American for the Arts CEO and President Robert L. Lynch wrote an article in The Tennessean on May 31 highlighting the recent Periscope: Arts Entrepreneur Training in Nashville as well as the economic impact of arts-related businesses, specifically in Tennessee. Lynch writes that Nashville is a perfect of example of how arts nonprofits, for-profit organizations, and the local government can work together to create a rich environment and a strong economy.

"Nashville has learned that the full economic power of the arts is best harnessed when nonprofit and for-profit organizations work with government to build the city’s artistic core," says Lynch. "The economic benefits of a strong artistic community like Nashville’s are far-reaching. Those benefits can be felt statewide. Nearly 4 percent of all businesses in Tennessee depend on the artistic abilities of employees to turn a profit and create jobs,” he adds.