Social Capital Death Watch

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The only people who seem to be prospering in this recession are those that traffic in grim statistics. Yesterday the President of Americans for the Arts, Robert Lynch, said that 10,000 arts organizations will close this year. If Lynch is correct and "non-profit arts organizations generate $166.2 billion each year in cultural and related spending such as restaurants and parking, and they produce $30 billion in tax revenue and 5.7 million jobs," why do they always seem to get short shrift during budget debates? Is it a PR problem as Lynch contends or is Allison Fine on to something when she says there are fundamental problems with the arts organization business model?

The Arts Are Stimulating

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Hedy Lamarr pioneered spread-spectrum communication technology

I believe art is its own reward, but that sentiment doesn't seem to win many converts when tough decisions are being made about dwindling economic resources. Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein take a crack at a timely new argument for the instrumental benefits of the arts.

"The fact is that the arts foster innovation. We've just published a study that shows that almost all Nobel laureates in the sciences actively engage in arts as adults. They are twenty-five times as likely as the average scientist to sing, dance, or act; seventeen times as likely to be a visual artist; twelve times more likely to write poetry and literature; eight times more likely to do woodworking or some other craft; four times as likely to be a musician; and twice as likely to be a photographer. Many connect their art to their scientific ability with some riff on Nobel prizewinning physicist Max Planck words: 'The creative scientist needs an artistic imagination.'

Bottom line: Successful scientists and inventors are artistic people. Hobble the arts and you hobble innovation. It's a lesson our legislators need to learn. So feel free to cut and paste this column into a letter to your senators and congressmen, as well as your school representatives, or simply send them a link to this column. One way or another, if we as a society wish to cultivate creativity, the arts MUST be part of the equation!"