Arts bailout/stimulus (last time)

I agree that it is best to stress the intrinsic benefits of the arts. I became very uncomfortable when some educators began to tout the "Mozart Effect.," and we have all received surveys of arts organizations asking us to detail all the financial benefits we provide to the community.

I should, however, say that I think one of the most important attributes of arts in the schools these days is extrinsic. Just getting young people involved in a school band or choir provides an important activity for the students to learn and socialize in a decent environment. i.e, it keeps them busy doing something productive and beneficial, and teaches them life skills beyond music. Even marching bands make a big contribution to the lives of students that way, and often give them their sole contact with jazz or classical music.

This is such a timely and important conversation.

Thanks, Dave. And your point is important, too.

You write in your post:

Someone else comes along, and says, "Well, if the point of arts support is to generate economic activity, my own industry can generate even more of it."

This is missing the point.

The current issue (or, the issue when you originally posted, since I doubt any arts spending has survived the "sausage making") is whether or not spending money on the arts in a stimulus package is more effective than spending it on something else in that spending package.

The main criteria for good stimulus:

1. has an effective multiplier, i.e., $1 of government spending produces more than $1 in economic benefit.

2. produces its stimulative effect as quickly as possible.

The arts spending I've heard about seems to me to have been intended rather than for maintaining present arts programs and employment in the arts more than it is for adding new programs and jobs. Thus, it's very effective stimulus.

For criterion 1, there is no startup cost -- all the money goes towards maintaining present programs that are presently contributing to the economy, so as much as possible of the money allocated flows directly through to the intended endpoint.

For criterion 2, again, it's ideal, in that there's no waiting time -- all you're doing is keeping things going that are already in place.

Of course, the issue is not "is this stimulus spending good?" so much as "is this stimulus spending better than the alternatives?" That is an argument worth having, but it's one that can only exist with comparative data about the effectiveness of alternative stimulus programs.

My understanding was that during the shaping of the President's proposal, it was difficult to find "shovel-ready" projects sufficient to create a stimulus proportional to the expected economic loss. "Shovel-ready" is just shorthand for my criterion 1, i.e., how quickly the stimulus can start producing economic effects.

All commentators I've heard say that aid to the state governments to help avoid laying off police and teachers and workers in state agencies (as in California's 2-day furlow) is one of the most effective forms of stimulus -- the jobs already exist, and keeping them from going away is going to prop up the economy immediately by keeping it from absorbing a hit in an already contracting environment.

My understanding is that the proposed arts projects and jobs are like that, in that they don't create anything new, but just keep arts organizations from shrinking under the onslaught of our massive economic contraction.

In my opinion, it's not fair to claim that arts spending does not belong in the stimulus unless you can show that there is some other spending in some other sector that would be equally quick and effective (or moreso) and would support also programs that benefit more people (as part of their secondary effect).

--
David W. Fenton
http://dfenton.com/NoComment/

It's good to have such clear thinking here. Good for me, certainly. I'd only say that the calculations -- so to speak; I doubt if much solid calculating goes on -- in all of this are bound to be approximate, at best. And as I said in my first post, it's when arts funding goes directly up against funding for things like public health -- as happened in San Francisco -- that the debate gets uncomfortable. I think that's happening, explicitly or implicitly, all over the country now. And I'm not convinced that people in the arts are confronting that.

I knew Greg would say this, so for what it's worth, I remember going to a presentation in Philadelphia in 2005 or 6 (can't remember that well) by an organization called Artspace, who redevelop vacant warehouses and real estate into artist spaces. Anyway, the presentation was on the economic impact of the arts, and there was a comparison of return on investments in the arts vs. sports. Arts seriously trumped sports, though I don't remember the exact data or source of the data. I can't find anything on Artspace's website, which is here: http://www.artspace.org/

Maybe someone from Artspace reads this blog? Or someone from the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance who was at the same presentation?

In the end, I'm much happier now that I work for an small arts organization where I can finally focus mostly on the intrinsic value of music. All this data is mindnumbing.

Great example, Chris. I'm sure that arts spending gets a greater return than sports spending. Especially public spending for sports stadiums. That's a boondoggle, from everything I've read. (For instance, Jim Bouton's book -- neglected, I think -- about his fight against a new stadium in Pittsfield, MA.)

And I agree. The discussion about data is mind-numbing, not just for you and me, but for everyone. Which is another political problem. It makes it all too likely that many people will fall back on prejudices, for instance a belief that art is a frill. And thus shouldn't be included in a stimulus. Again, I think people in the arts haven't thought enough about how to combat that.

The very best bailout/stimulus for "The Arts" is when consumers spend money to buy tickets, art, recordings, whatever, and some of that money goes to the artist.

I think one reason that artists so often go for the extrinsic arguments about the benefits of the arts is that arguments for the intrinsic benefits don't counter a prevailing cultural idea that making art is not work. I feel like artists are expected to do our work on our own time. I sometimes think of this as the "artists' tax." You can do your work, but expect not to get paid for it. Many artists work a day job, then put in the time creating "products" that benefit the community at no benefit to the artist other than satisfaction.

Yes!

This is something we should never forget. The people who do most to support the arts are artists themselves.

Check out the following article in this month's Pittsburgh Magazine for another take on the subject: http://www.wqed.org/mag/features/0209/arts4.php

Definitely is another take. Thanks, Rebecca.