An interesting study known as Forming Cleveland, conducted by Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) and Cleveland State University’s Center for Economic Development, has some interesting findings. The study focuses on the emerging visual arts sector and its impact on the local surrounding community by looking deeper look into how the economy is improving and the role that the local visual arts scene has played in that revival.
According to the the study, there are currently 17,844 jobs in the visual arts, design and craft job market resulting in an economic output of $2.9 billion and a tax revenue of $273.9 million. And for every 10 jobs that exist in the visual arts, craft and design sector, there are more than eight other jobs that exist within other sectors of Cuyahoga County’s economy directly because of this sector.
For example, some of those professional sectors include areas such as Architects, Industrial and Commercial Designers. Also noted is that while the sum total of employment in the visual arts, craft and design occupations has declined from 2006-2012, the study shows that their share of total Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical Area employment remained relatively stable over the same time period.
“We have found through Forming Cleveland that there is a local and regional demand for the visual arts, crafts and design in the areas of educational programs, neighborhood development and stimulating growth and connections between the arts and local employment,” said Tom Chema, board chair of CPAC. “Public art is a great way for our community to revitalize our neighborhoods. Whether it’s through community projects on one end of the spectrum, or commercial design on the other, there is a lot of movement in this sector.”
The future looks good for this growing sector, but according to this study there are certainly challenges that are currently facing Cleveland.
“A lot of the local art locations are widely dispersed, and there does seem to be an absence of a clear collective messaging about our local visual arts, crafts and design scene, said Tom Schorgl, president and CEO, CPAC. “We’ve found that Cleveland and Cuyahoga County need to work on growing demand for our visual arts, craft and design assets (locally and abroad). It is our hope with the results from Forming Cleveland, that we will see a more focused effort to build on this important sector of our economy.”
Community Partnership for Arts & Culture