Something I’ve never heard, even at the couple of Business Networking International events I’ve attended: “I moved to the Pioneer Valley because it’s such a great place for business.” Nope, not once. It’s always “It’s such a beautiful place, and there’s so much to do for such a rural area.”
Never heard this, either: “It’s great to be so close to the big insurance businesses in Hartford, not to mention the investment scene in New York.” Never that. Try: “It’s great to be so close to the cultural scene in Boston and New York.”
The Valley really is exceptional in its embrace of things artistic. Of course, not everyone in the state or even the Valley itself is focused on such things, but you’re a lot more likely to throw a rock and hit a musician here than a venture capitalist. All this to say the economies of our area do—successfully—rely on the traffic created by events and destinations of an artistic sort, whether it’s huge shows at the Mullins Center, singer/songwriter night at the Basement, small galleries or big museums.
Take the notion of arts as economic driver into the political world, and often you encounter the idea that the arts are a mere luxury, or worse, the redoubt of bottom-feeders, nihilists or un-American Americans. Fortunately, the current round of “stimulus” funding includes a large amount of money for the National Endowment for the Arts. A mere decade or so after Newt Gingrich and his Republican pals were dredging up anything specific that made the arts look alien, dumb or scary (“Piss Christ,” for instance, or Robert Mapplethorpe’s naked men) to call for the abolishment of government funding of all things vaguely artsy, this is a rather refreshing turn of events.
The NEA says this at its website: “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (‘Recovery Act’) recognizes that the non-profit arts industry is an important sector of the economy.” Which is, apparently, what happens when you run the Mayberry Machiavellis out of town.
It also says this: “As part of this important investment, the Arts Endowment is developing a plan to expedite distribution of critical funds at the national, regional, state, and local levels for projects that focus on the preservation of jobs in the arts.” Granted, everyone seems to be in need of job protection in this economic climate, but let’s hope the funds do more than maintain the status quo, and even recognize that the arts serve, in (the few) places like the Valley, as a vital engine of stability and even growth.
The money coming to Massachusetts will be administered through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The group expects to receive $323,600, and plans to announce more specific plans for spending pending approval of the funds in April.
In our own backyard, a long list of organizations regularly receives a boost from MCC funds, including local arts councils, non-profits, theater troupes, writers, artists and musicians. And clearly, that investment pays off as it ripples out to businesses who benefit from the crowds those artists and organizations draw. Advocating for the arts makes sense anywhere, but it’s particularly vital here.
When Gov. Deval Patrick hit town last week to discuss his gas tax that allows Western Mass. to help pay off a massive Boston road construction project some of us will never use, opposition was vigorous. Perhaps, though, in light of the near inevitability of some kind of tax hike, Western Mass. residents ought to keep in mind that the coffers for roads and infrastructure will then be full. There’s little excuse, then, for Gov. Patrick to resist restoring some of the funding that he removed from our end of the state for arts projects like the restoration of the Bing Theater in Springfield (“The Once and Future Bing,” Feb. 19).
At least, if we’re going to have to pay for absurdly expensive tunnels in Boston, Boston can now spare a dime for the arts so that our Paradise remains at least somewhat paradisaical. With the help of the Recovery Act and all that gas tax money in the budget, it should be a no-brainer.