Regional Arts Summit: Maximizing the Arts Economic Impact for Pinellas County
St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, Creative Pinellas, Clearwater Arts Alliance, North Pinellas Cultural Alliance and Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture and the Arts announce the Regional Arts Summit - Maximizing the Arts Economic Impact for Pinellas County at the EpiCenter, 138805 58th St. N., Clearwater, Florida on Friday, July 21, 2017
St. Petersburg Arts Alliance and Creative Pinellas joined forces to focus on the economic impact of the arts for Pinellas County. The Arts Alliance conducted 800 countywide audience intercept and organizational surveys throughout 2016, and examined budgets of non-profit cultural organizations for analysis by American for the Arts Economic Prosperity. The study measures the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry and its audiences.
Randy Cohen, Vice President of Research and Policy at Americans for the Arts, the nation's advocacy organization for the artswill be the Summit’s keynote speaker. Mr. Cohen will present the results of the Arts & Economic Prosperity Study, a key driver for raising the profile of the arts within communities and highlighting powerful economic contribution that the nonprofit arts sector makes.
The conference is designed to reach all those interested in the economic impact of our arts community – tourism, arts employment and creative business successes and the indirect benefit of many other businesses as a result of performance, museum and gallery attendance. Those benefiting from the information will include state legislators, mayors and county council members, as well as chamber members and business owners and non-profit leaders. Panel sessions will include Meet the Sponsors and Meet the Grant Makers.
“The arts are a powerful tool that help communities thrive while educating and enriching,” said Bill Goede, Tampa Bay market president for Bank of America, an Arts Summit sponsor. “The study and the Arts Summit help quantify and disseminate the value of a thriving arts county and will be useful in ensuring that our creative industries are sustained.”
The Regional Arts Summit is the first countywide collaboration among the five arts agencies serving the creative community with information, resources and ideas. Anticipated outcomes are more cooperation and collaborations among all organizations for the benefit of Pinellas County’s creative community.