Lt. Bethany Hall Long and arts advocates have launched an initiative to examine the impact of the “creative economy” in the state. The initiative will also create a new policy plan to support its growth. | Photo courtesy of JORDYN GUM
WILMINGTON – The Delaware Arts Alliance and state leaders hope to launch a creative economy here in the First State focused on artists and the workforce that supports them.
Earlier this summer, Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall Long and Neil Kirschling, executive director of the Delaware Arts Alliance (DAA), announced that the nonprofit is embarking on a strategic plan aimed at laying out a shared vision for the future of Delaware’s arts scene. The “Plan for the Recovery and Growth of the Creative Industries and Cultural Tourism” will include an online map of arts and cultural sites in the state, a policy agenda and an economic impact study. Completion is scheduled for summer 2024.
The creative economy is an ecosystem of for-profit and nonprofit creative industries, cultural venues and artistic workers, educators and more that produce and distribute goods. In 2021 the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies reported that the arts supported or created 4.9 million jobs nationwide, generating $504 billion in wages.
The same report shows that arts and cultural production in Delaware accounts for 7,746 jobs and $972 million in the state’s economy.
“The creative economy is not a new concept, but it recognizes the economic impact that people and organizations in Delaware use to drive goods, services and job creation,” Kirschling told the Delaware Business Times. “Think about the after-effects that a theatrical performance has. There are people who set up the stage, but behind a production there are also legal and human resources.”
Hall Long, a supporter of the arts, joins Kirschling in leading efforts to best demonstrate the impact of art on quality of life by attracting not only visitors but residents as well. Amid the pandemic, the lieutenant governor hosted monthly calls and noticed commonalities facing creative businesses, such as finding health insurance coverage and accessing funds to keep the business surviving and thriving.
“These issues are also important to ensure that we not only have a community where businesses thrive, but also that small businesses have these resources… My goal has always been to make Delaware a place where families can living, working and raising their children,” Hall Long said. “The creative industries are essential to tourism recovery and our growth, especially post-COVID.”
With an interactive online map of cultural and arts sites across the state, the DAA and state officials will define Delaware’s creative economy and the businesses and nonprofits within it for the first time. The size can range from the Freeman Arts Pavilion to a local graphic designer or neighborhood studio.
But with the hard data, Kirschling said, the state can identify gaps — and develop strategies to address them. The policy analysis, the final step of the project, will take a comprehensive look at the state, all three counties as well as Wilmington, Dover, Georgetown, Smyrna, Middletown and Milford and illuminate possible future paths.
These cities were selected in part based on funding constraints in the economic study, map and policy plan. The U.S. Economic Development Administration’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Travel, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Program paid grants for projects that need to spur the economic recovery of communities “in the travel, tourism and outdoor recreation industries “are severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.” Governor John Carney also allocated a portion of the state’s ARPA funding to the initiative.
Kirschling, who has been at the helm of the DAA for a year, hopes the end result of the “Plan for the Recovery and Growth of the Creative Industries and Cultural Tourism” would create a roadmap to support artists to continue pursuing the professions they love.
“I traveled around the state and talked to all the different arts organizations. One of the common themes I heard was the excitement of being in Delaware and how connected they feel to the community. And another was that people said they moved to Philly because they need to be there to make a living, but they want to be here,” he said. “There is a hunger for it. I believe we can achieve both here in Delaware, with targeted policies and infrastructure that support it.”
Artists and creative business owners are asked to complete a survey by October 15th. The survey can be found at: www.delawareartsalliance.org/survey/
Further information about the project can be found at www.delawareartsalliance.org/creativeeconomy for more informations.
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