Diversity creates more opportunities for New Jersey arts
To cultural visitors, Northern New Mexico is known for its connections to the Pueblo people and colonial Spanish heritage. Western North Carolina has a mountain crafts chic. South Florida has a subtropical, Caribbean vibe. What's Jersey's "brand" as an arts market?
I don't know either. Nestled between two of the biggest arts cities in the country, New Jersey faces both major challenges and opportunities. The biggest challenge is distinguishing the arts in the state's communities and regions from that in New York City and Philadelphia. A big opportunity is the wide range of diversity in such a small area.
New Jersey is more diverse in more ways than most other areas of the United States. From most parts of the Garden State, you are within an hour of both a historic, international city and a classic American farm. New Jersey is one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the country. Millions of people with ties to dozens of countries live in the state. According to the American Community Survey, an estimated 97% of the state's population reported having ancestries other than "American."
Some other good reasons to build on the state's diversity: Buying power in New Jersey grew more than 19% in the last 10 years, and a big part of the growth is from the multicultural economy (African-Americans, Latinos and anyone else not considered ethnically "White." ) Buying power is the amount of money available after taxes. According to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia, ethnic minorities in the New Jersey hold about $109 billion in buying power -- about 27% of the $399 billion in buying power in the state.
Latinos in New Jersey have about $39 billion in buying power -- about 10% of the state total -- and their buying power has increased by nearly 58% since 2000. African-Americans control about $32 billion, and their buying power has increased by nearly 14%. Asian-Americans hold about $30 billion in buying power, and their buying power has increased by about 55%. Non-Hispanic Whites still hold the most amount of buying power -- $290 billion -- but the increase there is less than 8%. (The changes reported account for inflation).
More than 371,000 minority households in New Jersey have incomes of more than $75,000; nearly 244,000 have incomes of more than $100,000, according to the most recent American Community Survey estimate.
These kinds of numbers create real opportunities for small and mid-sized communities to get more involved with the creative economy. In older industrial communities like Paterson, Perth Amboy and Camden, the arts can play a bigger role in their economic development strategies.
Even in Essex County, one of the busiest arts areas in New Jersey (Think about Newark, Montclair, Maplewood, Orange and South Orange) diversity creates opportunities. With its large West Indian and Black population, East Orange could focus on Afro-Caribbean arts. About 15% of New Jersey's population has Italian ancestry. Imagine an Italian-American arts and heritage trail along Bloomfield Avenue from North Newark to West Caldwell.
But if these and other communities want to make this happen, they should plan to work for it. It would be a mistake to expect that a group of artists by themselves will create an arts environment that attracts visitors and supports businesses. It might happen, but probably won't. Communities that help local artists are likely to be more successful sooner than those that don't.
While arts communities compete with one another for artists and visitors, having more arts districts and communities benefits everyone. The more different types of arts activities and experiences there are, the longer visitors will stay and the more artists a region will attract. More people and more artists can bring even more people and more artists. All that means more money going into and staying in a region. The longer people stay, the more likely they are to buy food and gifts and rent hotel rooms. Tourists who enjoy the arts tend to be wealthier, spend more and stay longer than other types of visitors. In Santa Fe, Asheville and other places, arts and cultural activities attract buyers of second and retirement homes. (In other words, people who pay property taxes but don't have children in the school system.)
In other words: More arts can lead to more prosperity, even for people who have no connection to the arts. New Jersey's diversity not only creates more opportunities for more communities, it creates the potential to generate more distinct and distinctive art.
Arts Build Communities offers several courses and events to help communities make better decisions in connecting the arts with community and economic development. See upcoming classes here. Read more...
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