said that when he next spoke to Mr. Obama he would ‘beg for a secretary of arts’ along the lines of the culture ministers in many European countries. His comment inspired an online petition that now has more than 199,500 signatures.” Click here to view the petition!
Click here to read the full New York Times Article!
Click here to read the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices Using Arts and Culture to Stimulate State Economic Development report!
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