Business, Arts Make For A Creative Mix

Long before Congress began its political rhetoric about the appropriate role of federal government support of the arts, the American business community quietly was investing in the arts in cities large and small throughout the country.

In 1994, American companies invested a record $875 million in the visual and performing arts, according to a recent Business Committee for the Arts survey conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide Inc.

The survey reveals that nearly three quarters of the companies that made these investments were not the big companies generally associated with the arts.

They were, in fact, small and midsize businesses - those with revenues ranging from $1 million to $50 million - relatively unknown outside their communities.

These businesses are found in nearly every community: local stores, professional firms and agencies, real estate development companies, financial and investment firms, technology and manufacturing companies.

They represent 97 percent of the total business population in the United States with annual revenues of $1 million and more, according to Dun & Bradstreet.

The survey data reveal that, while diverse, these companies have one thing in common. All of them are concerned and active citizens of their communities.

They allocate time and resources to a broad range of local educational, human service, environmental and cultural organizations.

When asked to cite the major reasons for investing in the arts, small and midsize companies - just like big businesses - quickly say that it is part of their business responsibility as well as their business strategy.

Why? Consider:

The arts are key to the quality of life of an area and thus to their ability to attract and retain employees.

The arts are a resource that helps businesses’ employees think in non-linear terms - “outside the box” - to develop creative business solutions and strategies.

The arts can help their employees understand and appreciate other countries’ customs, cultures, traditions and business behavior, all of which are essential to a company’s success in global markets.

The arts make a significant contribution to the economic vitality of an area, by attracting tourists, conventions and meetings.

The arts play an important role in the education of the future work force. Recent studies reveal that youngsters who study the arts as part of their curriculum in kindergarten through grade 12 achieve higher scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test and are generally better students.

The types of investments that small and midsize companies make in the arts are diverse.

Some follow the traditional patterns established years ago by big companies. They respond to requests for general and special-project assistance from their local symphony orchestras, performing arts centers, museums, theaters, opera and dance companies.

Others, in substantially increasing numbers, are taking an entrepreneurial approach. They are going into their communities, assessing needs and creating entirely new initiatives.

For example, several years ago a real estate developer in Cerritos, Calif., Irwin Jaeger, brought public school, government and business leaders together to establish the Inner-City Arts Center to provide an array of visual and performing-arts activities to at-risk children living in south-central Los Angeles.

In Portland, Mary Arnstad, the president of one of the leading hotels in the city, the Heathman, realized that local artists needed an outlet to show and sell their works.

She created a program that enables the artists to exhibit their work in hotel guest rooms and restaurants and a publication that provides information and prices for each work.

In Atlanta, Martin Kogon, the chairman of Central Metals Co., melted down guns collected by the police department and gave the metal to a local university art instructor and his students to create a public sculpture for the city.

And in Houston, I.W. Marks, a jeweler who has a passion for music, sponsors educational opera and symphony programs for youngsters who would not experience these performing arts without his efforts.

Beyond enriching both the community and business, many of these entrepreneurial initiatives are designed to bring the arts into the everyday lives of millions of Americans and to dispel the notion that the arts are elitist.

But while the survey findings are encouraging, business can do only so much.

It is time for government at all levels as well as foundations to join the private sector and for each to do its share.

If all sectors work together, this generation and future generations of Americans will be the richer for it.

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