Blue period
Representatives of the arts industries told the House Education and Labor Committee hearing Thursday that the repercussions of the recession go well beyond musicians having to put down their guitars and get "real" jobs. The nonprofit art and cultural industry alone supports 5.7 million jobs and generates $166 billion in economic activity every year, they said.Read the AP report by Jim Abrams here.
2 comments:
Lenny, your blog is very interesting. Please check out my blog http://mhuddy.blogspot.com. In the last few posts I've been showing the progression of how I paint my Sycamore trees.
All statistical analyses of arts and employment in the US must be used with caution, since careless advocacy efforts have blinded us to a well-intentioned but deliberate bit of obfuscation, the use of Department of Labor definitions as if they were NEA definitions.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification Class 27 includes architects, radio announcers, window trimmers, floral designers, and so on. These are all skilled and useful trades, but generally outside the scope of NEA and state arts agencies (SSAs). In my experience, arts advocates have manipulated the SOC category structure to buttress their arguments regarding the economic impact of the arts. Perpetuating this well-meant but misleading practice is not in the best interests of the arts or the cultural economy.
Post a Comment