Small Business Class at New Mexico State to Help Vitalize Las Cruces Arts Scene

PRESS RELEASE:

Small Business Class at New Mexico State to help Vitalize Las Cruces Arts Scene

Professor David Boje, doctoral students David Tobey and Claudia Gomez, our volunteer small business organizer, Janelle Rose Reynolds, and the students, clients, and guests of the small business consulting seminars (Mgmt 448 & Mgmt 548) invite you to the Benchmarking Workshop, to be conducted by Talking Stick Institute.

Location: New Mexico State University

Otero-126 in Corbett Center

Date: Nov 12, 2007 6:30 to 8:00 PM (refreshments at 6:00 PM)

For more information contact David Boje at 505-532-1693

This Benchmarking Las Cruces Arts Scene will address following questions to participants:

1. What are the most important processes of a successful arts scene?

2. What cities do we Benchmark Las Cruces Arts Scene against & how do we stack up?

3. What initiatives would improve the national rankings of Las Cruces Arts Scenes?

Benchmarking the Las Cruces Arts Scene: Background Report

The June 2007 issue of American Styles Magazine did a study of 75 top Arts Scenes in the U.S. In the small cities and towns’ category (under 100,000 in population), Santa Fe was 1st, and Taos 4th. Albuquerque ranked 2nd among Mid-Size cities. Las Cruces did not make the list. We propose to change that, to get Las Cruces into the top Arts Scenes in the U.S.

Table 1: Top 25 ARTS SCENES: Small Cities & Towns (under 100,000) (populations fewer than 100,000)

Santa Fe, N.M.
Sedona, Ariz.
Key West, Fla.
Taos, N.M.
Asheville, N.C.
Carmel, Calif.
Charleston, S.C.
Boulder, Colo.
Laguna Beach, Calif.
Aspen, Colo.
Berkeley Springs, W.Va.
Naples, Fla.
Chapel Hill, N.C. / Annapolis, Md.
Corning, N.Y.
Sarasota, Fla.
Burlington, Vt.
Eureka Springs, Ark.
Tubac, Ariz.
New Hope/Lahaska, Pa.
Cumberland, Md.
Northampton, Mass.
Saugatuck, Mich.
Brattleboro, Vt.
Portsmouth, N.H.

According to University of New Mexico's School of Business, Santa Fe (citing American Styles Magazine) “ranks as the second-largest art market—by sales—in the country, following New York. With more than 250 galleries and thousands of resident artists, the city's economy is largely driven by the arts and cultural tourism.”

· Smaller than Las Cruces, -- In 1985, Loveland was the first city in Colorado to adopt an Art in Public Places ordinance, designating one percent of the city's capital construction projects of $50,000 or more for the purchase of art. Currently, the city's art collection is valued at more than 6 million dollars with approximately 83% of the total value of the collection donated by organizations and individuals.

Cities comparable to Las Cruces – for example, (Ashville website) “Asheville plays host to a unique and endlessly diverse art scene comprised of museums, workshops, galleries, a state Liberal Arts University (UNCA), art festivals, studio tours, a tireless support network of artist collectives, councils, the insatiable appetite of an art loving public, and of course, thousands of dedicated artists.”

Small Cities Arts Scene with Universities

Las Cruces/ Mesilla / Ashville NC / Laguna Beach CA / Chapel Hill NC / Boulder CO
Antiques / ~30 / 28 / 11
Arts Galleries / 40 / 16 / 27 / 15 / 46
Arts & Craft Guilds / 1 / 3 / 5
Art Supplies / 2 / 21
Artists / 200 / 38 / ~250
Museums / 9 / 6 / 12
Arts Organizations/ Councils / 22 / 1 / 14

LAS CRUCES & OLD MESSILA ARTS SCENE

Las Cruces Arts Scene has 40 galleries,[1] a dozen museums, 22 arts organizations,[2] and is home to 200 artists. New Mexico State University features contemporary art exhibitions and workshops. The city’s galleries feature work by the city’s world-class artists.

Not to miss: Art Hops Gallery Tour (Sep 7 07); 5th Annual Mesilla Jazz Happing (7-8 Oct 07)’ Renaissance Arts Faire (Nov 3 & 4 07); Las Cruces Mariachi (Nov 7-11 07)[3]; Border Book Festival (Apr 18-20 08); Ramble through downtown art galleries on 1st Friday of the month (5-7 PM).

There is room for more festivals, such as a painter’s festival (inviting top local and national painters to exhibit), an outdoor sculpture festival, etc. New Mexico State University’s Professor Chris Erickson writes in 2007 issue of New Mexico Business Outlook:

Local officials should also focus on improving amenities. Las Cruces needs more parks, more theaters, and more arts in general. The local arts scene is fine for a town our size, but there is also considerable room for improvement especially as we grow. - Feb 2007[4]

REPORT ON Oct 1st 2007 WORKSHOP

QUESTIONS FOR Oct 1st 2007 Vitalizing Las Cruces Arts Scene workshop participants:

1. What is the Flat Grand Narrative (s) of LCAS identity as a unique local culture and economic development resource (i.e. the flat grand narratives out there)?

a. As Leo Paz, an NMSU small business consulting student, puts it: “The primary reason for the problem is that the vision of what constitutes a unique local culture has never been adequately defined and may not even exist. The second problem is a lack of communication, cooperation and conciliation among local artists and existing organizations.” They co-exist, but do they self-organize to achieve synergy?

b. An example of Flat Grand Narrative is the fact that a recent and expensive City of Las Cruces publication costing $250,000 a year, did not list the ‘Arts Scene’ as a major attraction and industry (there are examples of museums, events, and performing arts, but the identity of the arts scene is left implicit & flat). Another example of a Flat Grand Narrative is 70% of the artists (& craftsperson's) works at the annual Renaissance Faire are by non-Las Cruces artists (this one is debated by a counter-grand-narrative that most of the artists at the Faire were local or regional, or at the very least from New Mexico). Yet another example of Flat Grand Narrative is the fact that Las Cruces consumers of arts are reported to do their more serious arts purchases in cities with a higher threshold of Arts Scene Identity, such as Santa Fe/Taos, Silver City, etc. To answer these questions we need solid studies of the economic performance of various communicative strategies in use in the LCAS.

c. The Las Cruces Visitor’s Bureau and Convention Center – could do more to develop the Las Cruces Arts Scene, to feature it in its web site and its onsite brochure displays: A very recent (Sept. 24, 2007) economic study of 61 million travelers by the Travel Industry Association touted the benefits of a vital dynamic arts scene, such as recruiting top employees, and increasing economic development because families want more than golf courses and Wal-Mart and K-Mart art scene. Families want a vital and dynamic arts scene for their children. [5] The study, "The Business of the Arts: A Look into the Economic Impact of the Arts on the Houston Region," according to Sixel (2007) “found that the economic impact of the symphonies, art museums, ballet and opera is nearly 2 1/2 times the economic impact of the convention industry in 2005.”

d. A vitalized arts scene “contributes to the education of children, the local economy, and quality of life. Studies show that for every $1 spent on the arts, $3 comes back into the community” (Article on Brattleboro Arts Scene[6]).

2. What are the vibrant little stories (antenarratives) that can transform (disorder) the LCAS to enliven the flat grand narrative?

a. An ante is a bet, a pre-story that is prospective (future-looking bets of transformative possibilities). People want an exciting, vital LCAS, something extra, so they ‘bet’ (ante) for the art. An arts-antenarrative is vibrant, picking up and dispersing elements from context to context, a traveler, that disrupts and disorders the art scene, creates disorder so that it is brought into a new balance with narrative-order-flat-seeking expectations. My theory of storytelling is that self-organizing complexity is the interplay of narrative-order and control (such as the above two Flat Grand Narratives) and story disorder that is out-of-control. Out of the opposition of narrative-order of opposed Flat Grand Narratives and story-disorder comes emergence. And it is this emergence that will spell the success or failure of LCAS.

b. Las Cruces is loosing what we think is a fairly conservative economic estimate of upwards of $20 to 30 million a year in what cities of comparable size, with a major university are able to generate in terms of employment in the arts, art revenues, including art-tourism dollars.

c. The good news is a complex web of arts organizations are self-organizing a web of circumstances that is elevating the LCAS:[7]

· ArtForms: Artists Association of New Mexico 541-4353

· CAPA – City of Artists Promotional Association http://www.cityofartists.org/

· Doña Ana Arts Council www.daarts.org

· Doña Ana County Lyric Opera www.nmsu.edu/~music

· Embroiderers’ Guild of America (Las Cruces Chapter) http://lascrucesega.tripod.com

· Las Colcheras Quilt Guild

· Las Cruces Chamber Ballet

· Las Cruces International Mariachi Office

· Las Cruces Symphony Association

· Mesilla Valley Film Society www.fountaintehatre.org

· Mesilla Valley Fine Arts, Inc

· Rio Grande Recorders’ Society

d. There are also a dozen galleries, just in Mesilla, another dozen in downtown Las Cruces, another dozen museums, and a half-dozen theatres building the identity of the Las Cruces Arts Scene.

3. How do we pursue granting local Las Cruces artists more agency, power, and standing in the whole Las Cruces Arts Scene? Use PRISMA Scale to answer the question (list any ideas/recommendations)

a. Premier – best art scene any city this size

b. Robust – many profitable arts scene segments

c. Improving – is getting profitable

d. Satisfactory – about average for a city this size

e. Moot – very few art sectors are profitable

f. Absent – there are black holes in the art scene

· Lancaster (PA)- example of communities that were studied recently, and saw a median economic benefit of $3.8 million from their arts scene (Lancaster is 56,348 population).[8]

· Benchmark the LCAS against other comparable university cities (Boulder, Iowa City, etc) for processes of promotion, lodger fee expenditures, art quality, web site mentions of ‘art scene’ consumer awareness, tourism-revenue, employment in the arts, school and university interfaces, and diversity of arts (from musical, theatrical, painting, sculpture, to weaving and crafts).

· City of Laguna Beach (CA) has a city web site with arts organizations, events, etc http://www.lagunabeachcity.net/arts/

Things to do:

The mission of the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission (CHPAC) is to enhance and enliven the community through public art. The CHPAC was established in 1992 by a resolution of the Town Council. It is a special commission of the Town with non profit 501(c)3 status. Sixteen CHPAC members are appointed by the Chapel Hill Town Council. The CHPAC advises the Chapel Hill Town Council on art-related matters, works with Town staff to administer the Percent for Art program, increases public access to the arts through programming initiatives, and promotes public understanding and awareness of the arts. Similar to what we see in Loveland - In March 2002 Chapel Hill Town Council established the Town's Percent for Art Ordinance. This Ordinance allocates 1% of selected capital projects for the creation, fabrication/construction, installation, and maintenance of permanent works of public art. Funding for Percent for Art projects comes from each project's construction budget, which can include Federal, State, County, Town, and private support.

Each year the CHPAC sponsors Sculpture Visions, a temporary, large-scale, outdoor, sculpture exhibition. Selected sculptures, which cover a wide range of artistic styles, themes, and media, are sited throughout Chapel Hill for a ten-month installation. The artworks create a sense of beauty, place, and uniqueness that can be an inspiring and shared experience for everyone.

http://www.chapelhillarts.org/

[1] CAPA lists 33 Galleries http://www.cityofartists.org/galleries/

[2] Las Cruces Visitor’s Bureau lists 22 but not CAPA http://www.lascrucescvb.org/html/las_cruces_art_organizations.html Don Ana Arts Council lists only 13 arts organizations http://daarts.org/index.php?option=com_weblinks&catid=26&Itemid=23

[3] http://www.lascrucesmariachi.org/

[4] New Mexico Business Outlook Feb 2007, Column by Chris Erickson http://bbrs.nmsu.edu/nmbizoutlook/showarticle.php?articleID=50345

[5] Sept. 24, 2007, 10:54PM Economic study touts benefits of arts scene - Dynamic culture is called vital to the recruiting of top employees - There’s a connection between the arts scene and economic development says L.M. SIXEL in 2007 Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5161664.html

http://www.bedynamic.com/files/documents/In%20the%20News/Hotel%20Executive%20-%20May%2024%20issue%20FINAL.pdf

[6] http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3675/is_200111/ai_n8960442

[7] Las Cruces Arts Scene Organizations http://www.lascrucescvb.org/html/las_cruces_art_organizations.html

[8] http://www.lancasterarts.com/_files/live/Art-Full%5B1%5D.pdf