Resource Center
Resources for exploring and making a difference.
Prescription for a Healthy Arts Scene – Renny Pritikin (2008)
Renny Pritikin, Director and curator of the Nelson Gallery and Fine Art Collection at the University of California, Davis and Former chief curator at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco wrote a prescription for a health arts scene in 2008 which is a valuable way of thinking about the arts ecosystem.
- A large pool of artists - there’s a critical mass or tipping point that makes a scene
- Teaching opportunities which help support the pool of artists
- Active art schools which feed into the pool of artists and give artists teaching opportunities
- Studio space that’s affordable as well as live/work laws that allow artists to occupy light industrial spaces
- Alternative spaces that given exhibition and residence opportunities for new art and ideas
- Adventurous art dealers who take on new artists, support artists with sales
- Adventurous collectors who buy locally and buy new work [and] make their collections available to students
- Sophisticated writers to document, discuss and promote new ideas/continuing regional development
- Publications for them to write for
- Newspaper critics who are thoughtful and sophisticated and talented
- Fellowships and grants available for artists and writers
- Accessible museums and curators who talk to each other and do studio visits with local artists
- Interested audiences who attend all of the about and ready about it
- Access to specialized materials or businesses (such as high tech materials in the SF Bay Area or film industry in LA)
- Social space where new ideas are being generated about art, about society, about the role of art
- Hangouts, parties, salons, lecture series. Restaurants, bars where a sense of community is manifested
- Articulate artist leaders
- Heroes, iconoclasts, villains (people everyone love to hate)
- Artist in residency opportunities
- Progressive political climate that encourages art as opposed to, say, Giuliani using his office to go after the Brooklyn Museum*
- Opportunities for artists to get involved in politics
- Opportunities for public art (city or private)
- Events that bring people together scheduled multi–gallery opening nights for example
Communication and dialog with arts/curators/writers etc. outside of the local demographics encouraging shared thought and collaboration of ideas while also creating inputs and outputs for potential exhibition or public display of these shared insights.
For an interview with Renny, visit Proximity Magazine >>
Arts & Economic Prosperity IV (2012)
The nonprofit arts and culture industry in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties generates more than $253 million in annual economic activity, according to Arts & Economic Prosperity IV, a national economic impact study. The study was conducted in 182 communities nationwide by Americans for the Arts, with local support from the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) and Business for Culture & the Arts (BCA).
According to the study, the region’s nonprofit arts and culture organizations spent $152 million during fiscal year 2010. This spending is far-reaching: organizations pay employees, purchase supplies, contract for services and acquire assets within their community. The industry also leverages more than $101 million in event-related spending by its audiences; as a result of attending a cultural event, attendees often eat dinner in local restaurants, pay for parking, buy gifts and souvenirs, and pay a babysitter. All combined, these dollars support 8,529 full-time equivalent jobs, generate $195 million in household income for local residents, and $21 million in local and state government revenues.
The study found the total attendance at arts and culture events in 2010 was 4.6 million, and that 16.3% of these were visitors from out of town. Nearly 70% of all visitors say that the primary reason for their trip is “specifically to attend this arts/culture event,” and visitors who stay overnight in a local hotel spend an average of $154.79 per person as a direct result of their attendance.
Download the Arts & Economic Prosperity IV Report (pdf)
Top 10 Reasons to Support the Arts – by Randy Cohen
Americans for the Arts Research Director, Randy Cohen gives his top 10 reasons to support the arts. Read the entire post from the ARTSBlog.
National BCA Survey on Business Giving to the Arts
Conducted by the National Business Committee for the Arts, this research is the largest survey of its kind, delving beyond pure numbers into the motivations behind and goals of business partnerships with the arts. The specific findings from the survey are used to project national trends in support for the arts by businesses large and small across our nation. The study acts as a resource for current and potential funders of the arts, and for local advocacy organizations to encourage increased partnership between the business community and the arts. BCA has conducted the survey since 1968.
Read the Executive Summary (pdf).
Download the Complete Findings & Report (pdf).
Community Directory
Each year, BCA publishes a Portland-Metro region community directory, a listing of local arts and culture organizations and their needs for board members, committee members and volunteer opportunities. Please download the complete directory to learn about our area’s diverse organizations.
Arts & Economic Prosperity III (2007)
Throughout 2006, BCA collaborated with the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) to participate in a major study coordinated by Americans for the Arts to quantify the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture sector in the Portland metropolitan area and 155 other communities across the country.
The national report, released May 22, 2007, concluded that the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $166.2 billion in economic activity annually. This spending supports 5.7 million FTE jobs in the United States, and because these organizations are deeply rooted in the community, these are jobs that necessarily remain local and cannot be shipped overseas. For more information about the study visit www.AmericansForTheArts.org/EconomicImpact.
The local report, released on June 6, 2006, revealed that 111 nonprofit arts and culture organizations in Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington Counties compose a $318 million industry, including $166.7 million in direct organizational spending and $151.5 million in event-related spending by their audiences. This economic activity supports more than 10,300 jobs and generates $206.7 million in household income to local residents.
To read or download the Arts & Economic Prosperity III Study, click here.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Contact Jessica Stern, BCA Membership Manager.
