Arts Intranet

The Annual Breakfast with the Arts & Hospitality Industry, a program of the Arts & Business Council of Miami.

Cultural Tourism is exploding here in a Miami—in a good way according to Bruce Turkel, CEO of TURKEL, a travel and tourism marketing firm in Miami.

“It makes sense that when you have people coming from all around the world there are so many advantages,” says Turkel referring to the increase of cultural tourism here in Miami. “When they come originally, they come specifically for our core offerings which are weather, water, and dolphins. But after a while, they start looking for additional things and then those things are created.”

On Thursday, April 5, Mr. Turkel electrified a group of 120 attendees all representing either the tourism and hospitality industry or the arts at the Annual Breakfast with the Arts & Hospitality Industry, a program of the Arts & Business Council of Miami. The topic: Partnerships between the arts and tourism.

“When you have people from other locales in the community, they start to want to contribute these things [cultural offerings] and all of a sudden, we can take a place in the world economy,” says Turkel.

The conversation is a fairly fresh one here in Miami. We’ve seen overwhelming successes of art shows like Basel Miami and its satellite fairs. The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau’s (GMCVB) signature programs spawned by George Neary including Miami Museum Month, Miami Music Month, Miami Attractions Month, and Miami Spa Month have all had a tremendous impact on reinforcing the bond between tourism and the arts. 

Lydia Black

The Southwest Florida nonprofit arts community has always argued the economic and social value of the arts community. We've advocated on behalf of our creative community; engaged the public in conversations about the depth and breadth of our cultural offerings; boasted large attendance numbers; and, painted a picture of arts as placemakers and the heart and soul of community.

And until recently, we advocated for the arts by estimating economic impact numbers, by supposing that indeed there was an economic impact. Our advocacy lacked the confidence that would have been buttressed by language informed by hard data. Well not anymore.

With the Arts & Economic Prosperity IV study in hand, we can definitively say that our arts and culture industry is an economic and social powerhouse. In 2010, during arguably the worst economy in recent memory, Lee County’s nonprofit arts and culture industry generated $68 million, supported more than 2,000 full-time jobs, and pumped $9 million into local and state coffers.

For a county that speaks the language of baseball, that number is more than the estimated $45–50 million generated here by the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins, combined.

Many in the cultural community have lamented the fact that the arts industry is always justifying its existence to state and local officials in return for small investment dollars. Yet, at the same time, many of us in the arts community were doing nothing to change our language to that which public officials and business leaders could relate—namely dollars, jobs, and return on investment.

The economic impact study results have already helped to shift the discussion of the arts industry from one of entertainment, education, and inspiration to one of the arts industry as an integral economic engine in the county.

Two weeks ago the Arts Education Council at Americans for the Arts and the arts education community at-large lost a tremendously talented artist, educator, and advocate in Alyx Kellington. She passed away on July 29, 2012 near Palm Beach, FL, leaving behind an incredible career in the arts and many friends.

As the news of her death begins to settle in for so many of us, I’ve been reflecting on my last experience being in Alyx’s presence and have been asked by the Arts Education Council to share this story with you as our lasting tribute.

A few of us were fortunate to have spent 2012 Americans for the Arts Annual Convention in San Antonio with Alyx—she and I were hotel roommates. That first evening together we hung out at a restaurant where an amazing Dixie Land style band was playing. She spoke of her rich and diverse experience with music growing up in Austin, TX and was quite fortunate to have been exposed to such an array of musical talent at an early age.

Christopher Hubbard

When things get tough sometimes the best thing to have is a friend in the business.

With budget cuts, dwindling staff, and a slow-down in municipal and private construction, it’s comforting to know that other programs are going through the same stress and surviving; sometimes even thriving!

It’s these relationships that keep us up to speed on what’s happening in the world of public art, and often how to make the most of the obstacles and opportunities that find us on a daily basis.

That’s exactly what Florida’s public art programs are doing, and they have been reaping the benefits of such since 1998 with the founding of FAPAP, the Florida Association of Public Art Professionals.  FAPAP is the brainchild of a number of Florida’s forward-thinking public art administrators, including Vincent Ahern, Barbara Hill, and Jan Stein.

Working off the model of the Public Art Coalition of Southern California, their idea was to create a unified group of public art programs for the state of Florida; a forum to discuss issues related to the field.  

As we enter the third week of National Arts and Humanities Month, I would just like to thank all the local community leaders who have participated in our Creative Conversations!

Already, Creative Conversations have sparked local dialogue that is helping to unify groups of individuals engaged in arts and culture. These events help spur advocacy efforts and create networking opportunities for those interested in the arts in their communities.

In a memorable moment at a Creative Conversation last week in Silver Spring, MD, State Delegate Heather Mizeur advised, “Stand out with your art to connect to your advocacy. The artist should use their unique abilities in art making itself to stand out and reach legislatures.” From this Conversation, emerging arts advocates were able to take away this and many other valuable insights.

If you were unable to attend an event last week, don’t worry! October is full of remarkable and insightful events--over 30 so far, with more being added every day.

This week’s upcoming events include:

•    Bonus Features: Thinking Outside the Talkback – Today, Oct. 17! (Pittsburgh, PA)
•    Exploring Professional Paths in the Arts – Oct. 18 (Denver, CO)
•    Witness to Preservation – Oct. 20 (Stuart, FL)

David Schillhammer

The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s ticket sales are up again this year, shattering local and national sales trends.

With several months left in the year, our box office is already seeing a 10 percent increase in subscriptions over this time last season, and renewal rates for freshman subscribers are over 53 percent and growing. This is the fifth year in a row we’ve had such gains.

Subscriptions to the orchestra’s “Super Series” have been steadily rising over the past five seasons. So far in 2011-2012, the orchestra has sold over 3,432 subscription packages, 300 more than this time last year, and a huge increase over the 1,500 sold in 2006-2007.

Our recipe for success? Marketing, innovative programming and outstanding customer service.

In the fall of 2007, we began working with freelance arts marketing guru Jack McAuliffe, president of Engaged Audiences, LLC, who pushed us to stop devaluing tickets through “buy one, get one” offers, and focus on marketing subscriptions. Specifically, he challenged us to convert one-time concert attendees into two- and three-time attendees, and then into long-term subscribers. So in 2007-2008, we began a targeted effort to grow subscriptions.

Here’s our method: