Author: Peck, Robert A.

Publication Year: 1981

Media Type: Book

Summary:

Paper presented at Conference on the Economic Impact of the Arts, sponsored by Cornell University, Graduate School of Business and Public Administration, held in Ithaca, New York, May 27-28, 1981.

Abstract:

Paper presented at Conference on the Economic Impact of the Arts, sponsored by Cornell University, Graduate School of Business and Public Administration, held in Ithaca, New York, May 27-28, 1981.

Discussions of the arts and economic development have typically centered on the contributions the arts can make to local prosperity. Proponents of the arts attribute increases in local employment and spending to artists and arts institutions. They describe how the arts have catalyzed local development by drawing people downtown, prompting the revitalization and redevelopment of neglected neighborhoods. They show how the arts attract industry to metropolitan areas. If the arts share in the bounty of new growth, they usually do so either through government or business support provided to encourage development or through increased size and affluence of audiences.

But there is another way the arts can benefit from the prosperity they help generate. Strategies for using the arts as catalysts are linked to the physical arenas in which artistic activities occur - museums, theatres, concert halls, conservatories. By undertaking or fostering commercial and residential development on their own property, cultural institutions can increase their share of profits from local growth. Moreover, mixed-use cultural projects may be more effective catalysts for development than single-use projects. Even for arts institutions in flourishing areas, mixed-use development may furnish an attractive source of revenue. (p. 66-75)

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Cultural Facilities