Virginia Commission for the Arts

Why the Arts Are Important to the Economy of Virginia
In Virginia arts and culture is a billion dollar industry. Last year arts and cultural organizations generated $849 million in revenues for Virginia businesses plus $342 million through spending by out-of-state visitors to these organizations. Arts and cultural organizations provided 18,850 full and part time jobs in Virginia last year.

A strong cultural presence in a community is a draw for economic development. The executives making the decisions about business relocations want to live in a good community with opportunities for their families to participate in the arts. No business will locate its headquarters in a community solely because of the cultural opportunities. Once taxes, schools, and potential workforce are considered, however, a strong cultural presence can give one community the edge over another.

The arts are a part of what makes communities liveable. Museums and performance halls bring in crowds of people and attract restaurants and other businesses to an area, thereby contributing to the economic health of the community.

Business leaders understand investments for future growth. Businesses contribute to the arts because business leaders know that profits come from healthy, strong communities. The arts help citizens develop a sense of community and contribute to the liveability of these communities.

Every performance or exhibit that is produced employs not only artists but also a variety of stagehands, security guards, caterers, seamstresses, parking lot attendants, box office staff, and administrators. Arts organizations provide work for printers, technicians, carpenters, graphic designers, and travel agents.

The digital economy often makes it possible to do what we want from wherever we want, which means that people are more likely to locate in a community of their choice. This change in the way people work and live increases the importance of quality of life issues. Communities and businesses are becoming more conscious of contributing factors like the arts in order to attract the best and the brightest.

Public policy analysts, such as Richard Florida, have now documented the importance of creative centers of economy. Creative centers have a wide variety of cultural and recreational activities. Technological and economic creativity are nurtured by and interact with artistic and cultural creativity.

As the economy shifts more and more to knowledge-based industries, quality of life becomes an even more important factor in business recruitment. Access to talented and creative people is to modern business what access to coal and iron ore was to steelmaking. Talented and creative people like to live in communities that have liveliness and sociability. The arts are one of the important factors in attracting creative people and intellectual capital to communities.

Arts Enhance Learning and Workforce Readiness
Nonprofit arts organizations provide learning opportunities for young people that enhance the work of teachers and of the schools. Of the 187 arts organizations that are currently receiving operating support from the Commission, 170 have programs for people under the age of 18. Half of these organizations have designed these programs to directly address the State SOLs, not only in the arts, but also in language arts, science, and history.

The educational programs of artists and arts organizations do not take the place of ongoing arts instruction in the classroom by qualified teachers. As schools look for resources to strengthen education, artists and arts organizations are an important asset, providing role models of working professionals and in-depth learning experiences.

Knowledge of the arts is part of a well-rounded education that benefits every child, whether the child grows up to be a scientist, an artist, or a basketball player. In addition, the arts provide effective learning opportunities that yield increased academic performance, reduced absenteeism, and better skill-building. Arts education builds skills in problem-solving, in teamwork, and in self-discipline.

Simple exposure to the arts is not enough. The schools already teach the vocabularies and ideas of good writing through the study of great literature. Other branches of the arts communicate in images, sounds, and movements. The schools need to teach the vocabularies of these images, sounds, and movements, as well as of words, in order to build the strong communication skills needed in the 21st century.

Studies have found that children who study the arts are:

• four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
• elected to class office within their schools three times as often
• four times more likely to participate in a math and science fair
• three times more likely to win an award for school attendance.

A Columbia University study found that students with at least three years of in-school arts instruction had index scores averaging 20 points higher than their peers on measures of creative thinking, fluency, originality, and resistance to closure.

The arts are an important tool for enhancing workforce readiness. A paper prepared by the National Governor's Association states that "knowledge has supplanted labor-intensive careers as the preferred path to economic growth and stability. Human capital has become the primary determinant of a region's economic vitality. Today's challenging workplace demands academic skills as well as intangible assets such as flexibility, problem-solving abilities, and interpersonal skills. Programs incorporating the arts have proven to be educational, developmentally rich, and cost effect ways to provide students the skills they need to be productive participants in today's economy."

The paper from the National Governors Association goes on to say that arts programs combine academic and workforce development skills in a manner attractive to people of all age groups and economic backgrounds. Children raised in higher socioeconomic communities are more often exposed to the arts through their families. In general, at-risk children lack the resources available to other children. The beneficial and enriching effects of arts education on at-risk children are even more dramatic than on other children. For at-risk youth, that segment of society most likely to suffer from limited lifetime productivity, the arts contribute to lower recidivism rates; the acquisition of job skills; and the development of much needed creative thinking, problem solving, and communication skills.

Research reveals that when young people study the arts, they show heightened academic standing, a strong capacity for self-assessment, and a secure sense of their own ability to plan and work for a positive future. Arts education can enhance academic achievement for all students, reach students on the margins of the educational system, create an effective learning environment, and connect learners experiences to the world outside of school.

Virginia Artists and Arts Organizations Strengthen the Work of the Schools
Nonprofit arts organizations provide learning opportunities for young people that enhance the work of teachers and the schools. Visiting artists in the classrooms give students insights into the lives of working professionals in the field and important role models.

Of the 187 arts organizations that receive operating support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, 170 have programs for people under the age of 18. Half of these organizations have designed these programs to directly address the State Standards of Learning, not only in the arts, but also in language arts, science, and history.

Programs sponsored by Virginia arts organizations include summer art, theatre, and music camps; performances and workshops in schools; internship opportunities; in-service workshops for teachers; long term artist residencies in schools; after-school classes; and opportunities for young people to perform or exhibit.

The educational programs of artists and nonprofit arts organizations do not take the place of ongoing arts instruction in the classroom by qualified teachers. As schools look for the resources for broadly based education, artists and arts organizations are an important asset, providing role models of working professionals and in-depth learning in the arts for students and teachers.

Why State Government Supports the Arts
The state's share is a small percentage of the overall funding for the arts in Virginia. Most of the support for the arts comes from individuals, businesses, and local governments. The money that the state puts into the arts each year, however, is an investment in our future.

A healthy arts community has a diversified funding base with support from individuals, businesses, foundations, and state and local government.

Some people say that public funding for the arts is a subsidy for the elite. The opposite is, in fact, true. Larger arts organizations, such as the Virginia Opera and the Richmond Symphony, will continue to produce their mainstage season for subscribers with or without state funding. Without state funding, however, these organizations will not be able to continue the programs offered to schools or continue touring to rural areas. The state support ensures that the arts are available to the entire community and not just the well-to-do.