Economic impact studies are standardising cultural experiences in the same way education has been standardised to achieve acceptable exam grades, says Colin Dabkowski.
At this point, I can almost write the stories with my eyes closed:
According to a new report from (insert name of government agency or nonprofit here), arts and cultural organizations contributed (insert astoundingly high dollar figure here) to the (local/national/global) economy last year.
The recent barrage of cultural economic impact studies, increasingly employed as weapons against politicians who would de-fund arts nonprofits, is in many ways heartening. It shows evidence of historically cloutless arts groups learning to speak the language of politics and business, the better to prove what worthwhile investments they are.
But cultural groups and institutions should be careful about just how fluent they become in these severe and unforgiving idioms, and how much they allow the terms and tactics of Wall Street, Washington and Silicon Valley to infect their humanistic missions.... Keep reading on The Buffalo News
At this point, I can almost write the stories with my eyes closed:
According to a new report from (insert name of government agency or nonprofit here), arts and cultural organizations contributed (insert astoundingly high dollar figure here) to the (local/national/global) economy last year.
The recent barrage of cultural economic impact studies, increasingly employed as weapons against politicians who would de-fund arts nonprofits, is in many ways heartening. It shows evidence of historically cloutless arts groups learning to speak the language of politics and business, the better to prove what worthwhile investments they are.
But cultural groups and institutions should be careful about just how fluent they become in these severe and unforgiving idioms, and how much they allow the terms and tactics of Wall Street, Washington and Silicon Valley to infect their humanistic missions.... Keep reading on The Buffalo News