Cashing in on culture to boost business
PHOTO/MATT VOLPINI
Nick Capasso, director of the Fitchburg Art Museum, says there's a symbiotic relationship between his institution and the city, with the goal of having both the museum and downtown flourish.
PHOTO/Matt VOLPINI
Nick Capasso of the Fitchburg Art Museum: “We’re bringing all these people to Fitchburg. They also eat at the local diners, they gas up their car … there is economic spillover to that.”
A couple drives down from New Hampshire to take in a show at the Hanover Theatre, dining at a local restaurant beforehand, then spending the night in a hotel so they can grab brunch before they get in a visit to the Worcester Art Museum on their way back home.
It's this kind of scenario that local governments envision as they look to boost their economies through arts and culture.
More governments and nonprofit groups across Central Massachusetts are focusing on culture and the arts as money-making cornerstones capable of anchoring entire neighborhoods while making cities more livable. In Worcester, for example, the City Council is being asked to establish a cultural district in the Salisbury Street area that would represent a step toward establishing a walkable, cultural destination near downtown that would highlight such sites as the Worcester Art Museum and American Antiquarian Society.
Each year in Massachusetts, $2.1 billion is spent directly on arts and culture, unleashing another $2.5 billion in residual spending elsewhere, according to Matt Wilson, executive director of MASSCreative, a nonprofit that promotes arts and cultural institutions throughout the commonwealth.
“The most exciting things that are happening (are) in Gateway cities such as Worcester and Fitchburg, where the city is embracing arts and culture as an economic driver,” said Erin Williams, Worcester's cultural development officer. This can draw tourists and create an entire “economic sector” around the arts, she explained.
Even one institution can have a widespread financial impact. In the last year, the DCU Center took in $14.5 million in revenue inside the stadium while hosting 500,000 visitors for various concerts and sporting events. The DCU has an annual payroll of $2.7 million with 48 full-time and approximately 650 part-time employees. The Worcester Sharks hockey team employs another 20 full-time employees. But these numbers don't reflect additional spending visitors bring to the city, such as at restaurants and hotels.
Other organizations such as the EcoTarium, Worcester Art Museum and American Antiquarian Society are also long-lasting institutions that can help raise the quality of life in the Worcester neighborhoods where they're located, Williams said.
Fitchburg: Arts to eats
This has also been more visible in recent years in downtown Fitchburg, where the anchor institutions of Fitchburg State University and the Fitchburg Art Museum have helped bolster a struggling community.
The museum has been a downtown fixture since its founding in 1925, director Nick Capasso said, and it's even more vital now as the city struggles economically. For example, Fitchburg's unemployment rate was 8.8 percent in August, compared to 5.8 percent for the state. Much like the city itself, the museum had “gone sleepy” with flagging attendance. Capasso was charged with revitalizing it. The museum recently underwent a $1 million renovation and streetscape project that improved the look of the institution while injecting money into the economy. Through outreach efforts that include adding contemporary, local art and Spanish translation to all pieces in the museum, Capasso said attendance from Boston and MetroWest has risen 50 percent in the last year.
“We're bringing all these people to Fitchburg,” Capasso said. “They also eat at the local diners, they gas up their car … there is economic spillover to that.”
There's a symbiotic relationship between the museum and the community, he explained, and it's in the best interest of everyone involved for both the downtown and museum to flourish. The museum has been working with the Twin Cities Community Development Corp., which seeks to boost housing and economic development in Fitchburg and Leominster, to rehabilitate boarded-up buildings across the street and turn them into studio and living space for artists.
“If you make the downtown fun, then a software company might consider the cheap real estate because people want to live in … places where there is an active street life and something to do on Friday evening, and that is what the arts can help to generate,” Capasso said. “I'm not saying that arts and culture are going to be the salvation of Fitchburg, but they are an important part of a much larger, interconnected solution.”
David McKeehan, president of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, agrees that cultural institutions contribute beyond their budgets and broader fiscal impacts, explaining they're a “critical part of the fabric of a community and its potential growth.”
“Quality of life is a huge item in attracting and keeping employees in the region,” McKeehan said. “It's certainly a factor in the liveability of a community and the credibility of a community in terms of establishing the substance that a community offers to a potential employer.”
Worcester: City support lauded
In Worcester, upwards of 50,000 visitors flock to the outdoor stART on the Street fair and festival each year, while at the Hanover Theatre, more than 80 percent of attendees come from outside the city. As a result of promoting the cultural institutions and encouraging the growth of arts and culture, the city has seen tourism grow from 1 million people in 2006 to 2.7 million last year, according to Williams.
“There's a double tier in creative revitalization in the city, and that is the economic impact, but also the social impact. What makes this city a great place to work, live and play?” Williams said. “It is the collective energy ... that has really brought the city to life.”
Worcester does a good job of spreading information about large and small arts and cultural events, said Tina Zlody, co-founder and co-director of stART on the Street.
However, she said more funding and an even more explicit focus on the arts would help. She said she would like to see Worcester follow the lead of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, who recently appointed that city's first chief of arts and culture in more than 20 years. Worcester can do that by creating a dedicated cultural development department at City Hall, and allocating more money to public art, Zlody said. A clearer focus on the arts would only help to grow the cultural and artistic strength that's already beginning to set Worcester apart from other communities and draw more business into the city, she said.
“Businesses will look to places that have very strong arts programs as a place to move their business,” Zlody said. “They are not just looking at rent, or a certain demographic, they are looking at the arts … it is part of an integral web that makes Worcester a vital place to be.”
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