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Title: How People and Place Shape Regional Arts and Culture: Insights for Cultural Planning

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2012

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Abstract: ProblemCommitment to creative placemaking is deepening, thanks to research on how arts and culture are wedded to place and to growing disappointment with export-base-led economic development. Working across public sector bureaus and encouraged by new funding streams, planners and politicians are investing in arts and cultural activities embedded in neighborhoods and joined to revitalization efforts. Yet most offerings and spaces are run by nonprofits, an often baffling ecology to decision makers.Research strategyTo help planners understand cultural potential, we examine spatial variation in participation rates and in size, disciplinary foci and location of arts nonprofits using large data sets on California.FindingsWe find that at the metropolitan scale, arts participation rates are not dictated by demographics, though they are strongly correlated with presence of arts organizations.Smaller regions in the state, along with smaller cities, are home to higher numbers of arts organizations per capita a result indicating that arts organization presence is not limited mainly to the largest central cities. At the city scale, we find that higher per capita arts nonprofits presence is strongly associated with demographics, particularly levels of educational attainment and residents personal wealth. It is also positively associated with job density (reflecting a citys role as an employment center) and levels of private philanthropic funding for arts and culture. However, while job density is an important explanatory factor, it is not associated with traditional center-periphery distinction (in particular, central city designation). Instead, arts organization presence in California appears to conform to the states complex, polycentric development patterns.Takeaway for practicePlanners can take heart that central city status and resident demographics do not dictate arts potential. We discuss how planners might play lead roles in creativeplacemaking and how an understanding of arts and cultural nonprofits can help. Our analysis has implications for planners in other areas, like community development,heavily reliant on non-profits.

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Authors: Markusen, Ann; Nicodemus, Anne Gadwa; Barbour, Elisa

Conference Name: American Collegiate Schools of Planning meetings

Publisher Location: Salt Lake City, UT

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Other

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