Gloucester Daily Times
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/
Published: 08/02/2007
Arts are key to Gloucester's future
By Seeing seARTS
Anita Walker
"The future of Massachusetts is based on innovation and creativity. . . The cities that have survived have become ones that have focused around new thoughts and new creativity." - Prof. Edward Glaeser, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, speaking at "The Innovation Agenda" Creative Economy Conference in Salem, 2006
During the past 20 years, Massachusetts has shifted from an industrial economy to a "new economy," with a significantly different mix of industries and services leading economic growth.
Arts and culture have emerged as a key part of that mix. Massachusetts is home to more than 14,000 creative businesses that employ 78,204 people and play a significant role in building and sustaining economic vibrancy, according to Americans for the Arts. Gloucester is a community that in many ways exemplifies both the challenges and the opportunities that this creative economy represents.
It is no coincidence that Gloucester is home to both America's oldest seaport and its oldest working art colony. The ocean has been a catalyst for economic and creative activity. That continues today in the work of seARTs, a coalition of cultural organizations and artists, in cooperation with the city of Gloucester, that is leading efforts to rejuvenate Gloucester as a vibrant contemporary arts center and year-round tourist destination.
The seARTS partnership provides economic opportunities for artists and businesses by developing and promoting arts activities that are integrated into the cultural and business life of the city. The Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) has invested $110,000 in seARTS since 2005 through its Adams Arts Program for the Creative Economy.
The MCC is a state agency committed to fostering a central place for arts and culture in the everyday lives of communities across the state. Its Adams Arts Program for the Creative Economy recognizes the pivotal role that the creative sector plays in Massachusetts. Tapping into our state's wealth of cultural assets, the Adams Program funds projects that create jobs and income, revitalize neighborhoods and commercial districts, and draw new visitors to communities and regions. The program inspires innovative, progressive, and systemic approaches to economic development in communities across Massachusetts.
Statewide, the MCC's investment through the Adams Program has brought together cross-sections of stakeholders to achieve economic and community goals. Past initiatives have demonstrated a track record of success in contributing to economic growth and inspiring urban renewal. Moreover, the Adams Program gives cultural leaders the opportunity to join the discussion on neighborhood revitalization, job creation, and economic growth, contributing valuable perspectives often missing in the past. The program also helps communities develop creative economy plans, by offering counseling with MCC staff and other experts and providing grants that help cover the costs of planning processes.
The MCC pioneered its creative economy program nearly a decade ago, and it was reinvigorated by the Massachusetts Legislature in 2004 when the Adams Program was established with broad bipartisan support. Among the strongest supporters of the program are Gloucester's State House delegation: Sen. Bruce Tarr and Rep. Anthony Verga.
That support has reaped dividends for seARTs' work in Gloucester. The coalition has helped forge new connections between artists and businesses. It has championed the city's tremendous cultural assets not only to visitors, but to the people of Gloucester and Cape Ann as well. It has helped revitalize the Rocky Neck Art Colony. And perhaps most importantly, it has created a support system for the many talented artists living and working in Gloucester today, encouraging them to use their creative vision to contribute to a dialogue about the community's future.
The review panel that reviewed seARTs' work last year called it "imaginative, dynamic, and unconventional." The expert panelists saw great strength in the coalition's recognition of the city's declining fishing industry as a central element of its current economic context, and that any effort to employ the arts as an economic tool must integrate the local fishing industry businesses to be successful.
The arts are, of course, much more than just an economic engine. They inspire us, teach us, and help us build bridges between cultures and communities. And they are only one of many vehicles through which Gloucester can succeed in the new economy. But the seARTs coalition has demonstrated that with imagination, perseverance and hard work, the arts can help a community see itself in new ways and imagine new possibilities for the community's future.
Anita Walker was appointed executive director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council in April.
"Seeing seARTS" is an occasional Times feature on the work of seARTS members or those who participate in seARTS events. The Society for the Encouragement of the Arts is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to re-establish Cape Ann as a world-class center for working artists in balance with the unique character of Cape Ann as a maritime community.