Investment in the arts is investment in Wisconsin’s future
The arts are part of the solution |The arts build communities
Wisconsin is seeking new ways to succeed in a world that is changing faster
than ever before. Because of technological advances, speed of communications,
growth of information and the rapid changes of the last decades, the need
for creativity is now fundamental to devising new products, services,
technologies, business models, and ways of earning a living. The arts
are part of the solution!
For the 2007-2009 state budget, Wisconsin’s arts industry:
1. Calls for an additional investment of at least $2 million annually
in the 2007-2009 budget to support a greater emphasis on the state’s
creative economy. This investment will enhance and expand actions and
initiatives to help Wisconsin compete and lead in the global economy.
2. Supports Gov. Doyle’s budget recommendation to transfer Arts
Challenge Initiative funding to the Arts Board’s State Aids funds,
which will sustain funding for arts and arts education programs across
the state.
3. Asks Wisconsin legislators to support and/or assist in the formation
of the Wisconsin Legislative Arts Caucus, a bipartisan organization for
members of the State Legislature who support the arts. The goal of the
Arts Caucus is to work together to further access to the arts through
state initiatives, working with arts groups, artists, business leaders
and other arts supporters to promote legislation concerning the arts that
is important to the people of Wisconsin and keep Wisconsin’s arts
industry healthy and growing for the benefit of all citizens. Arts Wisconsin
will work with the legislative committee co-chairs to facilitate the committee
process.
Why is this investment so important?
Strategic, targeted and proactive state investment in Wisconsin’s
creative people, industries and communities as essential tools for economic
development, education and quality of life will:
• Provide access to the arts for all residents of Wisconsin, particularly
those in inner-city areas, small towns and rural communities
• Diversify our local, regional and statewide economic sector, critical
to 21st century economic success
• Better prepare Wisconsin and its citizens for the jobs of the
future. It is through education that we empower all students with the
creativity and skills necessary for their future roles in the family,
society, and world of work. Global research shows that involvement and
participation in the arts helps students (and people of all ages) develop
creative and critical thinking, teambuilding skills, and diverse perspectives.
• Build and sustain civic engagement, community participation, and
local pride throughout Wisconsin, maintaining and enhancing Wisconsin’s
appealing quality of life and making our state more attractive for business
recruitment and retention.
• Stabilize the arts community, an enhancement for the state's economy.
Studies indicate that for every dollar spent on the arts there is a return
of fourteen dollars to the state's economy.
Why are the arts so important to Wisconsin’s future?
• The arts are a competitive industry worthy of greater investment
for greater gain, to become powerful economic, educational and civic tools
for Wisconsin’s people and communities.
• According to the latest research by Americans for the Arts, Wisconsin's
arts-related creative industries already involve nearly 9,000 businesses,
and over 43,500 full-time jobs. The economic impact of Wisconsin’s
nonprofit arts sector alone is $290 million. That’s an industry
worthy of greater investment!
• Arts activity throughout Wisconsin has quadrupled in the past
twenty years, while the level of state support of its creative and cultural
resources has stagnated. Wisconsin lags far behind other Midwestern states
in public arts investment, with less than $2.5 million provided for arts
programming and arts education per year, which comes to about 45 cents
per person. The latest figures available reveal that Illinois invests
$20.6 million and Minnesota invests $8.5 million annually.
What will $2 million for the Wisconsin Arts Board do for Wisconsin?
The Arts Board supports creative and cultural arts programs, performances,
exhibits and educational activities that increase access to educational
programs for all Wisconsin students, expand the amount of arts programming
available to Wisconsin’s students, and help make our communities,
large and small, such great places to live. Additional funding will provide:
• At least 250 more cultural engagement programs such as arts festivals,
community mural projects, educational programs in schools, neighborhood
centers, and public spaces, and free or low-cost performances at arts
facilities statewide
• At least 1,000 additional in-school and after-school arts education
opportunities for inner-city, small town and rural Wisconsin students;
in many cases, Arts Board funding will make possible the only arts education
experience available for these students, since arts education funded by
school districts is disappearing due to budget constraints
• A new program of high school mentorships and apprenticeships in
the creative industries for at-risk students.
Many more civic engagement programs are possible with additional support.
The funding will be distributed through direct grants from the Wisconsin
Arts Board and on a local level by ten re-granting partner organizations
located around the state.
It's time to start realizing Wisconsin's full potential by investing in
its creative people, creative communities, and creative industries - and
intentionally addressing Wisconsin's participation in the creative economy.
An investment in the Wisconsin Arts Board will give us enormous return,
creating much-needed jobs and revenue for large and small communities.
This strategic investment will build upon our creative and cultural assets
and aid in the attraction and retention of talented workers, business
incubation, education and job training, cultural tourism and community
development.