Economic impact studies have recently become quite the fashion. The process of measuring the effect that an arts event, building or festival has on its town, region or nation state has become an increasingly popular tool in leveraging funding for art which, to the popular purse, may be seen as a waste of money. And they can prove useful ? as the process is refined in years to come, economic impact is likely to become as commonly quoted a statistic as an organisation?s turnover or attendance levels. However, perhaps what we should really be looking at is not quantity of economic impact ? theatre x generates spending in town y of £z ? but rather the quality of cultural impact.
Respondents to the Government?s ?Culture at the Heart of Regeneration? document (p3) have noted that qualitative evidence is frequently under-valued by decision-makers. In a quest to find facts and figures to define culture?s impact in regenerating run down areas, it seems we have overlooked that vital ingredient: quality of life. Quality of life is not measured by coffee shops and property prices, but by light, colour, reflection and energy ? ingredients that the arts have got in buckets. Newcastle and Johannesburg may have boosted their economies through cultural activity, but regeneration can also be seen in small attitudinal changes in the individuals who populate the cities. Maybe it is time that greater emphasis was placed on research such as that carried out by Chris Bailey and referred to by Suzy Goulding (p6). Culture can boost the esteem in which regions, towns and society are held by outsiders ? offering places an identity, a pride, an unconscious boost to their collective ego. Perhaps we need to think harder about how to bottle this indefinable quality, not insist on how to measure the quantity.
PS On the subject of quality, we hope you enjoy the new-look ArtsProfessional. Our thanks go to COG Design for partnering us on this project over recent months.