Author: Cwi, David

Publication Year: 1979

Media Type: Book

Summary:

Support for the arts by cities across the has evolved historically out of a sense that the arts are a good thing for a community to have and important to the quality of life. Typically, cities came to support museums and the performing arts as much by chance as by design. In many cases, individuals have left endowments, collections, or facilities in the city's care, and the city has simply responded to this civic generosity rather than planned for arts development.

Abstract:

Paper presented at First International Conference on Arts and Economics, sponsored by the Association for Cultural Economics, held in Edinburgh, Scotland, August 8-10, 1979. Comment by Virginia Lee Owen appears on p. 316-317. Comment by J. Mark Davidson Schuster appears on p. 318.

Support for the arts by cities across the has evolved historically out of a sense that the arts are a good thing for a community to have and important to the quality of life. Typically, cities came to support museums and the performing arts as much by chance as by design. In many cases, individuals have left endowments, collections, or facilities in the city's care, and the city has simply responded to this civic generosity rather than planned for arts development.

As we enter the 1980s, communities are under increasing pressure to provide necessary services and support meritorious activities, such as the arts, that have historically been funded by the private (nonprofit) sector. At the same time, policymakers are aware of the increased necessity to plan for multiple objectives. Activities and programs that were once viewed in complete isolation now must be understood in terms of the contribution they can make to a community's broader objectives, including economic development and community revitalization.

Arts advocates have welcomed this perspective. Believing the arts to be desirable in and of themselves, advocates also claim that arts activities and institutions can contribute to community revitalization, retaining and attracting business, expanding the local tax base, increasing the number and improving the quality of jobs, and increasing the number of tourists and other consumers. These claims can be understood and evaluated from two perspectives, which are reviewed below. To facilitate this review, it is useful first to describe briefly U. S. research on the economic impact of the arts. (p. 308).

CONTENTS
U.S. Research to date.
Modeling the impact of the arts: Direct, indirect, and induced effects.
Two views on the importance of the impact of the arts.
The export base model.
Inducing desirable behavior by households and firms.
Modeling induced effects.
Notes.
References [bibliography].

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Economic Impact