'creative economy' redefines the arts for art sake, The

In Vermont, the word "frill" has a special and particular meaning. It's the epithet traditionally flung at proposals to add arts education dollars to local school budgets.

But in the past 30 years, skepticism about the value of the arts has been giving way to new paradigms, in today's parlance.

Educators, themselves educated by scientific research into different styles of learning, have accepted state standards that call for arts education at all levels. Such instruction is seen more often by practitioners as a way for students to express and synthesize, rather than just analyze and absorbs, to learn to work in groups, a skill valued by employers, and to help improve the school climate (a phrase that will have meaning for anyone who has walked through a contemporary, artdecorated school corridor).

As those students graduate, they become audience members, volunteers, and sometimes school budget voters supporting another shift in thinking. Among development officials, and among many business leaders, the arts are seen as ways of building community relations, attracting visitors, enhancing downtowns, and contributing to the quality of life that attracts and keeps new businesses.

The "arts" here would have to include the work of artisans, the fine crafts often being very hard to separate from the arts by any clear distinction. More oriented toward steady commercial production than the arts (though that distinction, too, is blurred), professional crafts have been the basis for substantial enterprises that in turn have become tourist attractions like the theatrical performances, music concerts, and so on.

Architecture being one of the arts, historic preservation and related downtown streetscape revitalization efforts overlap with the arts. One of the best descriptive phrases to emerge - at a time when arts, crafts, business, development, education are increasingly networking, collaborating, and undertaking joint projects - is "the creative economy."

In 1998, about 100 business, government and arts leaders met in Lenox, MA, at Tanglewood, the famed Berkshires music center, to begin working toward an assessment of what they had termed the creative economy. The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) 2000 and 2001 reports on "The Creative Economy Initiative" give a context for what is happening in Vermont.

Meeting in Lenox was no accident. The transformation of that town following the Boston Symphony Orchestra's decision to make it their summer home in the late 1930s (lately there was been more than 350,000 visitors each summer) had pointed the way. And as the NEFA reports noted, Canada, England, the European Commission, and even Australia have been striving "to define the cultural sector" because of its obvious importance. Governmental contributions to the arts in Europe, especially, have dwarfed those of this country, where the budget for military bands has sometimes exceeded that for the NEA.

After publishing "The Role of the Arts and Culture in New England's Economic Competitiveness" in 2000, the New England Council (the organization that formed after the Tanglewood conference) followed up in 2001 with "A Blueprint for Investment in New England's Creative Economy." A look at these findings and strategizings; will help identify the trends that link the many diverse participants in Vermont's own cultural sector.

QUANTIFYING THE QUALITY

The arts being so diverse and often so individualistic, everyone involved realizes that trying to measure them will always to some extent put the donkey into the term assessment. But the New England Council believes it arrived at meaningful findings through a relatively new methodology known as cluster analysis.

Using both geographic and business groupings, economic cluster analysis looks for closely related product lines, shared markets, and common resource needs (notably for skilled workers).

The Massachusetts Interactive Media Council, the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council, and efforts to identify key industry clusters in Connecticut and Rhode Island served as prototypes for the NEC.

The 2000 report also cites a US Department of Commerce study of cluster-based economics that concluded "a collaborative advantage" can be obtained by high-quality institutions joining forces under strong civic leadership across sectors and throughout communities.

NEC's overall conclusion came in the statement that "we strongly support the case for New England's Creative Cluster to be part of the economic clusters deserving attention from the region's policy makers and the business community."

Among their findings, the NEC report said that the enterprises and individuals that directly or indirectly produced cultural products supported 245,000 jobs, or 3.5 percent of New England's total job base. That was more than the region's software and medical technology industries, two regional growth areas.

The creative workers themselves constituted more than 2 percent of the workforce. About 40 percent self-employed, they were described as professionally qualified to be competitive, able to respond to rapid change, and "highly entrepreneurial."

Creative communities, defined as a geographic areas with high concentrations of creative workers, creative businesses, and cultural organizations, used the arts for downtown revitalization "as more municipalities integrate culture into their planning efforts." The arts improved the quality of life, "which is key to attracting and retaining businesses, employees, residents and visitors." And small towns as well as cities could become creative communities, they a found.

Growing faster than the rest of the economy (14 percent for 1993-1997 compared with 8 percent overall), the creative cluster had become important to the region, the NEC concluded.

"Because of the strong Creative Economy, New England has a significant advantage in the increasingly intense regional and national competition for businesses and employees." Partnerships and policies leveraging the creative economy "will strengthen New England socially and economically, as well as culturally."

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE

The NEC reports are a reminder that in cultural affairs as in other endeavors, Vermont is in a competitive arena. But the record indicates that the Green Mountain State has its own historic strengths to draw on, and can build on tradition in furthering its own creative cluster and communities.

Vermont has long been a haven for creators seeking quiet and inspiring surroundings (Kipling's "Jungle Book" was written in Vermont). But the 1960s and 1970s, a turbulent and transformational era during which many young people sought livelihoods outside the corporate world, made Vermont a focal point of the back-to-the-land movement.

"We are as gods, and might as well get good at it," proclaimed the Whole Earth Catalog, the era's classic resource for practical knowledge.

Combining social activism, truly grassroots environmentalism, and often some sort of personal artistic mission, the migrants encountered a live-and-let-live state with its own folk creativity, strong communities, and plenty of practical knowledge to share.

Nor was the old Vermont insensitive to culture: The Vermont Historical Society, for instance, had been in the State House since 1853. Though the frictions were many, so were the successful adaptations, on both sides. And since small business fitted well with the postcounter-cultural ethos, some of the "flatlander" Siddharthas were eventually to build studios, workshops, theatrical or film companies, and nonprofits of serious economic significance.

A downtown street in a mediumsized Vermont town of the '50s would have stores to meet all of a resident's needs: a couple of groceries, one or two drugstores (with ice cream parlors where teens congregated), a bank, a movie theater, a barbershop, a restaurant, bars, a hardware store or two, and perhaps a mysterious door to a disused second-floor room, the door bearing the letters "GAR."

Today, following the onset of malls, catalog shopping, big box superstores, automated teller machines and the Internet, that same street may have an antiques shop, a gallery or two, perhaps a bookstore, restaurants that include ethnic foods, bars and pubs, a coffee shop. a place calling itself Hair Force One or Hairs To You or Best Little Hairhouse or worse and a hardware store.

Between these two streetscapes lies the work of statewide nonprofit agencies and local arts groups, both of which have roles and budgets unimaginable a generation ago.

The National Endowment for the Arts started operations in 1965, at the height of the Johnson Administration's War on Poverty. But Vermonters didn't wait: in 1964, a group met and began a private nonprofit group, with the blessing of Governor Philip Hoff, in a 1999 letter to the Vermont Arts Council, recalled that Edwin Earle of Derby Line had advocated setting up such a council, but "in looking at Councils of Arts in other states, I became convinced that it was a mistake to form such a council as an instrumentality of the state, because of the political pressures that could and most certainly would be applied against it."

The fledgling group's articles of association said that it would carry on its activities "until such time as the Agency of the State may be formed." But the Legislature designated them as the passthrough agency for federal NEA funds. VAC communications director Andrea Stander wrote this year that, "The Council continues its distinction as the only state arts agency in the US that is also a private, not-forprofit, membership organization."

For the first year, the Legislature appropriated $500 for the Vermont Council on the Arts, as it was first called. Fast-forward 38 years: with more than 1,500 members, the VAC operates with a budget, including pass-through funds, of $1.6 million.

The mission statements from the earlier years, when there was one at all, spoke more of the arts supporting themselves. But by 1979, the mission of bringing the arts to all appears, and in 1991 the goal of "the integration of the arts into Vermont, community life." The latest mission statement reads, "To enrich people's lives and strengthen community through the arts."

That is in fine with a shift in the NEA's goals, following a funding crisis in 1995-96 (federal funds supporting allegedly pornographic art).

"The focus was redirected toward providing services to arts audiences and promoting partnerships between arts organizations and schools, community groups, and the private sector," said Andrea Stander, the VAC's communications director.

The hybrid nature of many current VAC initiatives can be seen in some of the recent projects:

- The Millennium Arts Partnership. Using corporate contributions, foundation support, and a grant from the US Department of Commerce, an online network of professional artists, classroom teachers, and students has been established. Aspiring composers get mentoring and share their own compositions (did you write a string quartet while you were in high school?) through the Vermont MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) Project. ARTT, Art Responding Through Technology, shares work in the visual arts. Vermont Young Playwrights Online speaks for itself.

In NEFA's map of New England cultural organizations, Vermont stands out in having them evenly scattered around the state, except for one huge forest tract in Essex County. All the other states have noticeable urban concentrations. The MAP continues this democratization of the arts, bringing professional consulting to even the most rural schools.

- The Danville Transportation Enhancement Project brought two artists to the design process for rebuilding Route 2 through the village, VAC combining with VTrans (Vermont Agency of Transportation). Stander said, that in less than two years, it has succeeded in relieving a 20+ year "roadblock" of community concerns and political issues that held up needed repairs and upgrades."

- The Vermont State Marketing and Promotional Services Partnership, which now includes 11 state agencies, started with Act 190 in 1999, which required a coordinated state marketing effort.

Stander said, "By participating in this partnership, the Arts Council has been able to expand opportunities for Vermont artists and arts organizations to serve as a resource in the overall marketing of the state, both to visitors and residents."

Meanwhile, VAC's support for artists, community arts promotion, and artists in the schools continues apace. Stander said their motto has become, "We don't make art ... we make art work."

The National Endowment for the Humanities, begun along with the NEA, started funding state-level organizations in 1970. The Vermont Council on the Humanities began in 1975, but did not receive state funds until 1988. Its book discussion programs in local libraries and its speakers bureau presentations have become staples on Vermont event calendars. It has collaborated with educational and social service providers, notably in their 11-year effort to help all Vermonters become literate by 2000 (a goal made impossible by refugee resettlement, if nothing else).

The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation dates to 1975. Between the National Historic Preservation Acts of 1966 and 1981 (when there were sharp cutbacks), substantial funding and tax breaks were available for such work.

Today, it is widely acknowledged that Vermont's built landscape rivals its natural landscape as a source of fascination for "heritage tourists." Visitors who ask if local buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places sometimes discover that an entire downtown has been put there as a Historic District.

True to the trend, the DHP is now part of the Department of Housing and Community Affairs, which in turn is within the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. That conjunction could also be seen in 1985, when Governor Madeleine Kunin directed the Department of State Buildings to support local officials in their attempts to "revitalize communities" and "preserve historic resources.

Vermont Life, created by the Agency of Commerce and Community Development in 1946, has enlisted the state's writers and photographers in making Vermont itself a kind of cultural object. The bestselling book "Vermont: A Special World," the first coffeetable picture book about the state, was published in 1969.

Vermont Public Television started at UVM in 1967. Backed by legislated funds since 1968 and by a huge membership (43,000 in 1995), it has expanded to six locations and 24-hour operation. While public television is still the venue of last resort for many programs, the phenomenal expansion of cable and satellite channels, including arts and entertainment channels, has brought great works closer to the average household than ever before.

In the music world, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra was the nation's first state-supported orchestra (they received $1,000 in 1939 so they could play for Vermont Day at the New York World's Fair). Starting in 1974, when new conductor Efrain Guigui re-auditioned all the members, it has become fully professional. But it has not lost the common touch, as shown when in 1995 they sent musicians to play in every Vermont town ("The 251 Project") for their 50th anniversary.

Now based in Manchester's Northshire Civic Center in the summers, the VSO depends heavily on corporate underwriting and grants, since there are a limited number of places the full orchestra can perform and thus limited ticket sales revenues. They are perhaps Vermont's classic case of an arts organization whose direct effects do not appear to be economical, but whose indirect value justifies its continuation, to its contributors.

HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE

Communities ranging in size from Burlington to Randolph now have arts councils, which double as arts presenters and conduits of arts education into the school.

The Flynn Theatre in Burlington, which has added a gallery space and has become a regional ticketing service since its start in the 1960s, is perhaps the best-developed.

Victoria Young, executive director of Rutland's Crossroads Arts Council from 1992-2000, said that organization serves more than 20,000 students each year, as well as putting on its own series and collaborating with the Rutland Redevelopment Authority and the newly revived Paramount Theatre.

"One of the comments I have heard from individuals is that the reasons they attend Crossroads events is because they were exposed to the arts by the events id the schools," she said.

Vermont has long been a home to summer stock theater companies, many of which have come and gone. But Steve Stettler, a managing director at the Weston Playhouse, said that oldest of continually operating community theater groups (dating to the 1930s and the WPA era) is moving to work year round, increasingly in the schools.

Film companies, notably Catamount Arts in St Johnsbury and Edgewood Motion Pictures in Rutland, are now supplemented by an indeterminate number of independents using video and now digital technology.

In music, classical enthusiasts can go from one summer festival's events to another, with the largest (Killington and Manchester, for example) acting as summer schools for young international virtuosi. Folk performers have their own circuit in church halls, coffeehouses, bookstores and stages, and festivals such as the Champlain Valley Festival, where they bring in visitors.

There are several bluegrass festivals, and for many years even a reggae festival that was well respected in the roots music community. Rock clubs and performance spaces support dozens of local bands, some of whom, like Burlington's Phish, go on to wider renown. Stateof-the-art studios are now available both for film and music production.

The visual arts resources include too many galleries to mention, studio galleries, and museums. The advent of thoroughly modern museum spaces, such as those at Middlebury College and the Southern Vermont Arts Center, has allowed Vermonters to see first-class traveling exhibitions.

BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME

With so many resources available, community revitalization efforts are now drawing on the arts, or seeing them lead the way, as has been the case recently In Vergennes with its Opera House.

Bellows Falls is known throughout New England for the way their Downtown Historic District has used restorations like the Exner Block (which now has living spaces-for artists) to create "A Village Alive With History and Culture."

In West Rutland, the internationally known sculpture center called the Carving Studio has helped turn run-. down Marble Street into the beginnings of an arts district. In Brandon, internationally successful folk artist Warren Kimble, whose studio/gallery is itself a tourist draw, has purchased two downtown properties and is using them to help the ongoing downtown revitalization effort. And so on.

Vermont doesn't need Tanglewood as an example when it has the Studio Center in Johnson. Begun by architect and painter Jon Gregg (the executive director since then), his wife and Fred Osborne in 1984. with $10,000, the artists' retreat now owns 22 local buildings, many of which it has saved from ruin. Its $1.5-plus million budget and staff of 12 understates its influence. Every year it exposes about 500 more artists and writers to Vermont's beauty and opportunities, plus 84 visiting presenters.

IMPACT

Much more could be said, especially about the 30-year-old Vermont Crafts Council and the network of artisans it serves. Likewise, "embedded institutions," such as the arts departments in colleges, are beyond this review's scope. The World Wide Web is its own culture, one that is increasingly facilitating access to the older cultural groups.

But looking at just the largest organizations, those with budgets over $25,000, shows an impressive scope. A 1998 study of the "Economic Impact of Vermont's Nonprofit Arts and Cultural Institutions" looked at 84 such organizations, and found they alone spent about $75 million.

Copyright Boutin-McQuiston, Inc. Feb 01, 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved