Unsung industry

Mayor Mark Sorensen was presented with 17.7 million reasons why artistic endeavors are good for the city of Chico on Monday (March 30). A study on the economic impact of nonprofit arts and culture organizations revealed those groups contributed at least that much in direct spending in the city last year.

The findings were delivered by Randy Cohen, vice president of research and policy for Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Americans for the Arts, at a two-part symposium at City Council chambers. Cohen explained the results to Sorensen and the public at 4 p.m., and hosted a question-and-answer session in an adjacent conference room immediately afterward.

“We all appreciate the arts and what they do for our communities, that they can inspire us, delight us, engage us and connect us,” Cohen said near the beginning of his presentation, “but I’d like to challenge everyone to also think of the arts as an industry that supports jobs, generates revenue and is the cornerstone of tourism.”

The study determined that 54 Chico nonprofit groups spent $8.7 million producing artistic and cultural events in 2014, and audiences spent $8.9 million attending them, for a total of $17.7 million. That money supports 451 full-time jobs and generates $519,000 and $1.8 million for local and state government, respectively, according to the study.

The results were based on surveys sent to 96 nonprofit groups, of which 54 responded, and information gathered from 623 attendees to various arts and cultural events around Chico. Cohen explained that, rather than use multipliers to come up with large numbers based on small samples like some economic studies, this study used only the information collected from participants, and he emphasized a focus on “reliable data and conservative estimates.” He explained the numbers are evaluated using state-of-the-art “input-output” models customized to each community.

The study is an extension of a nationwide effort by Americans for the Arts in 2012 titled Arts and Economic Prosperity IV, which gathered similar information from 139 cities and counties representing rural and urban areas with populations ranging from 1,600 to 4 million.

Cohen made crunching the numbers more palatable by interjecting anecdotes from his personal and professional life. During the main presentation, he used an example of a recent dinner-and-theater “date night” with his wife to illustrate how attending a cultural event doesn’t just benefit the target venue, but has a wide-ranging ripple effect on everyone from local farmers to plumbers.

During the Q&A, he shared some insider information about an unlikely arts advocate.

“Most people are surprised to find out who at the national level is arguably the biggest arts education advocate, and that’s Mike Huckabee,” Cohen said. “He’s a huge arts education champion, and he really credits arts and music with helping him turn around Arkansas’ educational system when he was governor. He’s even got his own rock band; they’re called Capitol Offense, and they’re actually pretty good.”

Though Cohen’s delivery was sometimes entertaining, the information he shared might be a game changer in a city where contributions to public arts have all but disappeared. The results couldn’t come at a more critical time for the Chico Arts Commission.

In the past, the Arts Commission received about $70,000 annually from redevelopment funding, and as much as $140,000 from transient occupancy taxes collected from area hotels and motels. In 2013, it competed with social service organizations for a share of $25,000. That year, the commission voted to withhold part of the $5,250 it was granted to pay for the study.

Also in 2013, the City Council ordered the commission to meet six times a year, rather than monthly. In December 2014, the conservative-dominated council voted 4-3 along party lines to decrease those meetings to twice annually and develop a plan to separate from the city (see “Arts identity diminished,” Newslines, Dec. 18, 2014). Commission members are hoping city officials receive the study’s results, and Cohen’s message, loud and clear.

In addition to Sorensen, Vice Mayor Sean Morgan and council members Ann Schwab and Randall Stone were present for the first part of the presentation, but only Schwab and Stone stuck around for the Q&A part of the meeting. Morgan and Sorensen agreed to review the information and schedule a conference call with Cohen for a later date.

“Investment in the arts doesn’t come at the expense of economic development,” he said. “It’s an investment, an investment in jobs and government revenue. We’ve all got our job to do, which is to make that investment. These are organizations that live really close to the margins, and public support is important in keeping this industry viable.”