We ask: Why Support Community Arts?

Coming up in just a few weeks on May 5, 2012, is the largest, single annual-fundraiser to benefit the Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport:  the Way-Off-Broadway Party!  With your assistance this event will help make it possible for the Firehouse Center to continue bringing the best in arts and humanities to our community.  The Firehouse Center serves approximately 20,000 patrons a year, including almost 5,000 young people through our school-show series and arts-education programs.  In addition, funds raised will help to preserve the historic structure that anchors our beautiful downtown area.

Just why is this so important to you and to your neighbors here on the North Shore? 

For an informed answer we turn to Randy Cohen, vice president of research and policy at Americans for the Arts, the nation's advocacy organization for the arts. A member of the staff of Americans for the Arts since 1991, Randy is among the most noted experts in the field of arts funding, research, policy, and using the arts to address community development issues.  His latest blog entry cited the top ten reasons to support the arts in 2012:

I was recently asked by a major biz leader for “10 reasons to support the arts.” He needed the points to help him pull an 8-figure inve$tment for a new arts center. "Make it compelling to government and business leaders," he asked.  Oh, yeah, he’s a busy guy—didn’t want a lot to read:  “Keep it to one page, please.”  So, apart from the 10-1 flip (and with apologies to David Letterman), this is what I delivered:

10. True prosperity…The arts are fundamental to our humanity. They ennoble and inspire us—fostering creativity, goodness, and beauty. They help us express our values, build bridges between cultures, and bring us together regardless of ethnicity, religion, or age. When times are tough, the arts are salve for the ache.

9. Stronger communities…University of Pennsylvania researchers have demonstrated that a high concentration of the arts in a city leads to higher civic engagement, more social cohesion, higher child welfare, and lower poverty rates. A vibrant arts community ensures that young people are not left to be raised solely in a pop culture and tabloid marketplace.  

8. Health and well-being…nearly one-half of the nation’s healthcare institutions provide arts programming for patients, families, and even staff. 78 percent deliver these programs because of their healing benefits to patients—shorter hospital stays, better pain management, and less medication.

7. 21st Century workforce . . . reports by The Conference Board show creativity is among the top applied skills sought by employers. 72 percent of business leaders say creativity is of high importance when hiring. The biggest creativity indicator? A college arts degree.  Their report concludes, “…the arts—music, creative writing, drawing, dance—provide skills sought by employers of the third millennium.”

6. Improved academic performance…longitudinal data of 25,000 students demonstrate that students with an education rich in the arts have higher GPAs and standardized test scores, lower drop-out rates, and even better attitudes about community service. These benefits are reaped by students regardless of socio-economic status. Children motivated by the arts develop attention skills and strategies for memory retrieval that also apply to other academic subject areas such as math and science.

5. Arts in the schools = better SAT scores…students with four years of arts or music in high school average 100 points better on their SAT scores than students with one-half year or less. Better scores are found in all three portions of the test:  math, reading, and writing.

4. Creative Industries…the creative industries are arts businesses that range from nonprofit museums, symphonies, and theaters to for-profit film, architecture, and advertising companies. An analysis of Dun & Bradstreet data counts 756,007 businesses in the U.S. involved in the creation or distribution of the arts that employ 2.99 million people—representing 4.14 percent of all businesses and 2.17 percent of all employees, respectively.  (Contact Americans for the Arts for your local and state numbers.)

3. Arts are the cornerstone of tourism…arts travelers are ideal tourists—they stay longer and spend more. The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that the percentage of international travelers including arts and culture events during their stay has increased annually the last six years.

2. Arts are good for local merchants…the typical arts attendee spends $27.79 per person, per event, not including the cost of admission on items such as meals, parking, shopping, and babysitters. Non-local arts audiences (who live outside the county) spend nearly twice as much as local arts attendees ($40.19 compared to $19.53)—valuable revenue for local businesses and the community.

1. The arts are an Industry…arts organizations are responsible businesses, employers, and consumers.  They spend money locally, generate government revenue, and are a cornerstone of tourism and economic development. Nonprofit arts organizations generate $166 billion in economic activity annually, supporting 5.7 million jobs and generating nearly $30 billion in government revenue. Investment in the arts supports jobs, generates tax revenues, and advances our creativity-based economy.

If he asked for 11 reasons . . . what would you have added?

Why not log in to the Firehouse blog (see the "Navigation" sidebar at the right) and give us your reason #11 for supporting the Arts. Get into the conversation and put the 'community' into "community arts."

The Firehouse is grateful for the generosity of individuals and businesses who understand that an investment in the Firehouse is an investment in the community and that the Firehouse contributes in numerous ways to the economic growth of our town by continuing to be a draw to Market Square and its many shops and restaurants.  We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

P.S.

Besides supporting the arts, the Way-Off-Broadway Party! is sure to be a blast -- dress up (or not), arrive on the red carpet with the flashbulbs popping, share some libations with your friends during the social hour while you munch on hors-d'oeuvres served by Not Your Average Joe's and see what auction items tempt you (sneak preview here). Maybe you, or someone you know, will take home the soon-to-be-coveted Townie Award as you end the night dancing on stage!

So What About Those Tony Awards?

Tony Award

Sixty-five years ago the first ever Tony Award was presented to eleven individuals for their work as actors, directors, costume designers, choreographers and composers in the theater world during the preceding 1946-47 season.  In addition, eight individuals were recognized with special awards including Arthur Miller (for Best Author) and Vincent Sardi, Sr., founder of the eponymous restaurant that he opened in 1947 which has been credited as being the birthplace of the Tony Award.  

The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theater (that’s the official name of the Tony), were first handed out on April 6, 1947 in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. The winners received a scroll and a silver compact case for the women; and either an engraved gold money clip or a cigarette lighter for the men.  Following along at home was only possible thanks to Radio Station WOR, as the ceremony would not be broadcast on television until much later in 1967.

And just who was Antoinette Perry?  Antoinette Perry (1888-1946) was an American actress, director and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing.  She produced several successful plays in partnership with Brock Pemberton, a press agent from New York, with whom she was linked both professionally and romantically.  Their most famous production was Harvey based upon the Mary Chase novel.  In 1939 Perry, along with Rachel Crothers, founded The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) in Manhattan, an organization whose mission statement proclaimed it to be “dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre.”  During WWII the Wing established the Stage Door Canteen to entertain American servicemen and then later, after the war, founded the Community Players to assist war veterans and their families as they returned home.

During the extended Broadway run of Harvey -- it ran for more than 4 years and was staged for 1775 performances before closing in January 1949 -- Perry died from a heart attack one day after her 58^th birthday.  Subsequently,  Brock Pemberton suggested to the Wing that they create a series of awards to be given in her honor -- an idea he came up while having lunch at Sardi’s. Pemberton would go on to host the very first award ceremony during which he coined the now much more common name “Toni,” when he referred to his nickname for Perry while handing out an award to a recipient.

The times have changed. This year the Tony Awards ceremony will be held at the Beacon Theater in NY for the second year in a row after 50 years at the Waldorf Astoria and more than a decade-long run at Radio City Music Hall. Televised nationally since 1967, the awards still signify achievement in live Broadway theater but the compacts and cigarette lighters have given way to a more substantial award that features a base upon which the medallion, originally designed by  Art Director Herman Rosse, rests. Tony Award producers swear they are not trying to keep up with the Joneses… or in this particular case, the Oscars… but that the new design is easier to handle onstage during the presentation of the awards.

Yes, times have changed… but some things never change. The Firehouse New Works Festival Committee should take heart:  you are not alone!  The Tony Awards Official Site lists the rules and regulations of the awards process and they too continue to have difficulty year after year in discerning the exact definition of a “new play!”  

The Tony Awards not only recognize the contributions to the theater world for on-stage contributions but also for off-stage contributions. One of the newly created non-competitive awards recognizes an individual who has made substantial contributions of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations.

It is here that that the Tony Awards and the First Annual Townie Awards intersect.   
Townie Award The Firehouse Center for the Arts is pleased to be able to present these awards to the local individuals and organizations that contribute selflessly of their time and resources to make our lives richer and more enjoyable here in our home town.  We thank you and we salute you. The newly created Townie Award is a very small token of our appreciation for your efforts and for all that you do to make the North Shore area such a vibrant place to call home.

What? You still haven’t voted your favorite Townie? Click the Way-Off-Broadway Party logo now…voting ends April 23^rd and the winners will be announced at the Way-Off-Broadway Party at the Firehouse on Saturday, May 5^th.

Sponsorship opportunities are available. Click here for downloadable forms or call Beth Falconer, Director of Development at 978/499-9931 for more information and check the website often for updates to be posted as received. In the mean time... mark your calendars!

Click the logo to cast your Townie Award vote NOW!