First essay in the book Arts & America: Arts, Culture, and the Future of America’s Communities featuring an introduction by Americans for the Arts CEO Robert L. Lynch. The

Excerpted from Arts & America: Arts, Culture, and the Future of America’s Communities. This essay looks at changes in the American economy and the workforce and the role the arts may play in positively impacting those changes over the next 10–15 years and beyond. The

Arts partnerships frequently offer companies effective and cost-efficient methods of achieving critical business goals. Americans for the Arts is producing a series of eight essays that will explore and illustrate the different types of benefits that arts partnerships can bring to your company. This particular essay makes the case that art partnerships can be a secret weapon in your arsenal to give your company and your community an edge in workforce recruitment and retention.

"Why Am I Writing This Book? There are many aspects of Hip Hop culture that exceeds beyond just the beat, a dance, or a catchy hook. The Hip Hop Lectures (Volume 1) & The Hip Hop Lectures (Volume 2) are books that were created to make a connection between the past and the present, as it relates to Hip Hop culture. Hip Hop culture has been able to accomplish so much in such a very short period of time, most of which includes the bridging of generational and racial gaps locally and internationally. The hope; however, is that the culture continues to grow and evolve to a point where

Businesses often promote volunteerism as one of the key elements of employee engagement. Arts organizations are looking for ways to increase involvement with skilled volunteers. This tool-kit focuses on how volunteer programs can make employees feel more engaged on the job, learn new skills or improve their existing skills, and increase interaction between junior and senior employees, and how we can bring this information into conversations with corporate partners about designing Business Volunteers for the Arts® programs.

What is the most effective way to take data from the Creative Industries reports and turn it into a story appealing to the business community? This tool-kit has peer insights on the best ways to craft your message, along with information on how the arts sector has used the reports in local communities.

The What is the Economic Value of the Arts Infographic was created by the National Endowment for the Arts from their report The Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA).

This one pager provides an overview of the benefits of Cultural Tourism in the United States and includes the percentage of foreign visitors participating in arts & culture while visiting the U.S.

Artists and cultural institutions have an important role to play in neighborhood social and economic vitality. As community developers consider how best to reimagine space they can and should look to the arts to help create place. This work, otherwise known as “creative placemaking,” is beginning to take shape across the country. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is pleased to dedicate Volume 10, Issue 2 of the Community Development Investment Review to this emerging work.

Creative State uses the 2012 North American Industry Classification System to tell us about Michigan's creative industries: their subject matter and how they contribute to the state's culture and economy. This report informs us that in 2011, Michigan's creative industries accounted for $3.6 billion in wages, supplied 74 thousand jobs and made up over 9 thousand of Michigan's workplaces. It also tells us that the creative sector's highest wage contributor was advertising, with literary arts and publishing in second and that creative