Want more government support? Ask for some in-kindness

Over the past two years, Arts Build Communities has been interviewing local cultural professionals to find out what works in getting communities to be more supportive of the arts.


Not surprisingly, it's hard to get direct financial support from local governments, unless they have a history of supporting the arts.  But in-kind support can be easier to get.  The types of in-kind support that some municipalities in New Jersey provide include:


*Promotional support for local arts activities through official newsletters and websites
*Low lease rates or donations of unused government facilities.  In one case, a local arts group got an old boathouse that they turned into a gallery.  In another case, a local arts group got office space in an underused municipal building.
*The addition of an arts facility on a government's insurance policy.

(Because the comments were made in focus groups or interviews in which we offered confidentiality, we are not going to reveal the names of these communities.)

It is easier to ask for in-kind support because, as one cultural professional put it, these kinds of requests tend to "fly under the radar" in public meetings where budget line items are challenged or defended.

Easier doesn't always mean easy. Success in getting any support depends on the kind of relationships the local arts community and local arts organizations have with local officials and the communities they care most about.  (Yes, it all comes back to having good relationships with the most influential people.)

If you manage an arts organization, think about all of the administrative costs your organization faces.  What would you like your local government to help with?

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

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NEA report on creative placemaking offers good ideas for cultural professionals and artists

Creative Placemaking is an interesting and informative white paper from the Mayors Institute for City Design at the National Endowment for the Arts.  Cultural professionals, civic-minded artists, economic development professionals and urban planners can get a lot of good ideas from it.  But be careful when reading it.

The authors highlight impressive numbers to show the benefits of arts-based community and economic development.  They talk about the key ingredients to be successful at creative placemaking.  And they tell inspiring stories of wonderful projects and places.

You might think that creative placemaking would be easy.   After all, the numbers should speak for themselves. If you put the ingredients together, good things should happen.  Other places did it, and from what's in the stories, it doesn't seem that hard to repeat their successes, no?

Unfortunately, no.  Creative placemaking -- like any kind of community and economic development -- takes patience, persistence, commitment and adaptation. People who are otherwise reasonable may seem irrational when you just show numbers.  There is no paint-by-numbers approach to placemaking that works for everyone. (In fact, placemaking is like painting on a moving canvas with paints that fade and blend in ways you can't predict.)  Short success stories tend to be glossy.  Even when they're not, the combination of things that worked for one place won't automatically work for another.

Placemaking is rarely as easy or as fast as it seems in the slide shows and success stories.  But if you're willing to share the time, energy, resources and credit -- and you're willing to be both grounded and flexible -- you'll be more likely to succeed.

Arts Build Communities in partnership with the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program offers courses in creative placemaking.  These courses help you learn skills and get deeper insights into how places connect the arts with community and economic development.  You can earn a Bloustein Professional Certificate in Cultural Planning and Development.  All of these can help you influence leaders and lawmakers, artists and economic developers.

Upcoming courses in the Cultural Planning and Development track include:

• Building Creative Communities
• Building Sustainable Creative Communities
• Programming Cultural Uses
• Cultural Heritage Tourism

To learn more about these classes, visit the BOCEP course catalog.  

You can learn more about Arts Build Communities (and join our mailing list) here

Oh, and you probably also want to read Creative Placemaking.  

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

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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.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

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.

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The arts: business sector, infrastructure or social good?

In one of the most artsy towns in one of the most artsy areas of New Jersey, the South Orange Performing Arts Center is struggling to pay back a $3.9 million loan to the township. One South Orange official openly questioned whether SOPAC will ever be able to pay back its debt.  This author has heard SOPAC called a failure.

South Orange Performing Arts Center

Well, that depends on how you look at it. As a business, SOPAC is not doing well, and might not for years to come.  (The "bad economy" argument is not compelling.  While we might expect subscriptions and donations to go down, local theaters should be a more attractive alternative to those who want to enjoy performances and save money.)

On the other hand, there are plenty more stores and restaurants in South Orange Village than were there in 2005, a year before SOPAC opened.  (In other words, there were more places to shop, eat and visit in the worst years of this recession than there were in the best years before the crash.)

And SOPAC adds several benefits for South Orange and surrounding communities: A large event space, more opportunities to highlight community and student performers in a professional setting, and more choices for movies -- all within walking distance of the train.

So the question for South Orange and other communities looking to the arts for community and economic development is:  Should an arts center be considered a business sector, infrastructure or a social good?

The answer can help determine whether a municipality supports the arts, or just allows it to happen.  The answer also can help officials decide whether arts activities supported by communities should be managed by economic development, community development, or parks and recreation agencies.

If the arts are just another business sector, then a community should judge their success by their return on investment to the public.  Nonprofit institutions don't pay property taxes, but they can give a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT).  Community leaders should negotiate for a PILOT that covers the center's share of municipal services, plus extra to make up for the fact that a tax-paying business could be on the site.  If, as in the case of South Orange, the community invests in a center, the community should demand that the center generate as much revenue as possible.  But the center should be free to charge as much as the market will bear, without any consideration for community arts or events that wouldn't bring in much revenue.

If the arts are seen as community infrastructure -- like a road or a storm drain system -- then their success should be measured in how many businesses, revenue-generating development or self-supporting residents it attracts and supports.   To make it work financially, communities could support the arts with some of the revenue that would be generated by new development.  That's what Rahway did in March, when its City Council unanimously approved an $8.5 million bond to propel its growing arts district.

It can make sense to take on this much debt for large projects that generate enough revenue to pay back their costs  That's why tax increment financing is successful around the country.  (In New Jersey, it's known as a Revenue Allocation District.)  But there are other ways to support small initiatives.  Governments could reserve a portion of the added tax revenues or fees that come about because of the arts.  Or perhaps Special Improvement Districts could dedicate a percentage to the arts from the revenues they receive from restaurants, shops and other businesses that benefit from all the people coming to enjoy the arts -- then staying to shop and eat.

Under the infrastructure scenario, cultural organizations and artists that receive support should be encouraged -- if not obligated -- to promote local businesses and projects who can bring more revenue to the municipality.

A third option is to see the arts like parks -- an overall benefit to society that are not expected to pay for themselves. School-based  and community arts programs, small community theaters and the like are probably not going to be self-supporting over the long term. (Especially not in north and central Jersey, where there are so many options for arts lovers.)

In this view, the community supports the arts through its property taxes or other fees. As with other social goods, measures of success include the number of people served and how those people feel they benefit from the arts.

The responsibility of cultural organizations and artists in this scenario would be to serve as many people as possible, and especially those who do not have as much access to art.

The three options are not mutually exclusive.  Larger cities like Newark and Jersey City might be able to do all three.  But in smaller communities like South Orange and Rahway, the choices are more difficult.

By choosing among these options, community and cultural leaders can make better choices about how public resources should be spent, and reduce the type of controversy now facing initiatives like the South Orange Performing Arts Center.

 Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

For more on the SOPAC struggles, see this report in NJ.com


For more on Rahway's support for the arts, see this report in NJ.com

Photo credit: David Gard, New Jersey Local News Service.  The image was published in NJ.com on October 10, 2010.

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Opportunities for New Jersey arts in a cloudy economy

Unless you're heavily in the stock market, the economic headlines haven' shown much good news over the past few months.  But a closer look shows some positive signs that offer good opportunities for the arts.

(We'll go through the math first, then answer the "so what" questions.)

The United States lost 95,000 jobs in September 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Most of that was in government services.  The total number of jobs in the United States between September 2009 and 2010 is about the same:  (129.9 million in 2009 compared to 130.2 million in 2010*)

The leisure and hospitality industry, where the arts are counted, tell a different story.

Between September 2009 and September 2010, there has been growth in performing arts and spectator sports. The number of employees in these organizations grew 5.8%, from 401.3 thousand to 424.8 thousand.  Around the same time, the number of people working in the arts, entertainment and recreation field in New Jersey grew 5.5%, from 53.3 thousand to 58.9 thousand.  (The Jersey numbers are from August 09 to August 10. The information is from the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development).  In an earlier post, I wrote that wages among independent writers, performers and artists and in the performing arts in New Jersey were better than they were in 2006.   

The specific numbers aren't as important as the trends. But hold on to the numbers for when you're trying to persuade elected officials, business people and investors.

What does this tell us?
1. That more money is being spent for entertainment and cultural activities.  How much is being spent for each?  Hard to know, but it's not mission-critical information.  There are lot of people who enjoy sports, recreation and cultural activities.
2. Businesses and organizations in arts, entertainment and recreation may be more confident.  Usually, organizations and firms hire people when they believe they will have enough money to pay them.

More money is also being spent on hotels, restaurants and drinking establishments.  Across the country, employment in these businesses grew from 11.16 million in September 2009 to 11.24 million in September 2010, an increase of 83.3 thousand (.7%).

Why is this happening?
Since 2001, and especially in the last few years, more Americans have been taking shorter trips.  The week in Europe in some cases is being replaced by a few weekend trips, or multiple daytrips.  People making these choices are looking for new experiences. (They're creative people; they get bored doing the same thing over and over again.)  That helps explain why places like Frenchtown, New Brunswick, Millville and Asbury Park are becoming go-to places for cultural visitors.

While New Jersey doesn't have the mystical qualities or 'holy cow' natural features of New Mexico or northern Arizona, or the cool mountain chic of western North Carolina, we have more diversity than either of those places.  That means that Jersey communities can offer a lot of different experiences close by.

So what should you do with this information?

• If you're in the arts, let officials and business leaders in your community know that you're part of a growing industry.
  
• If you're an elected or appointed official who wants to support the arts, here are some good talking points for the next Chamber of Commerce meeting or sit-down with developers.
  
• If you're a developer or restaurateur, or are in the hospitality field, connect to local arts organizations, such as arts councils, or county offices of cultural and heritage affairs.  (Every county in New Jersey has one).  Most economic impact studies of the arts find that people tend to spend between between $10 and $40 per person above and beyond a ticket price.  The closer you are to the arts district or the performing arts center, the more likely you are to get the types of customers and guests who can afford to go out to cultural events.

Everybody from the state to the local level should be helping make New Jersey a better place to visit and stay in for the arts.  Discover Jersey Arts is leading this information statewide.  They -- and you -- can benefit by supporting their work, especially if you're in the arts.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP   

Arts Build Communities helps leaders of New Jersey's communities and cultural organizations make more informed decisions to promote sustainability and prosperity through the arts.  ABC offers research, continuing education and technical assistance. Learn more...

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Employment data shows promising news about New Jersey arts in the recession

There's some interesting numbers that indicate that the creative sector might be doing better in the recession than other sectors.

Data from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development show that total wages were higher among independent artists, writers and performers (and their employees) and workers in performing arts companies in 2009 than they were in 2006.  Total wages for workers in museums and similar institutions is nearly what it was in 2006.

If the creative sector was suffering as much as other sectors in the recession, we would expect to see total wages go down.  That's what we see in construction (20% drop), manufacturing (16% drop) and finance and insurance (8% drop).

In fact, the average number of employees in the performing arts has grown by 233, or 12%, between 2006 and 2009.  The average number of people working as or for independent artists, writers and performers went down almost 16%, from 1,490 to 1,258.

These shafts of light don't show the whole picture of the creative sector.  But because independent artists, performing arts companies and museums are key parts of the creative sector, they are important indicators for the creative economy.  (We probably won't get today's picture until 2012, when the US Census Bureau releases detailed information through the County Business Patterns database.)

The numbers indicate that there might be a growing demand for the arts and the work of artists from New Jersey.  Businesses usually pay their employees more only if they are generating more income, or if they are confident that business conditions are getting better.   The fact that there are fewer independent artists, writers and performers collectively making more money indicates that at least some of those who stayed in the business were doing better in 2009 than they were in 2006.

There needs to be more research to know why these fields are doing well -- or why there are more people working in the performing arts, but fewer working as or for independent artists, writers and performers.  For example, is the rise in total wages among independents mostly because New Jersey artists are doing better, or because more successful artists have moved into New Jersey over the past few years?

Here is what the numbers show, in 2009 dollars:
Performing arts organizations:
*Total wages in second quarter of 2006: $14.7 million
*Total wages in second quarter of 2009: $16.4 million
Change in total wages: 11.6%

Independent artists, writers and performers:
*Total wages in fourth quarter of 2006: $19.4 million
*Total wages in fourth quarter of 2009: $20.8 million
Change in total wages: 7.2%

Museums, historical sites and similar institutions:
*Total wages in fourth quarter of 2006: $13.4 million
*Total wages in fourth quarter of 2009: $13.1 million
Change in total wages: -2.2%

If you'd like to check out more numbers, please see the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development's report on New Jersey Employment and Wages Covered by Unemployment.  To compare 2006 and 2009 wages, multiply the 2006 numbers by 1.06 to make them equal to 2009 dollars.

--Leonardo  Vazquez, AICP/PP

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Arts Build Communities and Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program have teamed up to offer a set of courses on cultural planning and development.  If you want to do more than hear other people's stories and see nice pictures, take a Deep Learning course.  You can learn how to make communities stronger and more prosperous through the arts.  Classes run from September 2010 to July 2011.  Learn more...

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New Jersey's creative sector workforce grew in past decade, but did not keep pace with rest of US

Over the past decade, the number of people working in New Jersey’s creative sector grew, but didn’t keep pace with the growth in the creative sector around the country. Unlike the steady growth in New Jersey’s creative sector establishments between 1998 and 2007, the number of creative sector workers has risen or dropped in waves, from a low of less than 143,000 in 1999 to a high of more than 156,000 in 2005. Most of the growth over the past decade has been in self-employed creative sector workers.  This is according to a new report on the creative sector workforce in New Jersey by Arts Build Communities.

Key findings of the report include:

• Between 1998 and 2007, the number of  creative sector workers grew from 143,329 to 149,227, a difference of 5,898, or 4%. During that same period, the number of creative sector workers in the United States grew 10%, from 4.31 million to 4.75 million.
  
• The growth in the creative sector in New Jersey lagged behind overall employment growth in New Jersey, which grew nearly 11%, from 3.83 million to 4.25 million between 1998 and 2007.2 Creative sector workers account for less than 4% of New Jersey’s workers.
  
• Self-employed workers account for the greatest  growth in New Jersey’s creative sector. In fact, if it wasn’t for self-employed artists, writers and other creative professionals, there would have been a slight decrease in the number and percentage of creative sector workers between 1998 and 2007.
  
• On average, there were about 147,000 people per year working in New Jersey’s creative sector. Like an ocean tide, the number of creative sector workers rose and fell annually, sometimes sharply. The creative sector workforce grew by as much as 6% one year and dropped by as much as 7%. Employment was lowest in 1999, at 142,854, and peaked at 156,185 in 2005.
  
• The size of New Jersey’s creative sector workforce fluctuated more sharply than the US creative sector workforce. For example, in 2000, the US creative sector workforce grew by 3%. In New Jersey, there was a 6% growth. In 2002, the US creative sector workforce dropped by 4%. In New Jersey, there was a 7% drop.
  
• The counties with the highest number of employees  per year are Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex and Morris. The counties with the lowest number of workers per year are Salem, Cumberland, Cape May, Warren and Sussex.
  
• The counties with the largest increase in workers  per year are Middlesex, Essex, Monmouth, Somerset and Gloucester.
  
• Although about half of New Jersey’s creative sector workforce was in the counties closest to New York, the fastest rate of growth was in the western and southern counties. The counties with the highest average rate of growth are Salem, Gloucester and Sussex. At the opposite end of the scale are Morris and Union counties, which had the highest average rate of decline in creative sector workers.
  
• The counties with largest decrease in employees per year are Morris, Union, Atlantic, Burlington and Hudson.
  
• The 31% growth in creative sector businesses (including self-employed businesses) between 1998 and 2007 has far outpaced the 4% growth in workers. This means that the creative sector landscape is getting more crowded with competing micro-entrepreneurs and tiny organizations.

To learn more and find out about the implications of this research for elected officials, public administrators, urban planners, economic development professionals and cultural professionals, read the full report.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

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