National Goverors Association Presents New Engines of Growth: Part 4, Catalyzing Community Revitilization

This is the fourth in a series of posts discussing a study released in May 2012 by the National Governors Association titled "New Engines of Growth: Five Roles for Arts, Culture and Design".

The report makes the argument that arts, culture, and design can assist states with economic growth because they can:

1. Provide a fast-growth, dynamic industry cluster

2. Help mature industries become more competitive

3. Provide the critical ingredients for innovative places

4. Catalyze community revitalization; and

5. Deliver a better-prepared workforce.

My first post discussed The Industry Cluster, and I showed how the newly formed networking group The Ashland Arts Alliance serves to solve many of the issues raised in forming and accelerating the growth of a creative industry cluster.

My second post covered how creativity can help mature industries become more competitive through creative marketing, bolstering tourism, and innovative manufacturing.

The third post talked about:

• Launching cultural districts and arts enterprise zones.
• Creating spaces for artists and other creative talent to cluster, interact, and thrive.
• Integrating arts, culture, and design into innovation hubs that encourage collaboration.

So now lets talk about number four: Catalyzing community revitalization. The chapter begins:

All over the country, states and cities are scrambling to find ways to reinvent and revitalize communities and neighborhoods. The arts, culture, and design sector can be a catalyst to revive older commercial districts and neighborhoods and can be part of a state strategy to reclaim abandoned investments in physical infrastructure and communities.

As an example, the study cites Austin Texas:

Because creative people like to be around other creative people, even if they are in different businesses, Austin, Texas, is one of the great economic success stories in the United States in the last 30 years. There is no question that the region made great strategic moves and creatively exploited its assets, especially the University of Texas, in building new pillars of economic prosperity. But it is also true that Austin’s flourishing music scene and its funky cultural attitudes—best summed up in the local slogan “Keep Austin Weird”—were key ingredients as well.

Now I'm not familiar with the "Keep Austin Weird" slogan. A quick Wikipedia search yields:

Austin is the self-proclaimed "live music capital of the world" and the people of Austin reflect a friendly, accepting culture of artistic and individual expression that maintains the city as a vibrant and eclectic creative center and haven for anLGBT community, intellectual community, community of naturalists and environmentalists, and for subcultures and people(s) who are not mainstream. In a mostly conservative Texas, Austin is "Weird" because of that and because it continues to be liberal and progressive politically, socially, in culture, in the arts and in music, among other things. "Keep Austin Weird" moves beyond a mere slogan, to reflect the dynamics that encompass Austin.

I like this. It reminds my of my welcoming blurb for the Ashland Arts Alliance:

This is a group for creatives in all arts disciplines in the Ashland, Virginia area to find each other for potential collaboration. I believe that Ashland has a lot of "arts" professionals and hobbyists who live under the radar, and are looking for significant change in attitudes about arts both locally and nationally.

This is a call out not only to fine artists who might think that the area is not ready for the subject matter that they deal with, but also for musicians, dancers, videographers, photographers, graphic designers, filmmakers, illustrators, stylists, recording artists and anyone else that considers themselves to be "artists".

Lowbrow, body art,street art, spoken word, hoopers and spinners, and any area of alternative. Diversity is a word being bandied around a lot lately. Lets see some real diversity in Ashland. I know its there... it is time to be seen. All economic levels, all lifestyle choices.


Here's a photo of some of our members from a story in Richmond's Style Weekly magazine:

Nicole Randall (front), Heather Addley, and Courtney Ford, part of The Clockworks Collective, and members of the Ashland Arts Alliance

It illustrates that if you want to have a successful arts and culture scene, the more open and welcoming it is to the people who dedicated their lives to creating art, the more successful you will be. And yes, we are often considered "weird. See my post on Xenophobia. 

Part 2 of the chapter speaks to restoring distressed communities and reclaiming abandoned spaces, and the trend for artists to be the pioneers in such efforts. The study reads:

Taking heed of this trend, in April 2011 the Ford Foundation started a $100 million program to develop artists’ spaces across the country. In announcing the program, Luis Ubinas, the foundation president, cited the economic potential of artist communities in the founda- tion’s decision to commit such a large sum:

“We...believe that this investment in arts infrastructure will advance the well-being of communities because artists and art spaces can play a significant role in boosting local economies.”

States and cities are propelling this new economic vitality as well as using historic preservation and artist relocation programs, for example, in catalytic roles.

Read that again: "artist relocation programs". As I keep saying, the competition to acquire artists is rising. Not just artists, but artists who are leaders. Catalysts. I'll go ahead and be self indulgent, and point out that the title I gave myself as founder of the Ashland Arts Alliance is "Catalyst". This was before I read or was aware of the report. I'm starting to think perhaps I should be shopping around, looking for the best opportunities in the country for my particular set of talents. The incentives are rising.

The study points out the city of Paducah, Kentucky:

The Paducah, Kentucky, Artist Relocation Program was started in August 2000 as a way to reduce urban blight, preserve historic buildings, and bring artists in particular to the downtown area of LowerTown, the city’s oldest neighborhood. Incentives offered to artists and others include 100-percent financing for the purchase and rehabilitation of an existing structure or the building of a new structure; free lots for new construction, as available; assistance in paying professional fees; and national marketing exposure as a part of the LowerTown Arts District. In the first year, eight artists moved to LowerTown. In the second year, the number increased to around 20. In 2010, more than 100 artists lived and worked in the neighborhood.

This is sort of like giving artists 40 acres and a mule.

A study conducted by Americans for the Arts in 2009 found that Paducah’s arts scene brought in $27.8 million in 2007

The final part of the chapter addresses improving livability and quality of life through creative spaces:



The question of how to foster high-quality places is one of the most important in economic development today. By providing amenities, connectivity, and sense of place, public art and well-designed public spaces can be part of the answer. They contribute to the visual landscape and character of a state or city. They help transform transportation corridors and waterfronts into welcoming places for people to live, work, play, and gather as a community.

As an example, it cites percent-for-art programs, and this interesting bit about Vermont:

In Vermont, artists, community members, and engineers are working to integrate artistic enhancements into the redevelopment of a portion of U.S. Highway Route 2 through the village of Danville in a way that combines state and local efforts. The Danville Transportation Enhancement Project brings together the Vermont Arts Council and the Vermont Agency of Transportation in a first-time partnership to work with the town. Much of Route 2 throughout Vermont has already been widened and better designed, but the Danville section of the highway remains to be completed. Route 2 is essentially the community’s main street, as it runs through the town center connecting the school, general store, and several churches. The goal of the project is to upgrade road conditions through the town to meet Federal Highway System requirements, while enhancing the feel of a small, close-knit, rural community and pre- serving a pedestrian environment. With broad public, private, and multiagency support, the Danville project provides a template to help small communities deal with quality-of-life issues as they relate to the demands of infrastructure.

I'll conclude this series with part 5, Delivering a Better Prepared Workforce. The chapter speaks to creative education, which has been a recurring topic on this blog.

National Goverors Association Presents New Engines of Growth: Part 3, Critical Ingredients for Innovative Places

This is the third in a series of posts discussing a study released in May 2012 by the National Governors Association titled "New Engines of Growth: Five Roles for Arts, Culture and Design".

The report makes the argument that arts, culture, and design can assist states with economic growth because they can:

1. Provide a fast-growth, dynamic industry cluster

2. Help mature industries become more competitive

3. Provide the critical ingredients for innovative places

4. Catalyze community revitalization; and

5. Deliver a better-prepared workforce.

My first post discussed The Industry Cluster, and I showed how the newly formed networking group The Ashland Arts Alliance serves to solve many of the issues raised in forming and accelerating the growth of a creative industry cluster.

My second post covered how creativity can help mature industries become more competitive through creative marketing, bolstering tourism, and innovative manufacturing.

The third chapter of the study opens:

The most successful American places in the 21st century are likely to be innovation hubs. They are locations that support an open innovation business model, foster co-location, and promote easy and constant interaction among many different industries and a wide variety of creative workers, from artists to scientists to engineers. It may seem ironic in today’s global economy, but place has become more important than ever.

Later it states:

Proximity reduces the overall costs of collaboration and makes it easier for the collaborators—both businesses and individual workers—to respond to new opportunities quickly and retool or reconfig- ure as needed.

And then later:

A number of states are supporting the development of more and better innovative places generally and innovation hubs specifically. Three recurring themes have appeared in this effort:

• Launching cultural districts and arts enterprise zones.
• Creating spaces for artists and other creative talent to cluster, interact, and thrive.
• Integrating arts, culture, and design into innovation hubs that encourage collaboration.

The town of Ashland Virginia just launched an arts and culture district. I've been working up in Arlington Virginia, where one of the most remarkable and innovative spaces I've ever seen was created, the Gunston Arts Center. I'll be writing a post on that in the near future. Here's a sneak peak; a theatrical scene shop and two performance spaces on the campus of Gunston Middle School. The shop is available to all county theatrical companies to build sets. Here I'm beginning construction on the set for The American Century Theater's production of Sister Mary Ignatious Explains It All For You.

Scene Shop at Gunston Middle School

Overhead view of Arlington County scene shop at Gunston Middle School

Here are a couple of shots of the installed set. Note, these are not photographs of a classroom at a Middle school. They are photographs of a set of a classroom built in a black box theater on the campus of a Middle School!

The set installed in Theater 2 at Gunson Middle School

Close up of set for Sister Mary

The study goes on to say:

Just as states have created spaces for individual artists to live and work, they have created spaces within cities and towns for a wide variety of creative individuals and enterprises—artists, website designers, architects, writers, university professors, product engineers—to be close enough to visit one another “before the cup of coffee gets cold.” Increasingly, states are helping to create hubs and zones that encourage this kind of proximity, not just within economic sectors but across a diverse range of industries in which creativity matters, such as technology, entertainment, journalism, finance, and high-end manufacturing. The most successful of those initiatives are incorporating the arts and creative enterprises, not only as part of the industry mix but also as partners in the planning and development of the innovation zones. Inclusion of the arts and culture in all dimensions of hub development helps to create a fertile habitat for innovation and, ultimately, economic renewal and long-term prosperity, even in states that are facing some of the most acute economic challenges.

There is a recurring theme in all of this. That of government providing not just a hand wave of zoning with a few tax incentives amounting to a hundred dollars a year or so, but of providing real tangible space and other incentives to draw creative people to their communities.


I say the competition is on. I say that it has never been a better time to be an artist in America, and that communities will have to up the ante if they want to draw driven, committed, creative individuals to be part of their economic growth strategy.


This is serious business folks. We are talking about the potential extensive relocation of many of the most creative people in America. What is going to draw them to your town? What are you going to do to keep them?

National Goverors Association Presents New Engines of Growth: Part 2, Enhancing Competition

This is the second in a series of posts discussing a study released in May 2012 by the National Governors Association titled "New Engines of Growth: Five Roles for Arts, Culture and Design".


The report makes the argument that arts, culture, and design can assist states with economic growth because they can:

1. Provide a fast-growth, dynamic industry cluster

2. Help mature industries become more competitive

3. Provide the critical ingredients for innovative places

4. Catalyze community revitalization; and

5. Deliver a better-prepared workforce.

My first post discussed The Industry Cluster, and I showed how the newly formed networking group The Ashland Arts Alliance serves to solve many of the issues raised in forming and accelerating the growth of a creative industry cluster. 


I'll now move on to number 2, and talk about how arts, culture, and design can help mature industries become more competitive.


The chapter begins:

States have several efforts under way focusing on industry renewal and retool- ing that connect well with arts, culture, and design. Those efforts also provide an important opportunity to further cooperation between economic development and arts and cultural agencies. One such effort concerns manufacturing, with states (including eight states participating in an NGA Center for Best Practices policy academy) focused on how to integrate inventing, designing, and producing high-value-added products into existing and emerging manufacturing industries. Another effort concerns tourism. The Western Governors’ Association 2011–2012 initiative focuses on ways to strengthen the Western economy by promoting growth of the outdoor recreation and tourism sectors.

In many industries, producing the most important new products and services depends on maintaining the worldwide technological lead. But that kind of leadership also depends on deeply creative individuals who can imagine how people can use things that have never been available before and who can create ingenious marketing and sales campaigns, write books, design cars, and imagine new kinds of software that will capture people’s imagination and become indispensable to millions.

Ok, sounds like some pretty lofty goals, eh? How does this fit into small town America?  Well lets start with marketing campaigns. We have a new pizza shop in town, called Gold Coast Pizza. They opened in November, and the owners, Ken and Karen Russell, are from Oregon. Their pizza is a speciality item.. specifically, it is west coast style pizza.

Being half Sicilian and growing up in Brooklyn, I have some pretty pre-conceived notions of what pizza is supposed to be. And this ain't it. However, I'm always one for trying new things, and the fact is that their pizza is pretty darned good! Now to me, it doesn't come close to a genuine New York style pizza, but my wife thinks it is the best pizza she's ever had.

I told Karen that they should have a presence at the Ashland Strawberry Faire, where the organizers projections were for up to 40,000 people. I came up with an idea. Since their logo is a silhouette of a covered wagon, and they have photos from the California gold rush on their walls, I would create the character of an old prospector, and hand out coupons.

I came up with a repeatable schtick:

"The name's Gold. Gilbert Gold. And I've struck gold! Gold Coast Pizza that is. Extraordinary Inducements. But one pizza at full price, get another half off. You've got sixty days to stake your claim!"

I based the coupon design on an old advertisement I found for steam ship transport to the west coast:

I had a harmonica with me and sang the song "Oh My Darling, Clementine". It begins "In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine, 'twas a miner, forty-niner, and his daughter Clementine" I don't have an exact count, but I'd estimate I handed out about 1,000 coupons at the fair. People loved the character. There were two main reactions to Gold Coast Pizza; either people had never heard of it, or they had tried it and loved it.

I've also done creative marketing campaigns for my haunted attractions, and even gave a presentation to a marketing class at a local high school school a couple of years ago on the use of Alternate Reality Marketing Campaigns.

Speaking of haunted attractions, this is certainly related to tourism. The Halloween industry has been growing steadily over the years, and currently generates seasonal money second only to Christmas. Theme parks got on the haunted attraction bandwagon around the year 2000. Thousands upon thousands of Halloween enthusiasts visit haunted attractions each year. Spooky World, a private haunted attraction in New England, grew to do two million dollars in ticket sales each season!

And speaking of Christmas, I do that too:

Father Christmas

Father Christmas and Pesci the Elf

My Dad started this wen he was 6 years old. I made many of the buildings.

As for manufacturing, how about designing a fountain with one of the world's leading fountain engineering firms? In 2006, I worked with Richmond sculptor Tom Wright to create the first in the world fountain of its kind, in conjunction with Kusser Fountainworks:

Fountain Design

Fountain comes in at about 4:45 on the following video:

And I'm just one guy. Imagine a collective of individuals dedicated to doing things that have never been done before. Dedicated to seeing the world in new ways. People who dream of things that never were, and say "why not?"

National Governors Association Presents New Engines of Growth: Part 1, The Industry Cluster

Kind of a long winded title there. But what I'm referring to is a study released in May 2012 by the National Governors Association titled "New Engines of Growth: Five Roles for Arts, Culture and Design"

As I read these things, I try to distill them down to the meat and potatoes. I always try to remember to link to the actual studies, so you can read them in depth for yourselves. Click the link above for the Full Monty. From the report:


This report focuses on the role that arts, culture, and design can play in assisting states as they seek to create jobs and boost their economies in the short run and transition to an innovation- based economy in the long run.


The report makes the argument that arts, culture, and design can assist states with economic growth because they can:

1. Provide a fast-growth, dynamic industry cluster

2. Help mature industries become more competitive

3. Provide the critical ingredients for innovative places

4. Catalyze community revitalization; and

5. Deliver a better-prepared workforce.

I'm going to focus in this blog post with #1, and say that an "industry cluster" is exactly what was my motivation behind forming the Ashland Arts Alliance. I had not heard the term "industry cluster" a month ago when I launched the Alliance, but there is a certain amount of stuff that is just intuitive. Here's a little gem from the report:

Because creating a new cluster can take decades, states must try to speed up the process by identifying existing and emerging clusters in the econo- my and helping them improve their competitive strengths. One way to help clusters with competitive advantage is to figure out which of the ingredients necessary for success are missing locally and how they can be supplied. Another way is to help all the potential participants in a cluster connect with one another.

Personally, I think I've found a pretty good solution to speeding up the process by figuring out how to help the participants connect with one another. I did it using Meetup.com. The Ashland Arts Alliance isn't even a month old, and we have 61 members. The talent pool consists of (but is not limited to) photographers, videographers, digital effects people, producers, writers, directors, recording artists, craftsmen, instrument makers (drums and a luthier) a hair stylist, music teachers, performers, jewelers, dancers, sound technicians, web site designers, graphic designers, SEO experts, and energy healers. I call that a pretty good cluster! Any two members can communicate with each other instantly, and collaborations can bloom overnight.

Again from the report:

Providing a fast-growth, dynamic industry cluster:

The creative economy does not consist only of artists. It includes a broad cluster of creative activities—arts, culture, design, entertainment, publishing, fashion, and other components. Existing economic development strategies can be used to focus on creative clusters within a state for competitive advantage. State leaders can:

• Identify creative enterprises—both commercial and nonprofit—in analyses of state industry clusters
• Include creative enterprises and arts, design, and cultural development experts in economic task forces, meetings, and other leadership activities
• Examine eligibility criteria for state assistance (incentives, training, technical assistance) to make sure that creative enterprises, artists, arts, and cultural organizations are eligible to participate
• Integrate entrepreneurial curriculum modules into art and design programs and into other education programs in community colleges and four-year institutions; and
• Pilot small business development center training courses for artists and entrepreneurs in creative fields.

Again, I'll toot my own horn by saying that when I created the "Arts Alliance", I went out of my way to say that it is not "elitist", and that anyone who considers themselves to be creative should join. We are indeed a "broad cluster of creative activities".

If state (or county or town) leaders want to identify creative enterprises in our cluster, all they have to do is go to the link for the Alliance. We are all there for everyone to see.

As for as being included in economic task forces, meetings, and other leadership activities, I'm doing my best. I've been emailing the board of directors of the local Main Street Association, some town council members, and the Economic Development Co-ordinator, whom I have a meeting with tomorrow. I attended the Town Council Candidates Forum, and lobbed one of the few challenging questions of the evening in regards to balancing preserving community standards vs. an artist's freedom of expression in terms of censorship. I've critiqued the town's Comprehensive Plan on this blog, as well as raised questions about the newly declared Arts and Culture District. I even commented on the town's observation of the National Day of Prayer, as faith is a huge part of "culture" in the "arts and culture" picture.

My wife is meeting with John Bryan, president of Culture Works, next week to discuss financial assistance for the arts.

I have contacted the county school board to express my interest in being involved in bringing more arts programs into the public schools. I'd love to get involved with our local private college, Randolph-Macon.

I love the idea of small business development center training courses.

None of this is rocket science. I didn't have to read a governors report to figure out what direction things need to move. But it is nice to get official backing for my efforts, as sometimes I feel like a lonely voice in a the wind.

Each of us has the power to get an "industry cluster" on the fast track. It takes a bit of time and effort, and being shameless in self promotion doesn't hurt. (I have the advantage of having produced numerous seasonal events which have attracted thousands of people). Nor does having members who do their own share in promoting the group. There should be an article on the Alliance coming out next week in the Richmond Arts and Culture magazine, Style Weekly, written by one of the members of our "broad cluster."