Divining the economic power of the arts

Members of the Northbird Singers, a group of singers, drummers and dancers from the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwa, perform a traditional dance during the Dec. 6, 2014 Great Northern Radio Show at the Northern Lights Casino in Walker, Minnesota. The next Great Northern Radio Show will take place March 7, 2015 at North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park.

Members of the Northbird Singers, a group of singers, drummers and dancers from the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwa, perform a traditional dance during the Dec. 6, 2014 Great Northern Radio Show at the Northern Lights Casino in Walker, Minnesota. The next Great Northern Radio Show will take place March 7, 2015 at North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park. (PHOTO: Grant Frashier)

Last week, the Creative Minnesota initiative released a comprehensive report on the economic impact of the arts in communities and regions across the state. Download it here.

Nearly 1,300 independent arts organizations in the eight arts funding regions of Minnesota participated in the study, including hundreds here in Northern Minnesota.

The top line numbers? The arts contribute $1.2 billion to Minnesota’s economy, and employ the equivalent of more than 33,000 full time employees, also supporting an additional 42,000 independent artists and serving a collective audience of 19 million people.

In the Northeastern Minnesota Arrowhead region, the arts creates a notable, but far more modest, $40 million in economic activity, which begs the question: what exactly is the correlation between a strong economy and a vibrant arts community?

For the last few years, culminating in last fall’s elections, some have charged that we are a state of two economies. Yes, the 11-county metropolitan area has not only recovered from the recession of six years ago, but is indeed thriving. But rural Minnesota, including the Iron Range, hasn’t enjoyed the same level of success. (On the Iron Range we have seen a modest recovery due to robust mining activity, but that recovery is now threatened by falling iron ore prices).

The Creative MN study shows that a full $1 billion of the $1.2 billion economic arts impact was in the metro area. Naturally, most of the state’s population lives in the metro area, which is a big part of the reason, but I am left with the thought that the metro’s strong arts community might, in fact, be part of the draw for those who spurred the economic recovery.

No, jobs in the arts aren’t inherently high paying ones. The people who take them simply aren’t deterred by that fact. Arts jobs are, however, more plentiful and important than people realize. What having a strong arts scene means is an environment where growth and quality of life raise the wages and prospects of the entire community. The arts aren’t ends; they are means.

Here on the Iron Range and in many rural parts of Northern Minnesota, increased attention paid to the impact of the arts wouldn’t be new, rather it would be reviving something quite old. Range towns were built in the mud of a remote pine forest, yet within just a few years many of them had brick opera houses with chandeliers and box seats. And it wasn’t as simple as “the mining companies built them.” It was a cultural demand of the time, met by private and public sectors.

Most artists know there’s nothing new under the sun. So perhaps this original concept of Iron Range development could reenter our thinking in 2015. Meantime, the Creative MN study unveiled last week is worth a read.

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