Getting more community support for the arts: Lessons learned

What works better at persuading leaders and communities to support the arts? Over this past year, Arts Build Communities explored this question by interviewing and surveying dozens of public affairs professionals, urban planners, cultural professionals, artists and elected officials in New Jersey. Here is what we learned:

• Understand why some leaders and communities are resistant to supporting the arts. Do they think the arts will help their communities? What are their concerns about the arts or artists? If they support the arts in principle, why are they reluctant to provide more resources to the arts? Before you make your pitch, stop, look and listen.
• Use statistics that focus on the economic impact of arts and the impact to children. There are a lot of resources on the economic and social value of the arts. Every one wants a healthy economy and parents want their children to have the best opportunities possible. I recommend starting your search at ArtPride New Jersey or the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
(Full disclosure: Arts Build Communities receives funding form the Council on the Arts and ArtPride New Jersey is on the Arts Build Communities Council.)
• Talk about the impacts at a local level. The arts have enormous economic impact on our states and regions. But the numbers tend to be so large that they can be difficult for people to visualize in the economy. (Unfortunately, most economic impact reports don’t compare the arts to other industries or the overall economy in a state. So readers don’t know how significant X million is to the economy.) And unless you’re in an arts destination or a big city, there probably are no reports talking about the impact in your town. That can get skeptics to say something like “well it may be good for them, but not for us.” In this case, talk about the research for the Americans from the Arts showing that on average, those who take part in an arts event tend to spend an additional $20 to $40 per person in town. Since every retailer now competes with online stores, the arts provide free marketing and shoppers to them.
• Make the arts more visible to leaders and communities. How many creative sector establishments are in your town – museums, art galleries, artists’ studios, architecture firms, etc? You might be surprised how many there are – and so would the people you’re trying to persuade.
• Get leaders outside of the arts to be champions for the arts. Chamber of Commerce professionals, realtors, the woman that everyone talks to at Town Hall, or whoever you know that is influential with leaders and communities. Some people have such deep-rooted stereotypes about the arts and artists that no cultural professional would be able to persuade them. But they’re more willing to listen to people they trust.
• Be persistent and show strength in numbers. Arts advocates should be going to the meetings of their elected officials and other places where they can be seen by leaders and the communities the advocates are trying to persuade. Be patient, it can take years to change some minds.
• Artists should build relationships and help civic organizations outside of the arts. When these organizations – and their leaders – see that artists bring added value to them, they will be more likely to support the arts.

In 2010, Arts Build Communities will continue to interview cultural professionals, urban planners and public affairs professionals, elected officials and business people to find what works better for sustaining the creative sector in New Jersey.

To learn more or get updates about our work, please visit http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/tli/abc

Arts Build Communities is a joint production of the Professional Development Institute and The Leading Institute at Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. You can learn more at http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/tli

Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP