{"id":1926,"date":"2015-12-22T18:09:36","date_gmt":"2015-12-23T02:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=1926"},"modified":"2015-12-22T18:09:36","modified_gmt":"2015-12-23T02:09:36","slug":"the-creative-class-wont-save-your-arts-organizations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2015\/12\/the-creative-class-wont-save-your-arts-organizations\/","title":{"rendered":"The creative class won’t save your arts organizations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a>Let’s talk about Hartford. I’ve never been to Connecticut, but in the past week I have read two stories about Hartford, and it is interesting to think about the links, if any.<\/p>\n

First, the symphony is in financial troubles. Dan Haar of the Hartford Courant<\/em> reports<\/a>, “The symphony is bleeding $1.3 million a year and nearing the end of its cash reserves.” Hartford’s Connecticut Opera<\/a> went bust in 2009. So far, a familiar story to a number of mid-sized US cities and their ‘legacy’ arts organizations.<\/p>\n

The other story comes from Richard Florida’s City Lab<\/a>, in a story I wrote about last week<\/a>. In the year 2000, Hartford ranked in the top ten amongst large US metro areas in terms of proportion of the workforce in the ‘creative class’. In 2014, it still did. Indeed it had risen<\/em> within the top ten (to 37% of the workforce). It also ranked in the top ten in terms of growth<\/em> in creative class workers from 2000 to 2014.<\/p>\n

What’s going on then? A couple of things to think about:<\/p>\n

First, how are we defining the ‘creative class’? In Florida’s The Rise of the Creative Class<\/a><\/em>, he defines it (see p. 328) to include ‘creative professionals’: management occupations; business and financial operations occupations; legal occupations; healthcare practitioners and technical occupations; and high-end sales and sales management (he removes this final category in his newer estimates). Hartford is, famously, a capital of the insurance industry, and also has a growing health care sector. Now we can argue about how ‘creative’ these occupations are, but it is pretty clear that a city like Hartford is going to do well on this score. But what link between those professions and support for the symphony or opera?<\/p>\n

Second, in examining arts and creative class data, should we think about metro regions as our unit of geography? Hartford is, like some other US cities (say, St. Louis, or Detroit), a poor city (indeed, it makes an unfortunate top ten ranking<\/a> in this regard) with wealthy suburbs. How does that translate into audiences and support for the performing arts?<\/p>\n

Finally, when looking at where the arts thrive, and where they falter, is it the economic makeup of the city and\/or region, or is it something about how the arts organizations themselves have integrated themselves into the lives of residents? In other words, are there particular characteristics of metros we can identify as ‘good for the arts’, or is it what the symphony makes of it?<\/p>\n

But at least something seems clear: good numbers on ‘creative class’ employment are not, on their own, enough to sustain an orchestra or an opera company. Or even a hockey team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let’s talk about Hartford. I’ve never been to Connecticut, but in the past week I have read two stories about Hartford, and it is interesting to think about the links, if any. First, the symphony is in financial troubles. Dan Haar of the Hartford Courant reports, “The symphony is bleeding $1.3 million a year and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1926","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-issues","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/howe.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-v4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4667,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2026\/03\/should-there-be-a-tax-deduction-for-donating-to-the-nonprofit-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":1926,"position":0},"title":"Should there be a tax deduction for donating to the nonprofit arts?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"I was at a seminar yesterday given by Professor Philip Hackney of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, given (via web) at the Marxe School at Baruch College, on \u201cTax Policy Toward Arts Nonprofits: Democracy or Plutocracy?\u201d It\u2019s a good question! I won\u2019t try to summarize what Professor Hackney\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-3.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-3.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1784,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2015\/01\/enjoying-the-benefits-of-old-money\/","url_meta":{"origin":1926,"position":1},"title":"Enjoying the benefits of old money","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"January 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't disagree with the assessment by Alec MacGillis at Slate that that rust-belt cities offer fine high culture opportunities at low prices: riches from the turn of the last century provided capital (physical, human, institutional) that created great organizations, that can, at least for the time being, survive on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"nice orchestra you have there","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/baltimore.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/baltimore.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/baltimore.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/baltimore.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1357,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/06\/earmarked-taxes-for-the-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":1926,"position":2},"title":"Earmarked taxes for the arts","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"June 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night Mecklenburg County (where Charlotte, NC is) commissioners voted to approve a referendum on increasing the sales tax by a quarter of a cent, some of which would be dedicated to culture: 7.5% of the proceeds to the Arts & Science Council and 5% of the proceeds to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"I admit only having been to the airport","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/charlotte-north-carolina.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/charlotte-north-carolina.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/charlotte-north-carolina.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1025,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/02\/nea-funding-and-the-ecological-fallacy\/","url_meta":{"origin":1926,"position":3},"title":"NEA funding and the ecological fallacy","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"February 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The SMU study has a serious problem","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"rich town poor town doesn't matter","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/openingnight.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2910,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2023\/07\/producing-and-exhibiting-arts-as-a-nonprofit-entity-is-a-qualified-tax-exempt-activity\/","url_meta":{"origin":1926,"position":4},"title":"Producing and exhibiting arts as a nonprofit entity is a qualified tax exempt activity","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"July 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's what the Internal Revenue Service says: Organizations organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, educational, or other specified purposes and that meet certain other requirements are tax exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). Organizations whose primary focus is literary or educational are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Mitchell_Opera_House-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Mitchell_Opera_House-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Mitchell_Opera_House-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Mitchell_Opera_House-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Mitchell_Opera_House-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Mitchell_Opera_House-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1885,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2015\/04\/are-nonprofit-arts-organizations-special\/","url_meta":{"origin":1926,"position":5},"title":"Are nonprofit arts organizations special?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"April 16, 2015 marked the opening session of a conference held at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington, on Advancing the Field(s) of Nonprofit Management: New Structures, New Solutions. I was asked to speak about the arts, specifically about relationships between nonprofit arts organizations and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Blood alone moves the wheels of history!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/my-speech.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1926"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1929,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1926\/revisions\/1929"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}