Art for New England's sake!

New England Journal of Higher Education, The, Summer 1998 by Harney, John O

When academics tout the economic impact of New England's higher education enterprise, they instinctively point to universit, science research or the latest community college worker retraining program. They almost never flaunt their arts programs in this context. But they should.

New England's college- and university-based arts programs feed not only the imagination, but also the economy. Though the region is home to just 5 percent of the U.S. population, New England's colleges and universities award 8 percent of U.S. college degrees in arts and music-and, along with the region's museums, cultural organizations and artists, garner 7 percent of funds awarded by the embattled National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Perhaps as a result of this educational over-achievenent, Boston ranks sixth among all U.S. metro areas in artists as a percentage of the labor force. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont all rank among the top 10 states nationally by this measure.

The economic impact of university science research is measured in spinoff activity, right? Well, academic arts programs create spinoffs too. More than 1,000 commercial art-oriented businesses, including photography studios and ad agencies, operate in New England. And the region boasts nearly 10,000 nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, which are responsible for $2.3 billion in annual spending, according to a study by the New England Foundation for the Arts.

That study also counted nearly 100 million yearly admissions to arts and cultural events in the region-about 20 times the annual attendance at major league sporting events in New England. Despite the rants of conservative politicians, people like art.

The economic impact of arts programs is revealed not only in quantifiable terms like employment and ticket sales, but also in the region's quality of life and, indeed, in the creativity that underlies New England's fabled capacity to innovate.

Montserrat College of Art expands in downtown Beverly and, like magic, quality restaurants appear. The Maine College of Art takes over an abandoned Portland department store, and southern Maine lawyers, accountants and entrepreneurs receive a signal: stick with the seacoast city.

No wonder governments from Dublin, Ireland, to Providence, R.I., have created special tax-favored zones for artists. They know that art, more than any other use, enlivens street life. And they know that CEOs consider a community s cultural climate when making business location decisions.

The National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies recently named 14 New England cities and towns among America's 100 best small communities for the arts-a disproportionate share that seems more than coincidental in a region that also boasts a disproportionate share of higher education resources.

Admittedly, the impact of arts programs on industrial innovation is more difficult to assess. And arts are really not supposed to be "useful But it has been noted that Japanese art forms seem to underlie the design of Japanese automobiles and other products that have been so successful in the world marketplace.

Indeed, the practical value of an arts education has been recognized in New England at least since the 1870s, when the public Massachusetts College of Art (MassArt) and the private Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) were created at the urging of business leaders who saw a need for homegrown designers to support the region's surging textile industry.

New England's textile industry is mostly history. But MassArt still offers a major in "industrial design." Meanwhile, RISD and Bryant College, known for business education, have attempted to capitalize on these practical applications by jointly establishing a Center for Design and Business, which aims to spur economic development in southern New England through the use of design.

Moreover; learning to understand art-and trying to make art doesn't just "round out" individuals. It also helps students, young and old, approach and understand hard sciences and other subjects. A new course at Yale University, for example, helps medical students become more careful observers by having them view an assigned painting at the Yale Center for British Art and, according to a course promo, "study it like a rash that has been framed."

Despite all this, college and university arts programs face nagging problems, according to arts educators and others who gathered recently in Portland, Maine, for a New England Board of Higher Education conference aimed at exploring the impact of academic arts programs on New England's economic and social life.

Among other things, the arts educators lamented the artistic deficiencies of students who arrive at the doors of college admissions offices. After all, some urban school districts haven't taught music in a quarter century. And in too many of the districts where music and other arts courses have survived, so has a tradition of half-baked arts teaching.

Consider New England Conservatory of Music President Robert Freeman's anecdote about dining a few years back with the president of Eastman Kodak. Freeman, then director of the Eastman School in Rochester, N.Y, asked about the powerful businessman's interest in music. "Alas. I have a tin ear," the executive told Freeman, adding, "1 wanted to sing in the choir in the seventh grade, but was told by the director of that group that I had absolutely no ability in music."