Robinson: Arts and culture will suffer unless Sarasota grows
We need to begin to panic. Our arts and cultural gems are on a collision course with no growth.
Why should we panic? According to the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County, a 2015 study revealed that the arts and cultural attractions brought 7,445 jobs and $295 million in direct expenditures. Four years later, that number has grown for sure.
Most of our arts and cultural attractions are located in the City of Sarasota. They experience the bulk of the prosperity from our area unofficially being labeled “The Cultural Coast.”
We have witnessed one arts and cultural institution outright sell their space and three experience a less than welcoming, and in some cases, hostile reception from local government leaders when they tried to stay and expand for their future sustainability.
One is moving out of the city, a second is moving its tourism out, a third and fourth are now looking for homes outside the city.
The City of Sarasota has a problem that should be treated as an economic emergency. If taken for granted now, it will be one of those moments in time that we will look back upon as the ultimate government failure for our future.
To be fair, each of the instances had individual problems and issues that were unique. But the cumulative effect cannot and should not be ignored. The outcome is what matters and the outcomes we are seeing should be unacceptable to our government leaders.
According to the Arts and Cultural Alliance, our arts and cultural economic effect is more than triple when compared to other regions. Additionally, in the Arts and Economic Prosperity 5 report, a non-resident survey reported that, “62.6 percent indicated that the primary purpose of their visit to the Greater Sarasota/Bradenton area was ‘specifically to attend this arts/cultural event.’”
What makes these visitors even more important is what they spend when they get here. The Prosperity 5 report demonstrated that,
“Nonresident attendees spent an average of 101 percent more per person than local attendees.”
This means that arts are so entwined and necessary to tourism that the risk of throwing our financial ecosystem out of balance is extremely high. The effect of losing the sales tax, the bed tax, and the direct financial impact means your taxes will go up to make up for the loss of revenue for amenities and services that matter to you, like beach cleaning and infrastructure.
The loss of economic opportunity combined with the loss of jobs would be devastating to families living on the economic edge. Make no mistake about it, the people that will feel the effects the most aren’t the upper class who will be traveling out of the area for arts, you are really hurting the working class.
We are biting the hand that literally feeds us and there is no plan to address this while we are in a fat and happy economy that is growing. But we will certainly feel the knockout blow when the next recession hits.
Vision and planning to accommodate growth is necessary. Open dialogue and help from the government is required. Arts and cultural organizational growth needs to be embraced for a sustainable future. The fact that these groups are planning for their future and thinking about what types of experiences the generations behind us will want is commendable and thoughtful.
The City of Sarasota needs to address this overall issue immediately. They should accept responsibility for their role in this mess and make plans outside of The Bay for arts and cultural growth.
Christine Robinson is executive director of the Argus Foundation and was on the Sarasota County Commission from 2010 to 2016. Contact her at christine@argusfoundation.org.