Art As An Economic Engine

Young Singers of the Palm Beaches.

More than ever, it seems, community arts across Florida’s diverse demographic and geographic landscape are thriving.

That might not be news except for this single salient fact: State funds providing support to nonprofit arts organizations that enrich their towns and counties both culturally and economically were cut from the state’s final budget this year, for the first time since 1969.

Caught off guard, they say, hundreds of arts organizations — theaters, museums, educational programs, community galleries — created a proverbial blizzard of appeals to traditional private supporters and philanthropists to donate a little extra, starting now.

The result is a shining suggestion of vital cultural enterprise in a state that paradoxically “now ranks at the bottom of the list in terms of state support for the arts,” said Kai Li Fouts Jette, president of the Board of Directors at Young Singers of the Palm Beaches.

Children awaiting a performance at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach.

She pointed to the potent economic engine of the arts in Palm Beach County while simultaneously describing a new expansion of Young Singers, thanks to generous supporters. She could have been speaking for almost any of the hundreds of arts organizations east and west.

“Here in Palm Beach County, the arts have a tremendous impact, generating $335.3 million and creating 4,360 jobs,” she noted. “The arts draw tourism, enrich education and create social connections, especially for children.”

On the organization’s website, this news appears: “Thanks to funding from Impact 100, Palm Beach County Young Singers is excited to announce our expansion into the southern area of Palm Beach County — our new South County Choir.”

Impact 100 Palm Beach County in some ways typifies the many supporters of the arts in Florida: “a volunteer driven women’s organization (that) empowers and enables local women to serve as philanthropic leaders by collectively funding significant grants that will make a lasting impact in southern Palm Beach County.”

DECKART

Young Singers, meanwhile, “believes that choral music education is a valuable resource in the development of productive participants in our society. We transform the lives of young singers in our community by: breaking down social barriers, developing life skills, providing an outlet for creativity, and fostering good citizenship.”

That kind of language and those philosophic notions reflect the thinking of offi- cials and arts supporters all over Florida, where arts organizations had qualified for state money because of them.

“The (state) application requirement used to say ‘diversity, equity and inclusion,’ but now it just says, ‘access,’ notes Molly Rowan-Deckart, executive director of the Lee Alliance for the Arts.

What access do arts organizations offer?

“We have to offer free and accessible programming that’s robust in nature, and prove year-round community impact.”

People support that effort and even champion it, apparently, even when arts officials worry about budget cuts.

QUINN

“We are concerned about the message this veto sends to the people of Florida about the importance of what the arts do in our community,” said Diane Quinn, CEO of the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in Palm Beach County.

“The arts are what make us human,” insisted Ms. Rowan Deckart.

That should be worth state support, and people know it, she suggested, pointing to a federal analysis undertaken every five years, in this case for the sixth time in the United States.

“According to the Arts and Economic Prosperity Study (AEP6) released in Oct., 2023, 87 percent of Americans agree arts and culture are ‘important to their community’s quality of life and livability.’”

That figure or a closely approximate percentage rang true not only for the country and for Florida as a whole, but for individual cities and counties, the study shows. Charts breaking down how arts lovers and supporters spend money and how they feel about community art make clear the support for it in regions across Florida.

LAWRENCE

Dave Lawrence, president and CEO of the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County, recognizes that state political leaders, in general, also support the arts in their communities, not the least because they boost community wealth on the balance sheet.

They almost universally approved funds before those were cut, he notes.

“We’re (reminding) folks that the legislature approved $32 million in grant funding, and we’re supportive of our legislators. They understand the importance of arts and culture in tourism, in education, in the economy, and the impact arts has. Study after study shows a $9 to $1 return on investment.”

That figure — a $9 return for every $1 spent — comes from the state’s own 2022 economic analysis of arts in Florida.

As a result, arts officials hope, philanthropists will help make up potential dips in county economies that look like this:

LICOTA

In Collier County, where 13 organizations were out a total of $698,283, the missed economic boost could amount to about $6.28 million in real impact.

In Lee, where 16 organizations were counting on $768,280, the impact could be just over $6.9 million.

In Palm Beach County, where 51 organizations failed to receive $2,622,788 they’d qualified for under state standards, the impact would be roughly $23.6 million.

“As organizations continue to recover from Covid, this is precisely not the time for this to happen,” said Mr. Lawrence. “Florida is doing well, the economy is doing well, we’re firing on all pistons….so this is a real setback.”

But one that can be overcome by philanthropists, perhaps.

Only one organization in Charlotte County was counting on state money it didn’t get this year, $15,178 for the Charlotte Chorale. That setback, which private philanthropists are likely to make up there, would amount to a county-wide impact of just over $64,000.

Arts on Tap is the Alliance for the Arts’ premier craft beer and music event in Fort Myers. COURTESY PHOTO

“This is very unfortunate, but I know that with our community, we will be able to continue our efforts,” said Jeni Licota, executive director of the Lighthouse ArtCenter in Tequesta.

“We will just have to be more careful on spending for general programming and education.

“This cut puts the financial responsibilities on our community members to help, and to give more than they already do. ArtCenter staff will have to be clever with spending and new events to create awareness to raise the funds that were not given.”

Besides economic and cultural benefits, arts supporters should also consider another benefit, she says.

“I often think that people don’t consider mental health when they think of arts, and today art has such an impact on everyone. Research shows that 45 minutes of creative activity significantly lessens stress in the body, regardless of artistic experience or talent.

COURY

“Participation in cultural activities has been linked to lower rates of depression and anxiety. For instance, frequent cultural engagement (such as going to museums or art galleries) was associated with a 32 percent lower risk of developing depression.”

Vibrant and resilient

At the Lee Alliance in a county that has roundly and robustly supported baseball over time — Lee is now spring training home to both the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins — Ms. Rowan-Deckart is proud of arts numbers, too.

By no means at the top of a list of Florida’s wealthiest counties, Lee nevertheless benefits from the vibrant support of citizens for the arts.

“In 2022, the arts provided 2,500 jobs and $23.4 million in state and local tax revenue,” Ms. Rowan-Deckart noted, “and we contributed $135.3 million in economic activity. That’s the economic ripple from seeing a show — did you drive, hire a ride, eat out, have a cocktail, pay a babysitter? In that respect we’re bigger than baseball.

“On top of that, we serve no debt. Beaches and baseball — baseball is servicing a $16 million note on the facilities, and a couple of years ago, it was in the $60 million (range). The arts contribution, on the other hand, is just straight economic activity.”

Those numbers allow her to make this claim not only with prices but with accuracy: “We’re bigger than baseball!”

It’s like that elsewhere as well, with all the arts working together to enrich counties and communities.

At the Norton Museum of Art, for example, Ghislain d’Humières, director and CEO, suggested that in the arts, it’s one for all and all for one.

“The cultural community must stand together and voice our concerns as one. This loss of funds will impact each of our organizations in the short run. But in the long run? If this course of action continues, it is the citizens of our communities who will be shortchanged,” d’Humières said.

The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County’s Arts in My Backyard Family Saturdays program, a collaboration with Community Partners of South Florida. COURTESY PHOTO

But they won’t be shortchanged, either by philanthropists or by the many political leaders who support the arts one way or another.

A lot of people know that, which may be why Kristen Coury, CEO, founder and producing artistic director of the Gulfshore Playhouse in Naples, is completing a successful $72 million fundraising campaign with the help of outgoing Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R-28) and Rep. Bob Rommel (R-81).

Although Gulfshore Playhouse discovered it would not be receiving an expected $70,500 this year, the loss paled in comparison to a gain that came with the state budget — but through the Department of Commerce, not through the Division of Arts and Culture, which traditionally recommends arts grants.

“Our situation is a little more complicated,” Ms. Coury said.

“We saw the writing on the wall with different counties removing arts funding, so we took the opportunity to apply for a legislative budget item through Sen. Passidomo’s office, and both she and Rep. Rommel advocated for it.”

They pitched not the art and theater as cultural lodestones, but the potent economic impact of a new Gulfshore Playhouse. And it worked. The politicians “agreed to the allocation through the Department of Commerce, based on the case we made for increasing jobs and economic impact in theater. So we got it.”

The astounding amount: $2.5 million, which did not come under Gov. Ron De- Santis’ veto pen.

Ms. Coury got the idea to approach government this way many years ago, she said, “when we were smaller, at the beginning of the campaign. We went to Sen. Passidomo and told her about the project. She made suggestions.

“As we neared the end of the campaign we knew her term was ending, we were close to finishing, and any support from the state would be helpful. So we had to make a decision: Where would we request the money from? Because we were making a case that (it could pay for) construction costs, consultants, architects, furniture and furnishings, all the technical equipment it takes to run a theater, lighting and sound…all of it.”

The politicians awarding the grant and signing off on it, apparently, saw the exceptional value of Gulfshore Playhouse.

“Nobody ever realized…we have an infrastructure. We’re building a 45,000-square-foot building and a 25,000-square-foot shop where we’ll build our sets and costumes and props — and an administrative office. And we rent a lot of places around town to house our artists. We’re a major force.”

All the arts are, it seems.

“We’re a major force,” Ms. Coury said, repeating the phrase.

It’s the only way arts should be viewed.

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