CVI Study: Arts are a growth industry in Wyoming

Press release from today's release of the Wyoming Creative Vitality Index:

While most indicators point to mineral extraction, tourism and agriculture as the state’s leading industries, Wyoming’s arts community is a driving force in the state’s economy and compares favorably with its neighbors in the Rocky Mountain West and nationally, according to a Creative Vitality Index Report released recently by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF). The complete CVI report is available on-line at http://www.wyomingartscouncil.org/.

Governor Dave Freudenthal, First Lady Nancy Freudenthal and members of the Wyoming Arts Council released the findings of the CVI during a press conference at the governors’ residence today.

The Creative Vitality Index is an annual measure of the economic health of an area’s creative economy through year-to-year and geographical comparisons based on data from a selection of creative occupations and arts organization income figures. Information for the CVI is collected through a variety of agencies including the IRS, Department of Labor and state, local and regional organizations.

'We have for some time made the argument both to private benefactors and public funding decision makers that the arts are an important and growing part of the Wyoming economy,” Governor Dave Freudenthal said. “This is the first time that we have hard data talking about several hundred million dollars of retail sales of non-profit revenue annually in the state.”

Prepared by WESTAF for 2006 through 2008, Wyoming’s Creative Vitality Index is measured at 1.04, compared to a national average of 1.00. Also, Wyoming “outperforms the nation on a per capita basis within three of the eight CVI categories. Wyoming performed best in the following CVI categories: individual artists, writers and performers, as well as performing arts participation.”

Additionally, Wyoming ranks above the national average in choreographers (3.52), photographers (1.18), visual artists (1.15) and writers (1.12).

Regionally, Wyoming’s CVI ranks second only to Colorado (1.10) in a comparison of the states’ creative economies, and is in the upper half of all states, according to the CVI study.

However, in a comparison of Wyoming’s creative economy with the six other Mountain States – Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Utah – Wyoming’s CVI balloons to 1.34, meaning the Cowboy State posts an index 34 percent higher than the average of its neighbors. Additionally, Wyoming’s strength within the region continues to grow increasing from 1.15 in 2007 to 1.34 in 2008.

What this means in terms of economic impact is that Wyoming artists provide a higher percentage of sales than their counterparts in the rest of the country. For instance, the revenue generated from art galleries is $31.79 per capita or 123 percent ahead of the national average. Also, revenue generated by individual artists is 28 percent ahead of the national average.

While Wyoming’s CVI is buoyed by extremely active cultural activity in the northwest part of the state – Jackson posts an astonishing 7.96 CVI, nearly eight times the national average, with Cody at 2.80 – many other counties post index figures above or near the national average. Weston County is measured at 1.71, with Johnson County at 1.03, Sheridan .93, Natrona .89, Laramie .77, Sublette .76 and Albany, .73.

Seventeen of Wyoming’s counties have shown increases in CVI scores from 2006 through 2008, and creative sector jobs in Campbell County rose from 254 to 314 an astonishing 23% increase during that same time frame.

The CVI study shows that the arts are a growth industry in Wyoming which contributes greatly to the state’s economy.

Though Wyoming is not commonly thought of as a “center of culture,” this information proves that Wyoming is a much bigger arts state than anyone realized, and a real beacon of arts activity in the Mountain West.

Read the Wyoming CVI on WAC web site

To read report: http://wyoarts.state.wy.us/pdf/WyomingFinalCVI.pdf

Wyoming Tourism Master Plan survey results now online

From Alan Dubberly, Deputy Director, Wyoming Travel & Tourism:

The Wyoming Tourism Master Plan is moving right along. Seven community meetings were conducted in May to gather initial input from stakeholders and all who were interested. We had over 200 attendees between all the meetings and were very pleased with the amount of participation and incredible ideas generated during the meetings. We have also conducted an initial e-survey via the Master Plan website – projectfrontdoor.

This survey is meant to be a starting point and to gather basic data and information on a very high level. Over 360 surveys were completed to provide us with a starting point on how the industry views some of the broad issues and areas.

We have recently posted the results of the survey to projectfrontdoor.com/process/process.htm.

Keep in mind that this is just the initial work to develop a Master Plan. We are still in the data collecting stage of this plan. We will be conducting other surveys and gathering more detailed information prior to completing the plan in December.

For those of you who took the time to attend the meetings and take the survey, we thank you very much. This plan will only be as good as the input and participation we receive from stakeholders and other interested parties. For those of you we haven’t heard from yet, there is still time to participate. In fact, we are planning a second, more detailed e-survey in August, for which, we will seek your input. At any time, you can go to http://projectfrontdoor.com/contact_team/contact_team.htm, click on Email us and send your thoughts, ideas or comments. Watch for the summaries of the seven regional meetings to be posted next week. We will let you know when they are available online.

Sam Western's book of poetry a finalist for High Plains Book Awards

Samuel Western's book, A Random Census of Souls: Prose Poems (Daniel & Daniel Publishers), is one of three finalists in the poetry category for the High Plains Book Awards. Sam lives in Sheridan and has won a creative writing fellowship from the Wyoming Arts Council.

Info about the book:

Prose poems built of strong narratives, keen descriptions, and lively characters Packed with vivid and meaningful detail, these gemlike prose poems bear witness to lives both static and changing, set in well-defined contemporary and historic scenes. The stories reveal real people and their troubles, joys, and desires. The writing is bold and full of social consequence, whether set in among Wyoming high prairie, New England hardscrabble farm, or the metropolis of Ancient Rome.

About the Author:

Samuel Western has served in the Swedish merchant marine and worked as a commercial fisherman, contract logger, longshoreman, and hunting guide. He is the author of the book Pushed Off the Mountain, Sold Down the River: Wyoming's Search for Its Soul, and he has published poems and pieces in The Economist, Wall Street Journal, LIFE, Sports Illustrated, High Country News, Northern Lights, and Owen Wister Review. He holds an MFA from the University of Virginia -- where he also taught English -- and is the recipient of a Wyoming Literary Fellowship. He lives and writes in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Arts education in Mountain West one of hot topics at May 13 conference in Salt Lake City

One of the intriguing sessions at the "Mountain West Arts Conference: Risk and Reward" on May 13 in Salt Lake City is one on arts education:

The Status of Arts Education in Utah and the Mountain West, with Tim Bothel, Ph.D. of Bothell Assessment and Research

The Utah Arts Council, in partnership with the Utah State Office of Education, Montana Arts Council, Idaho Commission on the Arts and the Wyoming Arts Council with their sister education agencies conducted a survey about the status of arts education, K-12 in all four states. Tim Bothell will share with the audience the key findings of that survey, where Utah stands, how we compare to the other states, what educators want and how they perceive the role and importance of arts education. We all acknowledge the future of arts organizations and how we prepare kids to navigate a complex and global society is highly impacted by the quality of arts education children and youth receive. Join us as we explore where we are and where we want to go.

To register for the conference, go to http://artsandmuseums.utah.gov/resources/professional_development/conferences/index.html

Arts participation topic of NEA gathering

This comes from a Dec. 10 press release from the National Endowment for the Arts:

Senior Deputy Chairman Joan Shigekawa convened a roundtable discussion with national arts service organizations, regional arts organizations, and NEA staff to discuss the NEA's 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, the nation's largest and most representative study of adults' arts participation habits.

Representatives from 40 service organizations participated in the convening, including the Association of Art Museum Directors, Dance/USA, the Future of Music Coalition, the National Association of Latino Art and Culture, the National Center for Creativity in Aging, the National Network for Folk Arts in Education, and the New England Foundation for the Arts.

The survey was conducted in partnership with the United States Census Bureau and asked more than 18,000 people 18 years of age and older about their frequency of arts engagement. It has been conducted five times since 1982.

Among the findings that were discussed:
Audiences for ballet, classical music, jazz, and theatre are both declining and growing older -- Nearly 35 percent of U.S. adults – or an estimated 78 million – attended an arts performance in the 2008 survey period, compared with about 40 percent in 1982, 1992, and 2002.
Performing arts attendees are increasingly older (between 46 and 49 years old) than the average U.S. adult (45 years old) -- Forty-five to 54-year-olds – historically dependable arts participants – declined for all art forms except musical theatre.
People with higher levels of education have curtailed their participation in nearly all art forms since 1982 -- High school graduates had the steepest rate of decline – 25 percent – between 2002 and 2008.
Americans are increasingly participating in the arts through new media -- The Internet and broadcast media are popular ways to engage with the arts. Forty seven million adults downloaded, watched, or listened to music, theater or dance performances online – and most said they did so at least once a week. More Americans view or listen to broadcasts and recordings of arts events than attend them live (live theater being the sole exception).
Photography/videography/film-making increased in popularity as art-making activities, from 12 percent to 15 percent, since 1992, supplanting weaving/sewing as the most popular creative activity reported.
Generation Y reports taking fewer arts classes/lessons -- When people ages 18-24 were asked if they had taken an art class/lesson at some point in their lives, they reported lower rates of participation than previous generations for all art forms compared in this study (by 6-23 percentage points, depending on the art form, from 1982 to 2008).
Different demographic groups described different cultural preferences -- African Americans are almost twice as likely to sing in a choir or other vocal group as adults in general. Almost 11 million adults attended a live Latin, Spanish, or salsa music performance in the previous 12 months. Audiences for these performances were younger and less affluent than audiences for other art forms. The 2008 survey was the NEA's first attempt to measure attendance at Latin/Spanish/salsa concerts.
Arts participation correlates with higher civic participation -- People who participate in the arts are 2 to 3 times as likely to engage in positive civic and individual activities – such as volunteering, attending sporting events, and participating in outdoor activities – than non-arts participants.
Participation in most leisure activities (except volunteering and charity work) among all adults declined from 2002 to 2008 -- The average time spent watching television (about three hours daily) has not changed significantly since 1982.
Regional differences in arts participation -- New England and Pacific region residents had some of the highest rates of attendance (42 percent of adults in each region) for the arts activities traditionally measured in the survey. In personal performance or creation of art, the Plains states of Kansas and Nebraska have some of the highest participation rates nationwide. Twenty percent of adults in Kansas said they played a musical instrument. In Nebraska, that rate was nearly 18 percent. Nationwide, 13 percent - or 29 million Americans - reported playing a musical instrument.

FMI: www.arts.gov.

Survey to map Arts & Social Change Initiative

This comes from Americans for the Arts:
　
On December 1, Animating Democracy will launch an online survey as part of the Arts & Social Change Mapping Initiative.

The survey seeks to obtain a current portrait of public- and private-sector funding available from arts, social change, and other funders for arts that foster civic engagement and social change. This survey will increase understanding of funding resources, opportunities, and challenges for this arena of work. The initiative and survey are supported by The Nathan Cummings Foundation, Open Society Institute, CrossCurrents Foundation, and Lambent Foundation.

Animating Democracy invites participation by agencies and individuals who are supporting arts and cultural strategies to make change, whether their emphasis is civic engagement, community building, community development, community organizing, social change, social justice, participatory democracy, or other goals. To gain a full picture, we also urge those thinking about or moving toward supporting this kind of work to complete the survey.

Findings from the survey, funder interviews, and focus groups will be reported in an Arts for Change Funders report. An online database of funders will be available as a resource to inform funders' grantmaking and to facilitate peer exchange, referrals, and strategic collaboration among funders. The database will also be a resource for artists, community organizers, and cultural organizations.

Deadline for completing the survey is December 18, 2009.

Funders who would like to participate in the survey should request the Funder Survey and send an e-mail with contact information to surveys@artsusa.org

Survey: www.AmericansForTheArts.org/animatingdemocracy/programs/programs_002.asp#mapping

Teaching Artist Survey

From the Association of Teaching Artists:

In response to concerns, discussions with teaching artists, and with input from beginning, mid-career and experienced teaching artists, the Association of Teaching Artists (ATA) announces a new ATA survey accessed on http://www.teachingartists.com/or
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=F_2bJJwetasGgrnMZUcqQ99g_3d_3d

ATA's focus in this survey is teaching artists' experiential knowledge. We ask teaching artists to share their knowledge, their stories, and what their experience has taught them.