“Our Town” Proposes to Boost Local Economy

By: Rebecca Friedman

Washington, D.C.—The National Endowment for the Arts proposed in their Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Request a new program that will revitalize the arts industry in local communities while at the same time increase their economy.

The new program entitled “Our Town” has a projected cost of $ 5 million. In its proposal, the NEA stated that “Our Town” would help “to revitalize and improve the livability of communities, provide joy and inspiration, and restore a sense of pride and community spirit.”

“We have requested five million to make approximately thirty-two grants,” Victoria Hutter, a spokesperson for the NEA, said.

The communities that would be focused on are “communities of all sizes and locations…especially those that are facing economic challenges but are interested in the arts,” according to the NEA’s budget proposal. The communities that the NEA will bestow grants must meet three factors. They must have partnerships with public industries, such as libraries, and private industries, such as community organizations. The second factor is public engagement. Communities whose ability to have the arts in their towns, are limited “by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability,” will be considered. The last factor is durability. The town must demonstrate the lasting impact of the grant.

One of the resources the NEA used for its analysis was a report done by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. The report entitled, “2009 Arts & the Economy: Using Arts and Culture to Stimulate State Economic Development,” laid out how “creative industries” could stimulate a community’s economy.

“The most important thing is to understand what creative industries are,” Erin Sparks, a writer and editor for the 2009 report, said.

Sparks explained that there is more to the creative industries than just music and theatre. Architecture and museums can be counted in the creative industry spectrum. This is seen when a city or town’s downtown area uses architecture to renovate the area. A nice downtown “leads to a thriving community and economy,” said Sparks.

The question is how much economic growth can a city actually achieve?

According to Sparks, “Economic growth comes from new businesses. ” Creative industries do not seem to have any economic growth “cap” because new businesses “spur growth by their very nature,” Sparks said.

A city in Missouri is currently working on a program that fits right into “Our Town”

In February 2010 a group in Joplin, Missouri proposed an idea called “Connect2Culture. This program would be used for “encouraging growth and development…that enhances the arts, education, and the economy,” Clifford Wert, a co-chair on the Connect2Culture committee said.

Joplin has a population of less than 50,000, but with the Connect2Culture program, Wert hopes to attract upwards of 250,000 people on a daily basis. To do this, the Connect2Culture program would build a cultural arts center in the downtown area.

This center would stimulate Joplin’s economy in multiple ways: tourism, additional sales tax revenue and increase property value, just to name a few.

Wert notes that economic growth is one of the main goals of Connect2Cutlure. “We view this as a definite boost to out market economy.”

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