Monday Musings – Creativity Inspires Innovation.
It has been proven over and over that arts are beneficial for lifting our mood, improving our mental health, boosting our brainpower, and also shown to enhance our physical health. There are many articles about the benefits of the arts to our well-being, but what about the economy?
The Economic Benefits of Arts and Culture
Hill Strategies is widely respected across Canada and internationally as a leading authority of arts and culture research. A bulletin put out by Hill Strategies in 2015 suggests that the direct economic impact of our own province’s culture industries ($6.5 billion) is higher than agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting ($4.9 billion), and utilities ($5.2 billion). It also estimates that the GDP of the culture industries in Alberta is eight times larger than sports ($6.5 billion vs. $780 million).
Creativity inspires innovation.
Imagine for a minute what life would be without the arts. No books to carry our thoughts away or music to drown out the humdrum of our daily commute. Dance would not allow us to express ourselves through movement. Since there would be no visual art, there would be no galleries, museums, or public art to contribute to our communities. The architectural design of our buildings would be nothing more than plain facades, and our clothing would only function to cover our bodies. You can read more on A Day Without Art written by https://www.americansforthearts.org/blog-feed/a-day-without-art.
A thriving arts and culture sector contributes to our successes in more ways than merely personal. Not only do the arts help us to understand our past, make sense of controversial topics happening in our world today, and allow us to explore our future. It affords social and economic growth that is vital to furthering our community as a whole. The economic impact goes well beyond the employment and income it offers.
Arts and culture not only attract, retain, and fuel a creative workforce; it also strengthens other aspects of our economy, such as the hospitality industry. It can affect real estate values, business activity, foster civic engagement, and drive tourism into our city. The economic benefit of arts and culture to our economy cannot be overlooked and deserves continued investment to nurture it.
Through leadership and collaboration, we focus on achieving long-term impacts that will support arts spaces and experiences that are welcoming, safe, and respectful of all. It is our vision that dynamic, sustainable, and entrepreneurial artistic communities thrive in the city of Edmonton. We encourage you to share our posts and sign up for our newsletter.