By Patrick Donges
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-986722.mp3
Pittsfield, MA – MassINC, a non-profit, Boston-based think tank known for their publication of CommonWealth magazine, announced last week they received a $125,000 grant from ArtPlace, a new funding consortium that includes federal agencies and the National Endowment for the Arts, for the development of a strategy to revitalize the state's "Gateway Cities."
Among those cities slated to be a part of the plan are Pittsfield, Holyoke, and Springfield; MassInc executive vice-president John Schneider.
"The grant will allow us to do three things. One, to do some public opinion polling in the gateway cities to try to gauge the public's participation in as well as support for arts and cultural projects."
"Secondly we're going to be organizing a major summit with gateway city leaders and national leaders that are involved in the use of arts and culture to promote economic and community development in early 2012."
"And finally we're going to do some research and try to unpack some of the questions around the economic impact that these projects have."
Schneider, who grew up in Pittsfield, listed some of the positive outcomes when localities embrace arts and culture; from local realty, as artists utilize spaces that have been neglected or abandoned by all others, to community advocacy, as they give communities new viewpoints on issues that might otherwise be ignored.
"The creativity that the arts and cultural community brings helps spark entrepreneurial activity but also can spark activity that tackles perhaps some issues that haven't been tackled. Artists are always pushing us to think about different possibilities."
In Holyoke, the funding will be put to work on establishing better communication between artists, the general public, and local government; Kathleen Anderson is Holyoke's director of planning and development.
"I think this will really help us to form our strategies and our thinking."
"We do have a large artist population in our downtown and throughout the city. To understand how to better serve them, how to make people in our community more aware of the arts all that will definitely benefit us."
Anderson said strides have already been taken towards making it easier for artists to live and work in the city through the approval of a zoning overlay district that allows artists to work and live in re-purposed mill buildings.
For Pittsfield, the programming developed using the grant could not only affect future economic development but also highlight how the city has already advanced the local economy through arts and culture.
When asked what the new funding may mean for programming in Pittsfield, Mayor James Ruberto said the impact of the research would focus on both the region and the state as a whole.
"I think the grant is based on a broader scale, and that is to continue to study and understand how the arts and culture can help revitalize communities."
"I believe that Pittsfield's success and its approach will be used in some context to help lay a footprint or a framework for other communities."
As the research begins, debate continues in Boston on whether to approve three resort style casinos across the state, with one planned for Western Massachusetts.
Proponents of the plan say the casinos would bring much needed economic development to the region, but some local arts administrators are worried casinos may take business away from local arts and performance venues.
Schneider said as the legislation is advanced, the goal will be determining how municipalities can use the publicity generated by a casino to drive business to their local arts venues.
"We need to be looking for job creation wherever we can get it, and we should be trying to figure out how do we leverage casinos for opening up other opportunities for people visiting Massachusetts to maybe explore some of the other local venues."
Debate on the legislation by the Massachusetts State Senate began today; the New York Post reported Monday that legislative leaders in New York have said they are prepared to back a constitutional amendment allowing full casino gambling in the Empire State.