Arts community’s economic impact helps lift Tacoma

DAN VOELPEL; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: July 18th, 2007 01:20 AM (PDT)

But what does it mean?

It means the arts economy in Tacoma has become a forethought rather than an afterthought.

In a just-released report, “Arts & Economic Prosperity III,” Americans for the Arts in Washington, D.C., studied the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry in 156 U.S. communities, including Tacoma.

The snapshot, using 2005 data, estimated arts economy spending in Tacoma at nearly $37 million a year and employing 967 full-time-equivalent jobs.

That puts our arts economy just behind Russell Investment Group (1,080 employees) and State Farm Insurance Co. (1,063,) and just ahead of Costco (946) and Pierce Transit (922) on the list of Pierce County’s largest employers.

The national research report gathered data from 32 arts-related nonprofits – such as the Tacoma Symphony, Museum of Glass and Pantages Theater – who all self-reported. But it didn’t include the Washington State History Museum, which would have made Tacoma’s numbers look even richer.

“The key lesson from ‘Arts & Economic Prosperity III’ is that communities that invest in the arts reap the additional benefit of jobs, economic growth, and a quality of life that positions those communities to compete in our 21st century creative economy,” said Robert Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts.

In Tacoma, the study estimated, of more than 870,000 folks who attended arts events or performances, 41 percent came from outside Pierce County. And those outsiders tended to spend more ($25.57 per event) than locals ($16.95).

How did all this happen? By design.

By 1980, Tacoma had just renovated the Pantages Theater as its only premier performance hall. The city sported one quaint art museum. Few had heard of Dale Chihuly.

It got worse. By 1984, after a controversy surrounding art incorporated into the construction of the Tacoma Dome, the City of Tacoma repealed an ordinance that set aside 1 percent of civic construction projects for art.

Suddenly, it seemed, anything connected to the arts in Tacoma became a political pariah. Oh, how times change.

By 1990, the arts not only crept back into vogue. It became a seed around which an economic growth spurt started.

New City Manager Ray Corpuz created a cultural resources division at City Hall, put Michael Sullivan in charge of it, commissioned a strategic plan of attack and unleashed Sullivan to make it happen.

The successes attributable to the catalytic action of City Hall run too long to list here. But I must list some to remind myself that the arts economy didn’t shift from reverse, to neutral, to thrive all by its creative self.

Renovating the Rialto Theater before the wrecking ball claimed it. Building Theater on the Square and Theater on the Square Park. The museum triumvirate – of state history, glass and art. Reintroducing Chihuly to his hometown with a spectacular display of neon lights embedded in 100,000 pounds of ice at the Tacoma Dome in 1993, then announcing his installation in the rotunda of a just-restored Union Station. Five years ago, the Chihuly Bridge of Glass. The resurrection of the 1-percent-for-art program in 2000. The downtown School of the Arts for high schoolers. The latest expansion of the Pantages Theater lobby.

On the theory that the public investments foster private investment, wouldn’t you have to say it worked? When an out-of-town investor says he’ll put $20 million into the renovation of your downtown hotel to make it into the Hotel Murano – an homage to glass art and artists – that’s more than just a good sign.

Give City Hall a bravo and a standing O.

But beware one chink in the political armor. The cultural resources division at City Hall no longer exists. It dwindled in lean budget years, then disappeared altogether. Today, Amy McBride, the savvy and effervescent arts administrator, runs a one-person show with some part-time administrative help and a contractor.

Yes, like a snowball rolling downhill, the arts economy in Tacoma has picked up size and velocity. It might roll smoothly on its own for a while, but there always comes a bottom to that hill. City Hall should wisely look at a new strategic plan for the arts with expanded future support.

After all, as the recent report noted, the city’s tax coffers get roughly $1.5 million a year from the arts economy. The state gets another $1.8 million.

“In my travel across the country, business and government leaders often talk to me about the challenges of funding the arts and other community needs amid shrinking resources,” said Lynch of Americans for the Arts. “They worry about jobs and the economic performance of their community. … The findings from (our report) send a clear and welcome message: Leaders who care about community and economic development can feel good about choosing to invest in the arts.”

Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785

dan.voelpel@thenewstribune.com

Originally published: July 18th, 2007 01:20 AM (PDT)