Task force to work to grow Providence arts sector

Four months ago, an Americans for the Arts study suggested that Providence’s nonprofit art and cultural audiences contribute about $111.8 million to the city’s economy. The same study ranked Providence second in cities of its size for the revenue the industry provides local and state government.
Mayor David N. Cicilline wants to ensure that the arts industry continues to affect the city’s economy at that level, or at an even higher level. So he has convened an Arts Investment Task Force, which he announced Tuesday at an Arts & Business Council of Rhode Island event.
The goal of the task force is to “come up with very specific strategies to ensure the continued success of arts organizations in our city,” Cicilline said at the event.
To do so, the task force will develop a message that articulates the value of the city’s arts and cultural organizations and a communications strategy that will disseminate that message.
Cicilline also charged the task force with developing one centralized place where people can book tickets to events, book hotel rooms and make donations. The task force will design an arts investment tool kit as well.
“I think one of the things we all recognize, particularly in Rhode Island and Providence, is that financial stability of arts organizations continues to be a very serious challenge,” he said. “We need to be sure that we continue to value [arts and culture] and allow it to grow and really flourish in the city.”
James V. DeRentis, executive vice president and chief business officer for Bank Rhode Island and chairman of the Arts & Business Council, will also head the new city task force. Representatives from Textron Inc., Bank of America, Citizens Bank, Verizon Communications, Fidelity Investments, Nortek Inc., The Rhode Island Foundation, the Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce, the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau, along with Peter Bramante of the Arts & Business Council and Lynne McCormack of the Providence Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism, will also be part of the task force.
Also announced at the event was the Arts & Business Council’s intention to conduct a comprehensive regional market study on the cultural consumer in southeastern New England.
The objective of the $175,000 study will be to understand the behavior patterns and perceptions of the cultural consumer within a 50-mile radius north, south, east and west of Providence.
The study will aim to determine key motivators of that consumer, DeRentis said, and from that information, derive opportunities for marketing strategies that could be effective in attracting those consumers to art and cultural events in Providence.
The Rhode Island Foundation gave a $75,000 grant to be used for the research, but DeRentis reminded those attending the event another $100,000 will be required to complete the study. The council will be raising that money in the months ahead. The study is slated to will begin in December. •