Department of Cultural Affairs to launch CHAT program in May
First of 13 regional Culture, History, Arts Teams meetings in Red Oak, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo
(DES MOINES, Iowa) –The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs is preparing to “CHAT” with Iowans about culture, history and arts through a new program it will launch in May.
CHAT – Culture, History, Arts Teams – is a new networking program for Iowa’s cultural workers and their supporters, and a reporting tool that will help document their activities and generate more data about the economic impact they have on the state.
“Iowa’s creative economy is growing every year as our cultural workers produce more events and programs that enhance the quality of life for people in our state,” DCA Director Cyndi Pederson said. “The potential for job growth in this area is enormous, but we continue to hear from cultural workers and their supporters who say they need help in making sure their concerns and requests are being heard by local and state leaders.”
In response, DCA designed CHAT to strengthen Iowa’s cultural infrastructure; give Iowa’s cultural workers and their supporters opportunities to exchange ideas and information; document the programs and events they offer; and raise awareness about the economic impact they have on the state.
DCA will launch CHAT at 13 different regional town hall meetings beginning in May 2008. The first three meetings will be in Red Oak, Cedar Rapids and Waterloo:
Region 10
May 8, 7 p.m.
Burlington Northern Depot & WWII Memorial Museum
305 S. 2nd Street
Red Oak, Iowa
712-623-6340
Contact: Jacky Adams at 712-623-6340
Region 8
May 15, 5:30 p.m.
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art
410 Third Avenue SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Contact: Joe Jennison at 800-650-2787
Region 6
June 5, 2008, 2 p.m.
306 Washington St.
Snowden House, Grout Museum
Waterloo, Iowa
Contact: Candy Streed at cstreed@silosandsmokestacks.org or 319-234-4567
Ten additional regional meetings are tentatively scheduled for June and July and will be announced as they are confirmed.
At the meetings, DCA will ask culture, history and arts leaders, workers and supporters to create a networking and reporting infrastructure within their regions. Each region will identify a team leader and cultural ambassadors.
Cultural ambassadors will gather information about cultural, historical and arts events and programs in their counties; represent their counties at regional meetings; and submit a quarterly report to their regional team leader. DCA will assemble that information and generate a report about culture, history and arts in Iowa.
DCA is inviting and encouraging culture, history and arts leaders, workers and supporters to attend the regional meetings. More information is available by contacting DCA’s Deirdre Giesler at deirdre.giesler@iowa.gov or 515-281-7471.
The development of the CHAT program comes at a critical time for Iowa’s creative economy. Recent surveys in targeted areas of the state found Iowa’s cultural arts generate thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in economic activity.
For example, a recent University of Northern Iowa study found the cultural arts generated 3,480 jobs and more than $347 million in economic impact in Black Hawk, Montgomery, Pottawattamie, Wapello, Winneshiek and Woodbury counties, and 31 counties that surround them, during a 12-month period ending in Fall 2007.
Another study conducted by Americans for the Arts in partnership with the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance found 63 cultural organizations in 11 Iowa counties generated 1,986 full-time equivalent jobs and $63.08 million in economic activity in 2006.
A third study conducted for Bravo Greater Des Moines showed the cultural arts supported 1,944 jobs, $87.74 million in industrial output (sales), $44.55 million in value-added, and $29.9 million in labor income in Central Iowa during 2006.
In spite of those numbers and the potential they offer for job growth and economic activity, Iowa ranks 45th in the nation and last in the upper Midwest for per capita investment in the arts. Iowa invests $0.42 per capita in the arts in FY2008; the national average is $1.04, according to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. NASAA is the membership organization of the nation’s state and jurisdictional arts agencies.
“When you consider how poorly we are performing with regard to our ranking together with the economic impact information we are finding, you can see we are failing to capitalize on the opportunities in front of us,” Pederson said. “Think of how much more economic impact the arts could have if we could improve the investment we make in the arts in Iowa.”
According to NASAA, the top five and lowest five states for investment in the arts per capita in FY2008 are:
(Rank, state, per capita investment)
Top 5 States:
1. Hawaii, $5.21 per capita
2. Maryland, $2.70 per capita
3. New Jersey, $2.58 per capita
4. New York, $2.54 per capita
5. Delaware, $2.41 per capita
Lowest 5 States:
46. Washington, $.40 per capita
47. Arizona, $.33 per capita
48. Colorado, $.31 per capita
49. Texas, $.18 per capita
50. California, $.11 per capita
Among Iowa’s Midwest neighbors, Missouri made another leap in FY08, continuing its rapid rise from 49th in FY06 ($.08 per capita) and 33rd in FY07 ($.64 per capita) to 12th in FY08 ($1.37 per capita). Following is a list of Midwestern states, their rank and per capita investment in the arts, according to NASAA:
6. Minnesota, $1.97 per capita
12. Missouri, $1.37 per capita
26. Illinois, $0.83 per capita
29. South Dakota, $0.80 per capita
32. Nebraska, $0.71 per capita
43. Wisconsin, $0.44 per capita
45. Iowa, $0.42 per capita
Iowa’s 13 CHAT regions are comprised as follows:
Region 1: Lyon, Osceola, Dickinson, Sioux, O’Brien, Clay, Plymouth, Cherokee, Buena Vista
Region 2: Emmet, Kossuth, Winnebago, Worth, Palo Alto, Hancock, Cerro Gordo, Pocahontas, Humboldt, Wright
Region 3: Mitchell, Howard, Winneshiek, Allamakee, Floyd, Chickasaw, Fayette, Clayton
Region 4: Woodbury, Ida, Sac, Monona, Crawford, Carroll, Harrison, Shelby, Audubon
Region 5: Calhoun, Webster, Hamilton, Greene, Boone, Story, Guthrie, Dallas
Region 6: Franklin, Butler, Bremer, Hardin, Grundy, Black Hawk, Buchanan
Region 7: Marshall, Tama, Benton, Jasper, Poweshiek, Mahaska
Region 8: Linn, Iowa, Johnson, Cedar, Keokuk, Washington, Muscatine
Region 9: Delaware, Dubuque, Jones, Jackson, Clinton, Scott
Region 10: Pottawattamie, Cass, Adair, Mills, Montgomery, Adams, Fremont, Page, Taylor
Region 11: Madison, Warren, Marion, Union, Clarke, Lucas, Ringgold, Decatur, Wayne
Region 12: Monroe, Wapello, Jefferson, Henry, Louisa, Des Moines, Appanoose, Davis, Van Buren, Lee
Region 13: Polk
###
The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs is responsible for developing the state’s interest in the areas of the arts, history and other cultural matters with the advice and assistance from its two divisions: the State Historical Society of Iowa and the Iowa Arts Council. DCA preserves, researches, interprets and promotes an awareness and understanding of local, state and regional history and stimulates and encourages the study and presentation of the performing and fine arts and public interest and participation in them. It implements tourism-related art and history projects as directed by the General Assembly and designs a comprehensive, statewide, long-range plan with the assistance of the Iowa Arts Council to develop the arts in Iowa. More information about DCA is available at www.culturalaffairs.org.
