June 1986

Art I[s Big Business coie:son sets: ine

By Ted Kingan
The Travel Industry

The travel industry is well aware of
the dollar value of the arts, for without
its cultural attractions, this province
would be in a poor position to compete
for the tourist trade which, in 1983,
generated $2.6 billion, making it one
of the most productive industries in
the province. Cities compete not only
for the tourist trade but also for the
equally lucrative convention business.
Delegates and their families can enrich
a local economy to the tune of many
thousands of dollars within a compar-
atively short period of time. Obviously,
cities lacking cultural attractions will,
all things being equal, be at a distinct
disadvantage when trying to drum-up
vital convention business and there can
be few, if any, cities which do not make
a point of featuring their arts activities
in their promotional material.
Vancouver is no exception.

Vancouver:

An International City?

Announcing the formation of the
Vancouver Partnership for Business
and the Arts, mayor Mike Harcourt
said: ‘Artists are not a charity group.
They are skilled workers who
contribute between $50 and $60
million annually to the city’s econ-
omy.” Commenting on the new
initiative, Max Wyman wrote in the
Province newspaper: ‘More and better
cultural activities in the city will provide
a magnet to help attract the skills,
Management expertise, national and
international business headquarters
that will, in the next two decades, turn
Vancouver into a major world centre.”

Interestingly enough, Wyman’s
remarks could have been taken almost
directly from the promotional
literature issued by the B.C. govern-
ment’s Discovery Foundation, except
that this literature failed to mention any
possible role for the arts in the plans
to market Vancouver as an “interna-
tional city.’’ Since 1979, the
Foundation has endeavoured to
promote a new climate of innovation
and entrepreneurship in the areas of
advanced technology and international
trade, in the hope that Vancouver may
come to be recognized as an appropriate
location for international businesses,
especially where the Pacific Rim is

British Columbia's BUSINESS EXAMINER

concerned. It is impossible to think
of such great international cities and
centres for world trade and commerce
as London, Paris and New York
without associating them with their rich
cultural traditions and lively artistic
activities. All major international cities
are prominent centres of the visual and
performing arts, a fact which causes one
to wonder how it will be possible for
Vancouver to gain an international,
sophisticated image if cultural
opportunities do not co-exist with
business opportunities.

During his previously mentioned
address, Max Beck pointed out:
“Above all, we should have revised the
image that we’re a ‘village in the rain
forest’ to a recognition that we’re a
vibrant, cosmopolitan, world-class
city.”

Typical of advice from the private
business sector is that given by Melvin
Fraser of IBM Canada, who says: “A
community which stimulates and
challenges the individual is a better
community and will provide better
customers, better employees and a
better business climate than one where
there is little stimulation. We believe
that cultural activities are a prime
source of this stimulation.”

A community which
stimulates and challenges
the individual is a better
community and will
provide better customers,
better employees and a
better business climate
than one where there is
little stimulation. — IBM
Canada.

In the U.S., David Rockefeller
stated: “Diminished cultural activity
can bring economic chaos to a city,
affecting not only businesses specifi-
cally dependent on tourism, such as
hotels, restaurants and stores, but on
all commercial activity.”

Paul Schafer, who has worked
extensively as an economic consultant
with Canada’s Department of External
Affairs and with UNESCO, says:
“Accelerated commercial activity
provides an important stimulus to the

arts. In return, artistic activity, through
its ability to create a dynamic setting
capable of attracting keen and
competitive minds, provides an
excellent inducement to business and
industry in particular and to economic
development in general.”

That the creative climate and
dynamic setting mentioned by Schafer
is capable of attracting keen and
competitive minds is confirmed by
research which shows that when
companies and corporations must
decide where to locate, many will not
locate in communities deficient in the
arts. Availabiliry of the arts has been
found to be a significant factor in
attracting and retaining skilled workers
and executives. Similar studies have
shown that graduating students in
universities cite intellectual stimulation
and access to the arts as key determi-
nants when asked where they would
prefer to live and work. These findings
are duplicated when working execu-
tives are surveyed. ;

As was pointed out by Harry
Chartrand, "The tendency to make
industrial location decisions based on
a community’s amenities has been
amplified by the shift from traditional
‘smokestack’ manufacturing to high-
tech industries. A number of observers
suggest that in high-tech industries, jobs
now follow people rather than people

following jobs. To attract and retain °

scarce, highly trained workers,
companies and communities must offer
an increasingly attractive quality of life,
which includes the fine arts.”

To attract and retain
scarce, highly trained
workers, companies and
communities must offer
an increasingly attractive
quality of life, which
includes the fine arts.

If the BC government hopes
through tts Uiscovery Foundation and
othes -romononal strategies to attract
high-te..  Juseries, crading companies
and other businesses to Vancouver, it
is obvious that in addition to creating
an appropriate climate for investment,
it must also create an equally
appropriate quality of life if Vancouver

Page 29

is to emerge as an international city
deserving of the name. Particularly at
the management level, in the final
analysis companies and corporations
consist of educated individuals who
demand more from life than a regular
salary and whose private lives normally _
include intellectual and cultural
interests such as are offered by the
visual and performing arts. It should
therefore be distressing to members of
the private business sector that the B.C.
government’s international marketing
plans for Vancouver do not appear to
recognize this fact, despite unambigu-
ous messages from prominent
representatives of the business
community and others.

Vancouver and The Arts
In addition to the anticipated boost

to Vancouver’s economy from the
presence of EXPO visitors, ‘Vancouver
residents are currently spending
upwards of $60 million a year on
entertainment, including the live
theatre, opera and the dance. During
the 1982-83 fiscal year, Vancouver
patrons spent $12 million on the
performing arts, with about $7 million
going to local stage productions. Total
attendance at these performances was
close to 1.5 million and, according to
Max Beck, attendance at all cultural
events in the city will soar from 2.6
million last year to 3.9 million in 1988.
The beneficial effect on the spin-off
dollars on the local economy can only
be imagined.

Vancouver residents are

currently spending
upwards of $60 million a
year on entertainment.
Chartrand further informs us: ‘The
arts embrace a complex network of
invested capital, including distribution,
exhibition, performing, production,
storage and training facilities such as
libraries, art galleries, audio and video
studios, museums, publishers and
printing facilities, artist-run spaces, film
and video co-operatives, professional
schools and theatres. It is ‘guesstimated”’
that Canadian artistic facilities are
worth billions of dollars.’’ As
Chartrand points out, ‘British
Columbia accounted for 10% of
performing facilities and 9% of
available seats in Canada in 1981.” The
great majority of these facilities and
seats are located in Vancouver, which

Beck describes as “downtown B.C.”