alabamaarts in this issue the economic impact of the ...fall/winter 2002• alabamaarts • 5 valley...

FALL/WINTER 2002 • ALABAMAARTS • 1

Volume XVIIINumber 2

FALL/WINTER 2002

In this IssueThe Economic Impact of the Arts in Alabama

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ALABAMAARTS

Library of Congress Card No. 74628447

On the Cover: Watercolor by Dana Brown, “Train Yard” 15 1/2” x 29 1/2”. Dana lives in Huntsville, Alabama where shehas studied privately with watercolor artist and instructor Chuck Long and attended classes at Arrowmont Arts and CraftsSchool in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. She’s exhibited and won awards in shows nationwide. Brown is a signature member of theWatercolor Society of Alabama and a member of several other watercolor and art groups as well.

Economic Impact of the ArtsAl Head, Executive Director, ASCA

The New Economy and Culture: Huntsville as a Case Study from the forthcoming book,Alabama in the Twentieth CenturyWayne Flynt

The Official Sponsor: Partnerships Between Business and the ArtsGeorgine Clarke

Arts Means Business—A Tale of Four CitiesWilliam M. Jarnigan

Economic Impact of European Masterpiecesat Birmingham Museum of ArtFrances Caldwell

Cultural Heritage Tourism in Appalachian AlabamaJoyce Cauthen

Exhibition Schedule: The Alabama Artists Gallery

“What drew me out of the car, across the parking lot and through the weeds to an old, abandoned train car? Itwasn’t the bright-red caboose under the pines against a sea of blue sky. No, it was the light across a rusty wheeland the loose chain dangling onto the tracks. Someone else needs to paint the beautiful sky, I thought. I have topaint the wheel.

“Artists are constantly looking for interesting scenes and analyzing why one image is more appealing thananother. What forces you to take notice? Your eyes dart over to examine a flash of color or a strong shape. It’simportant to ask the question, ‘What is it I feel compelled to paint?’

“Sometimes more is revealed by focusing on a small segment of the subject than by painting a traditional view.Developing your power of observation and searching for that ‘kernel,’ that point of interest, can be the key to astrong painting. It’s also pivotal in the search to find your own unique voice.”

Dana Brown

2 • ALABAMAARTS • FALL/WINTER 2002

Mission StatementThe mission of the Alabama State Council on the Arts is to promote Alabama’sdiverse and rich artistic resources while highlighting excellence and educationalexperiences.

The AgencyThe Alabama State Council on the Arts is the official state agency for the supportand development of the arts in Alabama. It was established in 1966 by an act of theAlabama Legislature. The agency supports not-for-profit arts organizations,programming in the arts for the general public, and individual artists. The State ArtsCouncil works to expand the state’s cultural resources and preserve its uniquecultural heritage and places a high priority on arts programming by and for schools.The Council’s primary means of supporting the arts and making the arts moreaccessible to varied audiences is through a multi-faceted grants program whichcovers all disciplines and fields of creative expression.

The CouncilThe fifteen members of the Council are drawn from communities throughout thestate. They are appointed by the Governor for six-year terms, and selection is basedon expertise in the arts, business, or community affairs. The officers of the Councilare elected by its members.

The Council meets four times each year, at various locations throughout the state. Itapproves agency programs and policies, develops long range plans, and makes finaldecisions on state and federal grant dollars under its jurisdiction.

Alabama’s Council on the Arts


T he Alabama State Council on the Arts has recentlycompleted and published an updated long range planentitled, The Arts in Alabama: A New Millennium. The

multi-year plan addresses the issue of quality of life in thestate from various perspectives. The economy, economicdevelopment, and related areas such as industrial recruitment,cultural tourism, and community revitalization are all promi-nent in the text of the plan. The point is made about businesssupport being critical to the health of the arts and, in turn, thearts contributing to an environment in which business willflourish. Recent studies by the National GovernorsAssociation, the Southern Legislative Conference and theSouthern Growth Policies Board address the economicimpact of the arts and the interconnectedness of the arts andbusiness. The results, across the board, point to the arts ashaving a significant impact.

The arts as associated to quality of life are commonlyexperienced and observed in our rapidly changing popularculture, diverse creative expression, preservation of culturaltraditions, elevated forms of communication and, as our fore-fathers put it,“the pursuit of happiness”. The arts are all ofthose things, but there is a broader story to the role of the artsin our society. The arts also impact employment, make citiesmore attractive and livable, generate tax revenue, help prop-erty value appreciate, stimulate tourism, contribute to a moreenlightened and competent workforce and facilitate improvedsocial and professional relations among diverse populations.The arts are good business.

The late Winton M. Blount, a nationally recognized busi-ness leader and arts patron, often said,“for me, businesssupport for the arts is a matter of enlightened self-interest.” In1995, when Congress was debating abolishing the NationalEndowment for the Arts, Blount, a self-ascribed conservativeRepublican, was asked to be the keynote speaker at the NancyHanks Lecture Series and address the issue of federal support

for the arts. Emphasized in his comments was, among otherthings, the importance of the partnership between the publicand private sectors in supporting the arts and how fundingshould be viewed as an investment, not a gift or act of benev-olence. Winton Blount died in October 2002: part of hislegacy will, no doubt, be the tangible evidence of how the arts,quality of life, business and economic vitality are intercon-nected and mutually beneficial. His signature act ofpatronage, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery,has an annual economic impact of over 11.6 million dollars.

In this issue of AlabamaArts, articles are presented thathighlight the economic impact of the arts in our state. FromWayne Flynt’s historical cultural perspective to more contem-porary examples of arts impact, the stories are consistentillustrations about how the arts can play an important role inmoving our state forward economically and culturally. Likeother resources in Alabama, the arts need to be nourished,wisely utilized and made part of our overall plans for thefuture. Incorporating the arts as part of public policy andbusiness investment is no longer “cutting edge” strategy forgrowth and progress. The evidence regarding the benefits ofthe arts is well documented and articulated. It’s time forpublic officials and business leaders in Alabama to makesupporting the arts part of their priorities for the future. ■

Al Head is the Executive Director

of the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

ArtsECONOMIC IMPACT of the

by Al Head


In Alabama’s desperate century-long effort to recruit business andindustry, culture has always

played a role. The old economy ofextractive, low-wage industry reliedon a labor force profoundly shapedby folk culture: story-telling, tradi-tional country music, herb andpatent medicine.

The new economy relied upon adifferent kind of culture. Many of thenew businesses of the late 20th centurydepended on skilled, well-educated,high-tech employees who had to berecruited from other states or evenoutside the region. Attracting humanresources—engineers, mathematicians,computer programmers, scientists—for the new economy gave Alabamaindustrial recruiters a decades longheadache. The newcomers often judgedsociety and culture by the quality ofschools, art galleries, museums, theavailability of classical music, ballet, thepresence of environmentally friendlypolicies, and tolerance and acceptanceof non-native Alabamians with diverselife styles and religious preferences.

One Sun Belt historian noted thatnot all of the South participated in the1970’s-1980’s economic boom.Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana,Mississippi, and to a degree, Tennessee,remained outside the magic circle.Alabama failed to gain recognition as afull-fledged Sun Belt success story but

not because it lacked the elementsnecessary for such designation. Rather,it was due to haphazard and piecemealdevelopment. Largely without leader-ship from state officials or theAlabama Development Office, localvisionaries took matters into their ownhands. The result was pockets ofeducational excellence and economicprosperity surrounded by a vast land-scape of collapsing industries, terribleschools, and human deprivation. Chiefamong the economic winners was thecity of Huntsville.

Huntsville emerged from World WarII a different city standing at an historiccrossroads. Looking to the past, therewas a legacy as one of the largest cottonmarkets east of the Mississippi Riverwith three large cotton mills still oper-ating. Redstone and Huntsville arsenalspresented a much different future,using cheap TVA hydroelectric powerand the Appalachian region’s vastsurplus population to attract a newkind of industry.

Few local leaders envisioned whatthat future would be like. The evidencefor Huntsville’s high-tech future wasnot encouraging. At the end of the war,research scientists were five times morenumerous in other regions of theUnited States than in the South. Patentswere issued to southerners at a rate lessthan one-third the national average.Alabama had little to offer high-tech

companies that relied on good researchuniversities, a highly skilled technicalwork force, clean environment, effi-cient, professional government, andcultural opportunities. The questionposed for Madison County waswhether a high-tech city was possiblewithin a low-tech state. Over the nexthalf century, Huntsville answered thequestion with resounding affirmation.

The critical decision came early. Inthe fall of 1949, Wernher von Braun leda small group of fellow rocket engi-neers on a site selection visit toHuntsville. They found RedstoneArsenal, the Tennessee River, the lush

THE NEW ECONOMY AND CULTURE:

HUNTSVILLEas a Case Study from the forthcoming book,

Alabama in the Twentieth Centuryby Wayne Flynt

Wernher von Braun was one of the world’s first andforemost rocket engineers and a leading authority onspace travel. Living in Huntville, Alabama from 1950to 1970, Dr. von Braun first directed the technicaldevelopment of the U.S. Army’s ballistic missile pro-gram at Redstone Arsenal, and later served asDirector of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.


valley and high mountains much to their liking.Of course, most anything would have been betterthan the dry, flat terrain at Fort Bliss, near ElPaso, Texas, where, after their surrender to theallies in 1945, the scientists had worked on V-2rockets under close military supervision.

Von Braun soon returned to Huntsville withsome 120 German scientists and engineers tobegin work at the newly renamed RedstoneArsenal Ordnance Rocket Center. In their newcity, they lived where they wanted, boughthouses, and joined and formed organizations.They obtained library cards, started St. Mark’sLutheran Church, founded classical musicalensembles including the Huntsville SymphonyOrchestra and the Huntsville CommunityChorus, the Broadway Theatre League, the ArtsCouncil, the German Club for internationaltravel, and the University of Alabama atHuntsville. Most native Alabamians were toohospitable and delighted about the economicstimulus brought by the newcomers to ask trou-bling questions about previous Nazi connections,V-2 rocket attacks on London, or the deaths ofthousands of Russian, French, and Polish POWswhile building German rocket facilities.

In 1956, at the height of the Cold War, the U.S.Army established the Army Ballistic MissileAgency at Redstone and directed the scientiststoward military applications and away from vonBraun’s lifelong interest in space rocketry. Fouryears later, he traded his military status forcivilian control when the George C. MarshallSpace Flight Center began operations with vonBraun as director of Huntsville’s rocket enginecomponent. Von Braun became responsible for

A member of the Huntsville Symphony warming up for a performance.

A recent performance of the Huntsville Ballet.

Performers in a touring Broadway production take the stage in the Von Braun Center’s concerthall in Huntsville, Alabama.

The newcomers often judged society and culture

by the quality of schools, art galleries, museums,

the availability of classical music, ballet, the

presence of environmentally friendly policies,

and tolerance and acceptance of non-native

Alabamians with diverse life styles and religious

preferences.

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planning, directing, and conducting thenation’s non-military space activities.

Development of Redstone, Jupiter,and Saturn launch vehicles pumpedbillions of dollars into the localeconomy. And the success of Redstoneand Saturn rockets that blasted AlanShepard into the heavens and placedAmerican astronauts on the moonrestored the nation’s confidence after abrief Soviet lead in space achievements.The Marshall facility, dedicated in 1960,cost $100 million. Two years later,NASA’s Marshall facility employeesspent that much more in Huntsville’slocal businesses. In 1964, the MarshallSpace Flight Center’s budget soared to$1.7 billion. At that time, Huntsvillederived 90 percent of its income fromthe aerospace industry.

Trading one dominant industry(textiles) for another (aerospace) hadits own risks. After the 1960’s Apolloastronaut landings, NASA began cutbacks as government funds were redi-rected toward the war in Vietnam. Inthe decade after 1965, Huntsville lostmore than 17,000 NASA-related jobsand the city faced another economiccrisis. Fortunately, what the city stillpossessed were the excellent schoolsand cultural resources that were thelegacy of Alabama’s initial flirtationwith the nation’s new economy.

Business, civic, and political leadersmobilized to save the commercial andresidential neighborhoods that weresprouting “For Sale” signs like springmushrooms. Unlike Jefferson County,where competing communities vied fornew industry, Madison County formu-lated a coordinated development

strategy involving civic, cultural, andacademic leaders as well as Chamber ofCommerce officials. The effort paid offin a flurry of new light industry (tires,chemicals, machinery, metals) as well asother high-tech firms not involved withaerospace. Between 1965 and 1978,Huntsville generated 14,000 new non-NASA industrial jobs and emergedwith a much more diversified economy.

The election of Ronald Reagan aspresident and his “Star Wars” defenseinitiative, designed to topple the SovietUnion by spending so much on tech-nology that the “evil empire” wouldoverextend its economy, paid huge divi-dends to Huntsville. The city receivedthe fifth largest concentration of “StarWars” contracts of any in the UnitedStates; between 1983 and 1986,contracts worth $528 million went to58 area laboratories, schools, andcompanies. Although more govern-ment funding went to Los Angeles andBoston, the size of those cities diffusedthe impact. Marshall also became hostto the $8 billion manned space stationproject during this time.

The result was a second phase aero-space boom similar to the early 1960’s.

Local planners, projecting a doubling ofthe city’s population, began a massivehighway program and an interstateconnector to I-65 near Decatur, whichformer Governor George Wallace hadrefused to build because MadisonCounty had always voted against him.

By 1983, almost one-fifth ofMadison County jobs were in high-techfirms, giving Huntsville one of thenation’s most technologically sophisti-cated work forces, which, in turn,generated $1 billion in payrolls.Although Alabama did not qualify asone of the nation’s 24 states with signif-icant high-tech employment,Huntsville had one of the highestconcentrations of engineers (35 percentof the state’s total), science technicians,mathematical and computer specialists,and natural scientists of any Americancity. Indeed, it compared favorably withAustin, Orlando, and North Carolina’sresearch triangle in high-tech indus-tries, which had accounted for 75percent of U.S. manufacturing jobgrowth in the United States between1955 and 1979.

Success bred success. Drawn by thehighest salaries and populationgrowth of any Alabama metropolitanarea, Harbert Construction began a$60 million office park in 1985. Thecity’s Space Center became the state’ssecond most popular tourist attrac-tion, and, in 1999, home to theNational Space Science andTechnology Center. Boeing, alreadywith a presence in Huntsville,announced, in 1997, a $400 millionrocket-building plant a few miles awaytoward Decatur. At the turn of the last

1959 Capec Rocket from the photo archive of theArmy Ballistic Missile Agency at Redstone Arsenal.

century, Toyota chose Huntsville as thesite of its new engine plant.

Much of this progress resulted fromeconomic and city planning, a conceptthat many Alabamians found vaguelysinister. It was Wernher von Braunwho first envisioned the idea of aresearch park and Joe Moquin, CEO ofTeledyne-Brown Engineering, whoimplemented it. Moquin was notimpressed with the renovated cottonmill that served as his company’s firsthome. Familiar with North Carolina’sresearch triangle, he requested that thecity zone 1,000 acres for research andredevelopment. City planners wereeven more expansive, buying an addi-tional 2,000 acres of former cottonfields to augment Moquin’s request.The result was Cummings ResearchPark, second worldwide in actualdeveloped land to the ResearchTriangle Park and fourth in employ-ment. Cummings became home to amix of local and Fortune 500 compa-nies as well as to the University ofAlabama at Huntsville and the state’ssupercomputer. In 2001, Cummingsprovided Huntsville a payroll of $2billion, earned employees an averageannual salary above $50,000, and drovelocal annual salaries to a southernaverage second only to Atlanta.

By the end of century, Huntsville’ssaga had become a national successstory. A 1998 study listed Huntsville asthe southeast city with the highestconcentration of high-tech workers. In2000, a trade organization named it thefifth top center for software employ-ment behind Boulder, Colorado, SanJose, California (Silicon Valley),

Washington, D.C., and NorthCarolina’s research triangle. In 2001,the January issue of ExpansionManagement listed Huntsville asthird among its top twenty-five high-tech cities, and Newsweek magazinenamed it one of the nation’s “Top 10Techno Cities.”

But the price for all this prosperitywas too high for other Alabamacommunities. The funds for highquality public schools drove local prop-erty taxes to heights unacceptable tocitizens in other cities and even gener-ated a taxpayer backlash in Huntsville.Much of the city’s population – 44percent by 1990 – came from outsideAlabama. By comparison, only 20percent of the population of Jeffersonand Shelby counties was born outsidethe state. As the least southern-bornand bred, Madison County had toadjust to new ways of doing things, nota pleasant thought for many of thestate’s citizens. Rigorous planning andzoning assumed that some sort ofcoordinated effort took precedenceover individual preference. Even the

state’s fastest metropolitan growthturned off some. A local mythologyreported that one frustrated 1960’sHuntsville mayor groused that manyold time citizens wondered why somuch change had to occur. All theywanted was buttermilk and cornbread,not a bush to be moved or tree cut.

To Alabama’s development gurus,the mayor’s pique was a familiarrefrain. After all, not everyone appreci-ates Mozart or Renoir. But Huntsville’ssaga proved that a new economy rodepiggy-back on a new culture. Thecultural amenities we may not appre-ciate ourselves, we must sometimesprovide for others whom we desire toattract to live among us. ■

Wayne Flynt is an acclaimed historian, social activist, dedicated

scholar, researcher, and a sought-afterlecturer. His many works have

explored the plight of poor whites inthe South and the history of southern

region and poliics. His mission is toraise the level of consciousness about

problems facing the State—a State heloves even though he believes it needs

major reform.

Flynt is the author of ten books, andhis writings often grace the pages of thestate’s newspapers. He is also a sought-

after speaker, but he is not noted forpulling his punches, whether he isspeaking to a local Rotary Club orbefore members of the Legislature.


Visitors at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center lookup-ward at rockets developed in Huntsville, Alabama tolaunch satellites and astronauts.

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“To give back tothe community”is a phrase used often by businesseswhen asked why they support artsactivities—programs ranging frommuseum exhibitions to festivals to sym-phony concerts.

One side of that story is that thearts help provide “quality of life”—dynamic, creative communities thatcan attract new corporations and con-tribute to economic growth. The otherside is that a successful business, inturn, sees the opportunity to contributeback to its neighbors with financialsupport making quality art accessible toa wide range of people.

The late Wynton M. “Red” Blountfounded Blount International, a New

York Stock Exchange internationalmanufacturing company headquar-tered in Montgomery, Alabama, withoperations and distribution in morethan 130 countries around the globe.He also built a $21.5 million theatre inMontgomery for the AlabamaShakespeare Festival and helped awide range of other arts organizations.He said, “It takes commitment—a per-sonal interest and involvement—tosuccessfully build a long-term partner-ship with the arts. As business leaders,it is imperative that we lead the way.From small businesses to large busi-nesses, each can contribute in someway to the overall development thatwill pay enormous dividends, botheconomically and culturally. If youwant a city that will be rememberedlong after you are gone, make the artsan integral part of the long-termstrategic plan for growth.”

The Business Committee for theArts, Inc. a national not-for-profitorganization founded in 1967, con-ducts regular surveys to determine thelevel and trends in business support tothe arts in the United States.Nationally, among companies withannual revenues of more than $1 mil-lion, the survey reports that in 2001the total dollar amount contributed tothe arts was $1.56 billion, representinga median contribution to the arts perbusiness of $4,000.

The reasons for such support? 65%said, “Good thing to do;” 35% said,“Tied to business goals.” In a brochureproduced by the Montgomery AreaBusiness Committee for the Arts, Inc.,Jake Aronov of Aronov RealtyManagement Company brings the twoideas together. “Larger businesses, alongwith smaller ones, succeed only to theextent that they make life better for

THE OFFICIAL SPONSOR: Partnerships Between Business and the Arts

by Georgine Clarke

The Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Montgomery, Alabama.

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their customers, so it is an easy exten-sion of that purpose to make our com-munity better through investment inand support of the arts.”

Another way of phrasing, from abrochure produced by the LouisianaDivision of the Arts:

THE HOUSE THAT ART BUILT

This is the new truck,bought by the manwho owns the store

where the mommy shoppedfor the pink ballet slippers

that made the little girl smilewhen she danced in

the house that art built.

Business support for the arts gener-ally comes from several departments inthe corporate budget. The InternationalEvents Group (IEG), headquartered inChicago, defines a philanthropic dona-tion, (“Good thing to do”), the mostcommon relationship, as one consid-ered support of a cause without anycommercial incentive.

IEG further suggests that sponsor-ship support (“Tied to business goals”)is generally undertaken to assist withcommercial objectives and comes frommarketing, advertising or communityrelations budgets. Corporate sponsor-ship is one of the fastest growing areasof partnership between business andthe arts today, with a 1999 figure of$460 million in arts sponsorship bybusinesses in North America.Maximizing corporate marketing goals

National Survey of Business Support to the ArtsCompanies with annual revenues of more than $1 million contributing to the arts

ALLOCATION OF BUSINESS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ARTS TOTALMuseums 22%Symphony Orchestras 19%Arts Education Programs 17%Theatre 11%Other Music 8%Public Radio and Television 5%Dance 4%Performing Arts Facilities 3%Literary Arts 3%Opera 3%United Arts Funds 2%

REASONS FOR BUSINESS SUPPORT OF THE ARTS TOTALThe arts in the K-12 curricula increase academic performance

and SAT scores 41%The arts have a proven positive impact on the local economy

and tourism 31%The arts help address social issues in and out of the workplace 21%Attendance for arts performances and events surpasses

attendance for professional sports events 19%The arts in and out of the workplace help attract and retain employees 14%Percent identifying each as a “very important” reason for their company’s support of the arts

ARTS INVOLVEMENT TIED TO BUSINESS TOTALOffers networking opportunities and the potential to

develop new business 22%Can stimulate creative thinking, problem-solving and team building 74%Offers special benefits for employees 64%Can help to recruit and retain employees 57%Has the potential to increase its bottom line 52%Percent who “agree strongly” or “agree somewhat”

ACHIEVING A MORE EFFECTIVE BUSINESS-ARTS RELATIONSHIP TOTALOffer greater K-12 arts education initiatives 75%Broaden arts programs to reach the underserved in the community 74%Provide more tangible benefits such as discount tickets, use of

their facilities and workplace programs 72%Offer opportunities for employees to serve as volunteers in the arts 72%Be willing to work with a company’s advertising, marketing and

public relations departments 66%Offer greater opportunities for company recognition such as

signage, product displays and promotional tie-ins 63%Understand a company’s operating objectives 46%Offer more tie-ins with a company’s products and services 44%

Excerpt for the National Survey of Business Support to the Arts, The BCA Report: 2001 by BusinessCommittee for the Arts, Inc.


is significant in the sponsor rela-tionship. This marketing concept isthat supporters of the arts woulduse or feel more favorably toward abusiness sponsoring an arts or cul-tural event than one that does not.

Increasingly, arts organizations andevents in Alabama are providing spon-sorship opportunities. Eric Jambor,Director of the Sidewalk MovingPicture Festival in Birmingham notes,“A huge percentage of our incomecomes from sponsorship, allowing us tokeep low ticket prices for the presenta-tion of new films to the public.” Suchsponsor designations as “Official Hotel”and “Official Airline” provide in-kindrooms and tickets for artistic personnel,greatly impacting possible event costs.

As a new event, Sidewalk hasworked to attract national sponsorsfrom such related fields as film technol-ogy and production. Growing nationalinterest indicates event success and alsoattracts other sponsors. Jambor says,“We build collaboration. It’s moreabout first getting national sponsorsinvolved at a small level and then work-ing for an annual commitment. Hecontinues, “We have an open relation-ship with our sponsors—the more youput in the more you get out of it. Weencourage our sponsors to find funways to get their customers involved.”He uses the example of advance saletickets available only at certain sponsorlocations. To document annual success,Sidewalk sends press kits after the eventcontaining publicity and reviews of theyear’s program and beginning a requestprocess for the next year.

Eileen Kunzman, Founder andDirector of Magic City Art Connection,Operation New Birmingham’s annualarts festival, emphasizes, “Without our

business partners and friends, we’re notgoing very far. They are critical—pro-viding 50% of our support.”

She believes there are four impor-tant aspects in the relationship betweenbusiness and an art event. “The first isbeing interested in the arts—having theinsight to see the importance. The sec-ond is to say ‘yes’ by making fundsavailable.” (Both cash dollars and in-kind services are very important.Services, such as donation of all the fes-tival signage—are sometimes “veryhefty.”) “Third is to become personallyinvolved by volunteering and servingon committees. Fourth is leadership,serving on the board.”

Many corporations buy art atMagic City for their offices. Kunzmannotes “Arts in the workplace say some-thing about that company; how theyfeel about their employees; how theyfeel about the community and creativi-

ty.” She comments that a sponsoringbusiness, while being a good communi-ty citizen, also gains in return from“associating its name with a qualityevent, with a large public audience andwith the high energy atmosphere thearts generate.”

“Where else can a company getexposure to 90,000 people who seeyour name over one weekend in a posi-tive environment?” asks Jo AnnHenderson, Festival Director ofPanoply, the annual event produced byThe Arts Council of Huntsville. Shereports that their sponsors have oppor-tunities such as Exclusive BeverageProvider, Entrance, Stage and variouschildren’s activity sponsorships, as wellas the Art Marketplace. “Businesses likethe feel of the festival, the family envi-ronment and the quality entertain-ment,” she notes. Their employees alsocome and work together as volunteersat the event, identified by wearing T-shirts with the company logo andbuilding such intangible benefits ascamaraderie, pride and job satisfaction.

Panoply Festival of the Arts, Huntsville, Alabama.

The Magic City Art Connection, Birmingham, Alabama.

Institutions, such as the JuleCollins Smith Museum of Art, cur-rently under construction at AuburnUniversity, provide high quality andhigh public visibility. “Businesses areinterested in being involved,” saysmuseum Director Dr. Michael DeMarsche. “Financial institutions areoften specifically interested in educa-tion. A partnership with the museumand its outreach to schools is veryattractive.” With a sponsor, plans arebeing developed to bring every 3rdgrade student in Lee County to themuseum. In a non-urban environ-ment, the museum can become thecenter of the community. De Marschecontinues, “There is a return benefitthere. Corporate events held in themuseum are a benefit to them. Thisalso allows the museum to presentitself to other corporate leaders.”

The Energen Corporation hasestablished its own art event, and iscurrently mailing the prospectus for its4th annual art competition celebrating“the wonder of Alabama art.” Fourwinning entries become part of thepermanent “Alabama Collection”, andare displayed at Energen Plaza, thecompany’s headquarters inBirmingham. Purchase awards rangefrom $5000 to $2500, providing bothvisibility and financial support forAlabama artists. Jack Mann, chair ofthe employees committee that orga-nizes the exhibition, comments, “Thechairman of Energen values education,the environment and the arts.” Asumbrella corporation for Alabama Gasand Energen Resources, the companyis particularly interested in art relatedto the environment—landscape andwildlife. Purchases of non-representa-tional art are also made.

Mann says that the idea began asthe company located in its new build-ing. They decided to purchase and dis-play Alabama art, and the competitiongrew out of that need. He says, “Theemployees love having art in the build-ing. They feel very free to give theiropinion about the art and vote fortheir favorite non-prize winner.”

The international business com-munity is locating in Alabama. Themission of the BirminghamInternational Festival, now celebratingits 53rd year, is to “build bridges ofunderstanding with the nations of theworld through arts, education and eco-nomic development programs.” Eachyear a different country is featuredthrough such events as educationalprograms in the schools, a three-daystreet festival and a business and tradeforum and exchange. This view makesa tight connection between the artsand business, showing a strong inter-relationship and tying a cultural viewwith economic investment.

The Festival also honors compa-nies and individuals from both theUnited States and the featured countrywith Crystal Crown Awards, recogniz-ing strong social responsibility pro-grams, including support for the arts.

Executive Director Iris Gross says theseawards then “lead to relationships,which is how business is conducted.”

Johnny Aycock, President of theWest Alabama Chamber of Commercenotes that Canadian, French, Japaneseand German companies are well estab-lished in the West Alabama area. “Theycame to this community to invest, tobuild their company, to build a plant,to build products and to make money.”But in return, “they are very active cor-porate citizens.” He continues,“Without financial and leadershipbusiness support, we would not be asrich culturally as we are. These corpo-rations enhance the level of investmentin the arts. They also enhance commu-nity visibility. The new, internationalflavor changes attitudes, giving a pro-gressive can-do edge that trickles downto the entire community.”

Aycock concludes, “It’s good busi-ness to invest in the arts.” ■

Georgine Clarke is Visual Arts ProgramDirector for the Alabama State Councilon the Arts and director of the Alabama

Artists Gallery.


Muir Stewart, The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University, watercolor, 2001, from the per-manent collection of The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University.

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W hen ForrestWright beginscourting an

industrial prospect, much liketwo teenagers on their firstdate, he tries to find a conver-sational common ground. Likethe timid youngsters, he mayoffer that “it sure is a nice day,”but more than likely, the exec-utive director of the ShoalsEconomic DevelopmentAuthority will offer favoritetales of the four cities ofFlorence, Muscle Shoals,Sheffield and Tuscumbia—those of W.C. Handy, theFlorence-born “father of theblues,” and Tuscumbia’s inter-nationally-famous blinddaughter, Helen Keller, ascommon denominators. Thelatter he uses particularly iftalking with industrialists fromJapan, a nation that holdsKeller in great reverence.

“Alabama, because of thingsthat happened in the past, isnot always positive” in themind of outsiders, he said.“Iuse the Helen Keller story all thetime and nine times out of 10, people are familiar with it.That’s a good tool we use quite often.”

He has taken economic prospects to events like TheMiracle Worker at Ivy Green, Keller’s childhood home behindwhich sits the famed water pump, so prominently featured atthe end of the dramatic play that captures her communica-tive rebirth.

Steve Holt, president of the Shoals Chamber of Commerce,said visitors from outside the South do not expect to see facili-

ties like the Ritz Theatre (inSheffield), the Tennessee ValleyArts Center (Tuscumbia) andthe Kennedy-Douglass Centerfor the Arts (Florence).“Theyare surprised at what they findin the Shoals and the sophisti-cation of it. It was surprise tome when I came here.” Thisfrom a man who arrived in1994 from Asheville, NorthCarolina, a city that wasculturally developed afterbecoming a favorite of thenouveau riche from New Yorkand New England.

Sheffield mayor IanSanford said “the arts centersand theatres are assets thecommunity needs in order toentice people to move.”Wrightalso uses the Muscle Shoalsmusic recording business as atalking point. In 2002, an engi-neer was surveying some prop-erty for a possible plant whenMuscle Shoals music wasmentioned.“She began toeducate me. She was so well

versed in our musical heritage.”She mentioned that her

husband, a musician, had patterned his playing after that ofMuscle Shoals Rhythm Section bassist David Hood. She latermet Hood and was able to take stories home to her husband.(Her company optioned the property.)

“We want people to remember our community long afterthey leave,”Wright said. The arts are part of the quality of lifeaspect of the Shoals that Wright and others use to sell thearea.“Quality of life is not in the top two, three or four issuesin making a decision to locate here, but after the financial and

The famed pump at Ivy Green, Helen Keller’s home in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

ARTS MEANS BUSINESS A Tale of Four Cities

By William M. Jarnigan


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logistical issues are satisfied, quality oflife issues begin to surface.“Most ofthe decision-makers of the companiesare not the people moving into thearea, so if they can use theatre (as adrawing card), that is useful.Probably, the most important thing,when all is said and done, is not whatwe can do with the arts as aneconomic recruiting tool, but whatthe arts do to the community toimprove it, so that the community is abetter economic recruiting tool. It’snot because of the Zodiac Theatre that we are successful, butwe are successful because of how the arts provide such a well-rounded opportunity to live and work in this community.”

Mary Settle Cooney, executive director of the TennesseeValley Arts Center, notes that her organization works closelywith SEDA and the Chamber to promote the arts.“When theleaders of businesses come to the Shoals to decide if they wantto build here or not, they are given an arts packet to informthem of the culture available. We often receive telephone callsfrom individuals who are new to the area and want to knowabout cultural things in which their children can participate.”

Such a call led one chief executive officer and his familyto move to the Shoals, says Barbara Broach, the director ofthe Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts and citymuseums in Florence.

“The couple were staying in a local motel while lookingat the area. The wife called me about the arts communityand what it offered for her children. She said she would notgo to a cultural wasteland. She wanted an area where thearts were flourishing,” said Broach, the wife of city plannerBarry Broach, who is a former member of the AlabamaState Council on the Arts. Broach’s pitch to the womanmust have been persuasive. The family relocated to theShoals. One of the daughters, now a young adult, is a play-wright in New York City.

“A lot of decisions (about relocation) are made by the wifeand children,” said Broach.

Wright said,“There is no magic bullet in economic devel-opment. We have to do a lot of things. The arts and cultural

activities in the Shoals will not reduce unemployment by 10percent, but all together, they will make a substantial impacton the economy of the Shoals.”And they have.

In 1995, the Shoals Chamber’s cultural affairs committeecommissioned a study of the economic impact of the arts onColbert and Lauderdale counties by Dr. Keith Absher, aUniversity of North Alabama marketing professor. Completedthe next year, the study found that 71 non-profit arts andcultural organizations had a total economic impact on theShoals of $12,313,954. (Individual artists were not surveyedbecause of the lack of time and money.)

The organizations hosted 597 performances, programs andevents annually. Seventeen museums, including the AlabamaMusic Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia, and other attractions wereopen to the public year-round. Of the 799,839 personsattracted to the events, 23 percent, or 183,963, were fromoutside the area, which had a population base of 143,344.

Cooney says 65,000 people participate annually inprograms at the TVAC and see productions at the RitzTheatre. Mayor Sanford added,“The Ritz Theatre is respon-sible for bringing more people to Sheffield than anything elsein the city. School children from other areas come in forplays.”

The organizations employed 96 persons full-time and 101part-time. Three hundred and four outside personnel werefactored into the equations. The payrolls, from budgetstotalling $5.9 million, were $2,817,260. The agencies spent $1million locally.“Production materials that are purchased forexhibitions and set construction benefit the local lumber andhardware companies. Salaries for contracted services are


The interior of the Ritz Theatre in Sheffield, Alabama.

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generally expendable income for the artists; therefore, theyoften use the money for entertaining or shopping. Theemployees of the arts use their salaries to maintain theirlifestyles, such as paying rent and purchasing cars, houses,insurance, groceries, gas and other things necessary to survivein the world,” Cooney noted.

The event attendees spent $1.7 million and accounted forsix percent of the room rentals at area motels.“They eat atlocal restaurants, fill their gas tanks, buy new clothes, go tolocal hair dressers, and so forth,” Cooney said.

Absher, who used a multiplier of 2.2, concluded that“Shoals citizens support arts activities in the community andat the same time arts activities bring tourists into the area.”

(These numbers have certainly risen with the advent ofactivities such as the annual Trail of Tears motorcycle ride thatbrings in more than 100,000 persons in a two-day period.That weekend is capped with an outdoor concert at the MusicHall of Fame.)

He also noted that “The expenditures made by attendeesare just as important as those expenditures made by the orga-nizations. Individuals attending arts and cultural activitiesmake purchases among such categories as hotels and lodgingplaces, eating and drinking establishments and other relatedgoods and services other than the cost of admission.”

Broach has seen a change in the way her employer views

the arts. When she first took over the city artsprogram in 1976, the budget was $7,500. Florencenow appropriates $300,000 for her use.“They knowtheir money is going to develop a quality of life.”

Mayor Sanford said Sheffield, a former industrialcity landlocked from further expansion by its sistercities, funds the Ritz Theatre and the TVAC (eventhough the latter is in Tuscumbia) “because weknow the importance of that. I like the programsthey do for the young kids who otherwise maynever understand theatre. If they are not around it,they are not going to appreciate that. Wecontributed to Songfest (a festival promoting song-writers created by the Muscle Shoals MusicAssociation in 2002), because we know the impor-tance of music in the area. We support SheffieldSwings, an all-day festival in October. For a

community our size, we are fortunate to have the arts wehave. I can remember when that was not happening. There isa greater appreciation now.”

Debbie Wilson, a former radio newswoman who left theShoals for Hollywood before returning in 1993 to work forthe AMHOF, has observed a marked difference in attitudestoward quality of life.“When I returned from Los Angeles, Ifound a more active arts community and a new attitude to thearts by elected officials. That has continued to grow.” Now theexecutive director of the Florence-Lauderdale TourismBureau, Wilson frequently calls upon local artists, such asactor David Hope, bluegrass singer/folk artist, UNADepartment of English chair Dr. William Foster, and singer/songwriter Gary Baker, to assist in her efforts to promote thearea as a tourist destination and to entertain the visitors oncethey arrive. One of her big selling points has been bass tour-naments on the Tennessee Valley Authority lakes. She has hadBaker, who co-wrote the monster hit “I Swear” for countrysinger John Michael Montgomery and the pop act All-4-One,sing at the luncheons for the fishermen’s wives.

“Merging bass fishing and the music industry is somethingyou do not normally think about,” she grinned.

Baker, who also co-wrote the number one country/pop hit“I’m Already There” for Lonestar, has had a definite economicimpact on the Shoals, so much so that SunTrust Bank has


The Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts in Florence, Alabama.

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elected him to its board of directors. He and singer/song-writer Walt Aldridge (formerly of The Shooters) andsinger/record producer Mac McAnally formed in mid-2002 anew production company which they are housing at MuscleShoals Sound Studios on the south bank of the TennesseeRiver.

For many years, beginning in the 1970s, Rick Hall, theowner of Fame Recording Studios and considered by mostthe “father of Muscle Shoals music,” and other music industryleaders called upon the political chiefs to recognize that newerand better hotels were needed, better service and more flightswere needed at the airport and other issues had to beaddressed for the industry to survive.

Those cries fell on the deaf ears of some politicians froma generation that saw smokestacks as the economic salvationfor an area, not music played by white boys for black singersor long-haired Europeans. “We missed some opportunitiesyears ago,” noted Holt. “If we are going to succeed, we haveto be recognized as being business friendly, a place thatpaves the way for business to get up and running withoutthrowing up obstacles. We should have been doing that withthe music industry all along. It could have been the majordriving force in our economy today. The Shoals communityhad not recognized that what we’re talking about is indi-vidual small businesses. At one time we had many of themand that went away. Now, it’s coming back in a different way.It’s musicians, songwriters, arrangers. They are small busi-

ness people who have an impact on the economy.” But cheapland, labor, water, utilities, cheap everything was what waspromoted. “That’s the way the South sold itself,” moanedHolt. However, a few funerals and the emergence of moreopen minds have changed the scene. Leadership Shoalsdevotes a full-day review of the arts and culture in theShoals with its annual class.

“Younger people are coming into lead roles in government,the plants and businesses around town. They have moreinterest and appreciation in the arts than generations beforethem,” Broach said.

“More recently, the old philosophy that more jobs tend tocreate a better community has given way to a new philosophythat a better community tends to create better jobs. It is theconcept of total community development. We had better havea well-rounded community if we are going to succeed.Clearly, that includes arts, culture and education,” thechamber president said.

Quality of life is an issue inherent in the minds of manyShoals leaders today. Sanford, one of the younger leaders, livesthe arts. An individual contributor and a city leader whopromotes his government’s financial and logistical support ofthe arts, Sanford is married to a drama teacher who is veryvocal on her thoughts about the arts. Sheffield High Schoolteacher Nancy Sanford was in the Shoals delegation who wentto California in the early 1990s to court a firm proposing tobuild a rocket motor booster plant in the nearby Yellow Creek


The Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House Museum in Florence, Alabama.

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nuclear facility abandoned byTVA during construction. Shereported that the Shoals wasnot a cultural desert.“Thepeople who I work with here,many of whom are involveddirectly or indirectly in the arts,are community leaders. They involve themselves in theChamber to make things happen,” Holt said.

“Visitors see that the Shoals Area is vibrant and that electedofficials put money into the arts. That is important to thequality of life and is an important factor in attractingeconomic development. It is gratifying that the arts commu-nity realizes how important the tourism business is. We blendthe two together—tourism and the arts,” said Wilson.

Several other entities use arts as a drawing card. UNAoffers an annual writers festival, the George Lindsey FilmFestival, the T. S. Stribling Festival (in recognition of thePulitzer-Prize-winning novelist who attended there),theatrical productions, many art exhibitions and numerousmusical events, and hosts the Muscle Shoals Concerts, Inc.’sperformances. The Shoals Symphony and Opera South arenew and thriving. The 25-year-old, weeklong W. C. HandyMusic Festival, which has more than 200, mostly free, eventsin both Colbert and Lauderdale counties, pulls in an interna-tional audience. The Frank Lloyd Wright House, the only onedesigned and built in Alabama by the famed architect, in nowopen for tours in Florence, which also is home for the HandyHome and Museum. Numerous artist-owned galleries, eightin Florence alone, have opened in recent years.“Arts Alive”attracts many artists, while the Alabama Renaissance Fairedraws upon the cultural heritage of Florence’s sister city,Florence, Italy.

Handy Festival executive director Nancy Gonce, with theaid of ASCA grants and many groups, spearheaded anattempt, with Shoals CultureNet, to collectively promote allthe area’s arts and cultural events and track their attendance.She and others also established the new Shoals FilmCommission. One artist who is doing his part to promote thecommunity is realist painter Tim Stevenson, who, unlikeThomas Wolfe, has found a way to come home again. Aftergraduating from UNA in 1973, he felt he had to leave the

Shoals to establishhimself. With theadvent of commer-cial possibilities onthe Internet and therealization thatmost of his clients

were in states outside his Augusta, Georgia, base, he and wifeCarol moved into a historical home on the main street ofFlorence, where he continues to paint for folks living inMichigan, New Mexico, North Carolina and Delaware. He hassigned a deal with one of Bill Gates’s firms in Seattle to marketworldwide digital images of his work.

“They are surprised at the lifestyle here in northwestAlabama and they are charmed by the fact I am in Florence.Most of their clients are in larger cities,” he laughed.

Stevenson in 2002 printed in the Shoals 180,000 greetingcards which feature his art and which he plans to marketacross the U.S. and in Europe and Japan with the aid of aFlorence-based international distribution firm. On the backof each card is a reference to the Shoals Area, specifically forits tourism potential.

Wilson noted,“It is gratifying that the arts communityrealizes how important the tourism business is.”

“With all other things being equal, a strong arts programwill put one community above the others,” concludedSanford. Certainly, he and the others know that the Shoalsmeans business where the arts are concerned. ■

Bill Jarnigan, the University of North Alabama Director ofUniversity Relations, is a former executive director of the

Muscle Shoals Music Association and a former board mem-ber of the Alabama Film Commission and the Alabama State

Council on the Arts.


Interior of W. C. Handy’s church, Greater Saint Paul AME, during the Handy Festival in Florence,Alabama.

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This past spring, the Birmingham Museum of Art(BMA) hosted European Masterpieces: Six Centuries ofPaintings From the National Gallery of Victoria,

Australia. The impact of Museum visitation was enormous:almost 70,000 people viewed the exhibition. But just asimportant, the economic impact on Birmingham duringthese two months was also enormous: European Masterpiecesgenerated more than $4 million worth of new business,produced nearly $1.2 million worth of wages and salaries, andsupported 62 jobs.

“I knew our contribution would be meaningful, butfrankly, I was surprised and delighted the number was sohigh,” said BMA Museum Director Gail Trechsel. “Thiscompares extremely favorably with economic figures

tabulated by the Virginia Museum in Richmond whereMonet, Renoir and the Impressionist Landscape generated$3.2 million, and, the Speed Museum, whose presentation ofRembrandt to Gainsborough brought $3.3 million to theLouisville economy.”

Background On Exhibition and Economic Impact Study

European Masterpieces was acclaimed as one of the mostoutstanding exhibitions ever hosted by the Museum.Spanning over 600 years, the exhibition included 88 of theGallery’s most important old master and modern paintingsby 75 renowned artists. Represented were Tintoretto, van

The Charles Ireland Sculpture Garden (lower terrace), Birmingham Museum of Art.

Economic Impact of European Masterpiecesat Birmingham Museum of Art

by Frances Caldwell

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Dyck, El Greco, Rembrandt, Canaletto, Gainsborough,Reynolds, Turner, Pissarro, Manet, Monet, Van Gogh,Modigliani, Picasso, among many others. The collections ofthe National Gallery, Victoria, have long been known andadmired by art lovers the world over; this traveling exhibi-tion was the first time the collection left Australia, givingAmerican audiences an opportunity to see these magnificenttreasures first-hand. The Birmingham Museum, one of fiveAmerican museums to present the collection, was the onlyvenue in the Southeast.

The Museum, of course, was incredibly proud of host-ing this spectacular exhibition and thrilled with the response,both in terms of numbers of visitation and the excitement itgenerated throughout the city and beyond. “This was ourthird “blockbuster” in the last three years (Egypt 1999,Matisse, 2000) and we wanted to document what these exhi-bitions mean for both the community and the Museum,”remarked Trechsel. “We, like so many arts organizations, fre-quently need to make the argument for the “value” of thearts. We know that museums, theatre, opera, dance, musicand visual artists give audiences the unique opportunity tocome face to face with a real experience. In addition, the artsgive communities vibrancy and an enhanced understandingof who they are. We provide countless educational resources,create cultural capital, attract or retain businesses, enlivencity centers and bring the most desirable tourists to town –cultural tourists – but often these contributions are intangi-ble or anecdotal and not easily documented. The last compo-nent, however, visitors who come specifically for an artsevent, can be counted, their economic impact on the city ortown can be measured. In addition, one can learn significantpieces of information from them about their experience inyour facility, how they got there and if they will come back.”

The Museum decided the European Masterpieces exhibi-tion, with its broad appeal and unmatched quality, offered anopportune moment to gather this information. Two studieswere subsequently commissioned: a visitor’s survey conduct-ed by Dr. Steven Bitgood, professor at Jacksonville StateUniversity and noted visitor studies specialist, and the other,an economic impact study by Dr. S. D. Lee, professor of eco-nomics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Dr. Bitgood, with his students, conducted surveys onseveral weekends, weekdays and evenings, interviewing visi-tors as they exited the exhibition. Visitors were asked to com-plete a two-page survey (developed by Dr. Bitgood and the

Museum staff) which asked a variety of questions concern-ing the visitor’s background and activities surrounding theshow, how they heard about the exhibition and their experi-ence at the Museum. This one survey served for both Dr.Bitgood’s and Dr. Lee’s assessments.

Results of Visitor and Economic Impact

StudiesEuropean Masterpieces was on view at the Museum for

64 days from February 10 to April 14, 2002. During thattime, over 68,162 patrons visited the exhibition. The moneythese visitors spent on tickets, meals, lodging, shopping andother activities, combined with the Museum’s expendituresin bringing the exhibition to Birmingham, generated morethan $4.1 million worth of new business, produced nearly$1.2 million worth of wages and salaries, and supported 62jobs. (See chart on page 19)

Of those who visited, it is estimated that 46.1% camefrom outside the Jefferson County area, and 22.8% camefrom outside the state of Alabama. The exhibition thusattracted almost 32,000 visitors to Jefferson County andover 15,000 visitors to Alabama. More than 42% of visitorsspent at least one night during the course of their visit,spending nearly $530,000 on lodging, and almost 73% ate atleast one meal, for dining revenue of almost $937,000.Approximately 38% of visitors to European Masterpiecesplanned to include shopping as part of their visit toBirmingham, with an estimated expenditure of more than$729,000 in local retail establishments.

Although the Museum is a tax-exempt entity, spendingby visitors and the Museum and the 62 jobs supported bythe European Masterpieces exhibition generated significanttax revenue through state and local income taxes, sales taxesand the Birmingham and Jefferson County occupational tax.Over $28,000 in state income tax, more than $54,000 in stateand local sales taxes, and nearly $10,000 in occupationaltaxes can be attributed to the exhibition.

During the exhibition and in the months preceding itsopening, Museum expenditures in the BirminghamMetropolitan Statistical Area (MSA, which consists ofJefferson, Shelby, St. Clair and Blount counties) for EuropeanMasterpieces exceeded $996,000. Wages and salaries paid bythe Museum or by others as a result of the Museum’s local


The exhibit generated more than $4 million worth of newbusiness, produced nearly $1.2 million worth of wages

and salaries and created 62 jobs.


contracts for the exhibition were more than $270,000. Someof the most significant local Museum expenditures were inthe areas of construction, printing and publishing, commu-nications, utilities and personal services.

The visitor profile for patrons of European Masterpieceswas fairly typical of the common profiles for museum visi-tors throughout the United States. More than 86% hadcompleted at least some college, and 31% had pursued a

post-graduate education. Females made up 63.5% of thevisitors to the exhibition. Interestingly, visitors were fairlyevenly distributed by age, countering previous surveys andassumptions where the majority of visitors were over 45years of age.

Only 3.4% came alone to the exhibition, and 3.5% withtour groups, while a huge 93% came with friends or family.This social interaction is also reflected by the fact that 72.8%

Economic Impact of the European Masterpieces Exhibitionof the Birmingham Museum of Art on the Birmingham MetropolitanStatistical Area (MSA)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe Birmingham Museum of Arts displayed the European masterpieces Exhibitions for 64 days fromFebruary 10 to April 14, 2002. During the exhibit 68,162 patrons visited. The exhibit generated a signifi-cant economic impact on the Birmingham MSA.

The exhibit generated more than $4 million worth of new business, produced nearly $1.2 million worthof wages and salaries and created 62 jobs.

TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACTOutput or New Business Earnings or Wage/Salaries Employment or Jobs

$4, 098, 178 $1,166,727 62

FISCAL IMPACTTax Description State 4 Counties

Income tax $28,000 --Sales Tax $43,144 $11,137

Birmingham City Jefferson CountyOccupational tax $4,360 $5,034

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF VISITORS ON BIRMINGHAM MSAExpenditures Output Earnings Employment

Hotels $529,472 $166,587 10.099Eating & Drinking Places $936,945 $277,986 19.718

Retail Trade $729,365 $229,456 12.137Other Membership Organizations $906,177 $223,113 9.336

TOTALS $3,101,958 $896,141 51.291

Excerpt from Economic Impact of the European Masterpieces exhibition of the Birmingham Museum of Art on the Birmingham Metropolitan StatisticalArea (MSA). Prepared by Dr. S. D. Lee, UAB, September 2002.

extended the event by having lunch or dinner and 37.8%also went shopping. Other sights or events were visited by10.8% but only 2.1% conducted business while in the area.

Although European Masterpieces drew the same type ofvisitor that might visit the Museum without a blockbusterexhibition, the increased visibility of the Museum and theopportunity to see the significant works of art included inthe exhibition clearly drew visitors that might otherwise nothave attended. Nearly 38% of the European Masterpiecespatrons indicated that this was their first visit to theMuseum, and 20% of repeat visitors stated that they had notbeen to the Museum at all during the previous year.

Visitors learned about European Masterpieces in a varietyof ways. Word of mouth was the most significant way, with43.7% of visitors stating that they heard about the exhibitionfrom other people. More than 83% learned about the exhibi-tion through mass media coverage, with newspapers generat-ing the greatest response at 37.6%. Almost 24% learnedabout it from TV, 12% radio and 9.9% magazines.

So what did the Museum learn from all of these statis-tics? First of all, the validation of the Museum as a vital eco-nomic force in Birmingham, attracting thousands and thou-sands of visitors to the area with real money to spend ontickets, food, lodging, shopping and other activities. Thesestudies will surely have an impact on funding, and on moreaggressive marketing of the Museum by local and statetourism bureaus. The Museum itself will concentrate moreon marketing to Georgia, with over 7.6% of visitors comingfrom that state. The high attendance of ages 21-30 (18%)and 31-40 (15.2%) will encourage the Museum to think ofnew ways to attract these groups, previously thought of astoo career- and child-occupied to be serious Museum goers.Our exhibition rack cards will have to be reevaluated; over100,000 were printed and distributed yet only 1.5% of ourvisitors mentioned them as sources of information.

All in all, the effects of hosting an exhibition such asEuropean Masterpieces are multi-fold: the potential for enor-mous economic impact, the sense of excitement it generatesalong with a raised awareness of the Museum among thegeneral public and, almost always, a significant increase inmembership. (The Museum added over 1400 new membersduring the exhibition, bringing total household membershipto 7700.) Residents of Birmingham expressed tremendouspride that the Museum could bring such an important col-lection to the city, adding luster to the city’s image and fos-tering Birmingham as a tourist destination.

The arts continue to be a vital component in buildingdynamic communities, and an essential resource for spiritualand intellectual stimulation and growth. They are also,according to a recent report from the National GovernorsAssociation Center for Best Practices, “emerging as a potentforce in the economic life of cities and rural areas nationwideand are assuming a role as a direct and indirect contributorto state economies.” ■

Francis Caldwell is the Director of Public Relations for theBirmingham Museum of Art.


Museum visitors learning more about the European Masterpieces exhibitionthrough audio presentations that enhance the viewing experience.

The Birmingham Museum of Art had over 68,162 patrons visit the museum duringthe European Masterpieces exhibition.

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Many folks who live in Alabama’sthirty-seven Appalachian coun-ties don’t know that they are

Appalachian. They don’t, for instance,look, talk or act like the stereotypical hill-billies seen on Smokey Mountain bill-boards and they livetheir lives on fairlylevel ground.Alabama’s Mt.Cheaha reaches to2,400 feet, but manyAlabama mountainsin the chain have flattops and sandy soilsthat supply tomatoes,soybeans, corn andpotatoes to distantmarkets and hosthundreds of industrial-sized chickenhouses. Perhaps to distance themselvesfrom Alabama’s utilitarian mountains, ourneighbors at the Georgia Department ofIndustry, Trade and Tourism say on theirwebsite, “There are real mountains here inNorth Georgia-not just lumpy land, buthillsides that claw the sky.”

The demographics of the area are notwhat one expects of the Appalachianseither. Folks of Celtic and English ancestrywho established many of the customs andspeech patterns of the southern moun-tains reside in the region, yet three ofAlabama’s thirty-seven Appalachian coun-ties have majority African-American pop-ulations, and most have a growing num-ber of Latino residents.

As in the rest of the world, time hasrefused to stand still in this portion of theAppalachians. It has witnessed shifts awayfrom individual farms to agribusiness;

from making textiles and garments tobuilding automobiles and rockets; fromcoal mining and steel making to jobs inrestaurants and hospitals. Each shift hasengendered enormous changes in the cul-ture of the area, affecting where people

live, where they goto church, wherethey shop, how theysocialize and withwhom. Add to thesechanges the effectsof radio and televi-sion advertising,chain stores andfood franchises, andthe result can be alocal or regionalculture that is indis-

tinct from that of the rest of the nation,one that does not understand its past orrelate to what is special and unique in itspresent. Yet life in the region is enrichedby traditions that could also enrich thelives of tourists seeking a culture that isdifferent from their own.

In the southern rim of theAppalachians resides the lore and skillsinvolved in mining, logging, farming, fish-ing, textile and foundry work and otherways people have made a living there.Master potters, quilters, blacksmiths andbasketmakers live there as well as thosewho excel in cooking the favored foods ofthe region or of their immigrant ances-tors. Across the region are fiddlers andbanjo players as well as masters of bluesharmonica and guitar. Folks in theAppalachian counties of Alabama hostSacred Harp singings that attract singersfrom across the nation to sing fa-so-la

Cultural Heritage Tourism inAppalachian Alabama

by Joyce Cauthen

Joyce Cauthen was

commissioned to write a

working paper for a

conference entitled

“Building Creative

Economies” held in

Asheville, NC, April 28-30,

2002. Funded by the

Appalachian Regional

Commission, National

Endowment for the Arts

and the Thomas S. Kenan

Institute for the Arts, this

conference concerned

cultural heritage tourism

and the positive effect it can

have on Appalachian

communities. Cauthen’s

report presented an

overview of such efforts in

the Appalachian regions of

Mississippi, Alabama,

Georgia and South

Carolina. With the approval

of the conference sponsors

she has rewritten it to

feature Alabama

exclusively.


music in a style developed in colonialdays. Other styles of shape-note singingprevail across the region, includingSouthern Gospel or “seven-shape” music,sung in both white and black communi-ties. Primitive Baptists sing a cappellahymns from word-only books to tunespassed to them through generations. ManyAfrican-American churches sing haunting“old one-hundreds” in a chant-like stylecalled “Dr. Watts” or “meter music,”brought to this country by the Pilgrims.The Hispanic residents of the area havebrought mariachi bands and norteñomusic, celebrations of Las Posadas andQuinceanos, and special foods to theirnew communities, and in the old commu-nities church homecomings, decoration

days and footwashings still bringscattered family members backhome.

Because Alabamians have heldon to customs that have wanedelsewhere, many of its communi-ties have attractions to offerpotential visitors who want some-thing other than theme parks, golfcourses and casinos. Communitiesthat are aware of their special cus-toms, artists, history, foods andbuildings and have the energy todevelop these resources and makethem accessible to a growingnumber of cultural heritagetourists will find more than finan-cial benefits. Such efforts also leadto community pride and thepreservation of forms of music,crafts, stories, buildings, and

social events that are worth saving.The City of Northport in Tuscaloosa

County offers a fine example of how indi-vidual citizens can effect an economicturn around of their community based onits history and culture. Once known asKentuck” or “Canetuck,” it originallyserved as a port for steamships carryingcotton to Mobile and later for barges car-rying coal down river. Today, Northport,population 20,000, is mainly a bedroomtown to the city of Tuscaloosa, population85,000. Its downtown area served peopleon the north side of the river andremained vibrant until the early 1960swhen a northern bypass began to drawshoppers and merchants away. In 1984 theNorthport City Hall and its post officerelocated to the bypass, drawing muchtraffic away from the city center. Soon it

Lonnie Holley, carving core sand at Kentuck Festival of the Arts.


consisted of a hardware store, afive and dime, a women’s clothingstore and an inexpensive meat-and-three restaurant popular withuniversity students. The rest of thebuildings were empty or under-used and dreariness prevailed.

Since the 1970’s, however, theNorthport ImprovementCommittee, founded by MarvinHarper, had been trying to counteract thetrend. In 1971 they produced a successfulNorthport centennial celebration anddecided to turn it into an annual fall festi-val. The planners consisted of long-timeresidents of Northport as well as a fewnewcomers to the area, one beingGeorgine Clarke, a jewelry maker who hadrecently moved there from New Mexico,where she had grown up among NativeAmerican artisans. Starved for involve-ment in the crafts of her new home state,she soon became the guiding light of thefestival that became the Kentuck Festivalof the Arts. It started in 1972 as a localheritage festival featuring fiddlers, antiquebuggies, handcraft exhibits, demonstra-tions of craft techniques, and traditionalfoods such as homemade biscuits andsausage cooked over a woodburning stove.It soon became much more.

In the following thirty years, the festi-val moved to a wooded park on the banksof the Warrior River, added artists, foodvendors, two music stages, and children’smusic and craft activities. Held on thethird weekend in October, even when itcoincides with a University of Alabamahome game, it is now a juried invitationalshow which features 300 artists andattracts 20,000 visitors each year. To their

goal of preserving the traditional ruralcraft skills found in West Alabama, theorganizers added, in 1977, the goal ofencouraging “the development of thehighest quality contemporary crafts andfine arts,” and over the years the art therehas grown increasingly contemporary. Italso became unique and highly successfulin discovering and presenting “self-taught,” “outsider,” or “primitive,” artistsfrom across the state. Artists like JimmieLee Sudduth, Mose T, and Charlie Lucashave become a huge draw, attracting bus-loads of folk art lovers from across thenation to the festival. Still Kentuck fea-tures as many traditional basketmakers,potters, quilters, and blacksmiths as it canwhile maintaining balance and quality.Ninth-generation folk potter Jerry Brownof Hamilton, Alabama, loves the festivaland wishes there were more like it. He saysthat people come to buy, not just look.And the bowls and mugs and face jugs hedoes not sell before closing time onSunday are likely to be bought by anemployee for later sale in the shop at theKentuck Art Center.

Founded as a non-profit corporationafter the fifth festival, the Kentuck ArtsAssociation did not forget its roots as acivic improvement organization. In 1980,

Still Kentuck

features

as many

traditional

basketmakers,

potters, quilters,

and blacksmiths

as it can while

maintaining

balance and

quality.

Fiddlers at Kentuck Festival of the Arts.


proceeds from the festival were used topurchase a cluster of derelict buildingsthat stood on one corner of the mainintersection of downtown Northport.These became a museum-gallery, threeworking craftsmen’s studios, a shop for thesale of craft items and an office for theAssociation, all joined by a landscapedcourtyard. It was at this point that theprocess of reclaiming the heart ofNorthport began. With the renovation ofthis prominent property, a citizen whoowned several of the empty buildingsthere was able to attract a fine restaurantto another corner of the intersection. Thecity planning department of Northport,impressed by the size of the crowds com-ing to the festival and to the improve-ments taking place in the downtown area,began to study further improvements,eventually placing a levee at the end ofMain Street to prevent occasional floodsand writing a grant for a streetscapeinvolving underground wiring, historic

light poles, planters, brick sidewalks andbenches. Matching money had to befound for this and the merchants and resi-dents made the necessary phone calls andsold the requisite number of memorialbricks to make it happen.

Today 100% of the buildings in down-town Northport are occupied, filled withshops oriented toward arts and homedécor alongside the basic hardware store,barbershop and other businesses that haveendured there through the years.Restaurants, gift shops, monthly artsnights, an annual Dickens Festival, and, ofcourse, the Kentuck Festival keep peoplegoing there year round.

In Birmingham, development of anobsolete foundry into a historic landmarkthat proclaims the city’s heritage as aniron and steel-making capital has also ledto the creation of a community gatheringplace and performance venue. SlossFurnace was established near the center ofBirmingham in 1880, and by World War I

Workers

transformed

piles of slag

and rusted

equipment into

pleasant vistas

where tourists

stroll, festivals

are held and

weddings

happen.

Artists cast a 600 pound piece of cast iron sculpture at Sloss Furnaces.

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oss

Furn

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was among the largest producers of pig ironin the world. In pre-television days, peoplewould entertain themselves by standing onthe First Avenue North viaduct beside SlossFurnace and watching workers pour thebrilliant molten iron. By the 1970s, though,the mill had become obsolete and wasdonated to the City of Birmingham to useas it pleased. Of course, people consideredtearing it down or making it into a themepark, but visionary cultural historians, ledby the late Randy Lawrence, prevailed andin 1983 Sloss was reopened as a 32-acrepark which interpretsBirmingham’s heritage of coal,iron and steel.

Workers transformed piles ofslag and rusted equipment intopleasant vistas where touristsstroll, festivals are held and wed-dings happen. One of the twohuge cooling sheds has become avenue for concerts, parties, andmeetings. Thus a historical iconof the city has remained part ofthe fabric of community life.Sloss, through its metal arts pro-gram (see Alabama Arts,Fall/Winter 2001) has alsobecome an internationallyknown teaching and learningfacility. Artists from all over thecountry come there to cast theirpieces and to participate ininternational conferences oniron casting, monthly work-shops, student internships, and outreachprograms. They frequently refer to Sloss inreverential terms, calling it a cathedral andtheir travels to it a pilgrimage.

A restored civil war blast furnace is atthe center of another cultural heritage

attraction in Appalachian Alabama.Tannehill Historical Ironworks State Parkhas not been content to be just a museumof iron and steel-making, nor a collection ofminiature museums in the restored log cab-ins, school house and country church onthe premises, nor just a site for hiking,camping, and picnicking. It is also a cultur-al center for the region. Its historic build-ings are filled with crafts makers andthroughout the year it hosts groups of dul-cimer players, trout fishers, archers, woodcarvers, civil war reenactors and more.

During the school year thousands ofchildren go through Tannehill’s “learningloops” in science, crafts and history. Thiseducational program is coordinated by theUniversity Alabama and based on the richand varied resources offered at the park.

Apprentices at Sloss Furnaces participate in all aspects of the casting process. Here Calvin Hawkins, Parker High School,and Jesie West of Pelham High pour iron into moulds.

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Perhaps the most authentic expression oflocal culture can be seen on the thirdweekends, March through November, atTannehill Trade Days, where folks gatherto buy or swap such things as tools, furni-ture, knicknacks, dogs, and stories. Notrelated to the park, but nearby and just asauthentic, is the Tannehill Opry. Therelocal and visiting bluegrass, country, andgospel musicians gather each Saturdaynight to entertain, for free, those who lovesuch music. Opry organizers maintain thefacility with funds collected by passing ahat each night.

These are a few examples of theinstitutions, organizations and communi-ties of all sizes in Appalachian Alabamathat have a strong sense of the traditionalculture of their area and are attracting vis-itors who are interested in that culture.Other successful programs exist in theregion that time and space do not allowme to discuss, and there are even morewho, if they had the staff and money and

assistance, would gladly do more to pre-sent aspects of the living traditional cul-ture of their area.

What resources do such organizationsand institutions have to help them recog-nize what is traditional in their areas? TheAlabama State Council on the Arts has afolklorist, Joey Brackner, on staff who cangive some suggestions, but more impor-tantly can offer assistance in applying forgrants to support fieldwork. The AlabamaCenter for Traditional Culture (ACTC), adivision of ASCA, can provide guidance insuch efforts. The Alabama FolklifeAssociation (AFA), in collaboration withASCA and ACTC, plans to offer theAlabama Community Scholars Institute inthe summer of 2004, which will providetwo weeks of training in folklore studiesand fieldwork to 25 people who have astrong interest in documenting the tradi-tions of their own communities. Thoseselected for the Community ScholarsInstitute may be museum staff members

Tannehill Trade

Days, are where

folks gather to

buy

or swap such

things as tools,

furniture,

knicknacks,

dogs, and

Early log cabin on the grounds at Tannehill Historical Ironworks State Park.

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o co

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sy o

f Ta

nneh

ill Ir

onw

orks

His

toric

al S

tate

Par

k


or their chief volunteers, schoolteachers,leaders of various ethnic groups, or peoplewithout academic training who are alreadyengaged in cultural documentation. Thosewishing to be sent information on this pro-gram when it is ready may contact the AFAat 205-822-0505.

We often take for granted our oldbuildings; the foods we serve at covereddish suppers, our town storytellers and themusicians who play in our churches or atthe local VFW. We forget to think aboutthe interesting ways that people have tra-ditionally made their living in the area.However, when museum staff members,amateur historians, traditional cooks, localmusicians and crafts makers and otheractive citizens look together at their com-munities, they will likely discover aspectsof their culture that are worth presentingto tourists and savoring themselves. ■

Joyce Cauthen is the author of WithFiddle and Well-Roisened Bow: Old Time

Fiddling in Alabama. She has served as direc-tor of the Alabama Folklife festival and pro-duced a number of recordings of traditional

music, including Possum Up a Gum Stump:Home, Commercial and Field recordings ofAlabama Fiddlers; Jesus Hits Like the Atom

Bomb; John Alexander’s Sterling JubileeSingers of Bessemer; and In the Spirit:

Alabama’s Sacred Music Traditions. She isalso the executive director of the Alabama

Folklife Association.

Single and double furnaces at Tannehill Historical Ironworks State Park.

Phot

o by

Jet

Low

e

November 15, 2002-January 10 2003 Alabama Masters: ASCA Fellowship Recipients 2002

Larry Allen, Birmingham, clayGary Chapman, Birmingham, paintingDavid Haynes, Blount Springs, photographyJulia Kjelgaard, Auburn, mixed mediaStephen Savage, Mobile, photographyConnie Ulrich, Huntsville, jewelry

January 24-March 21, 2003Across Alabama: New Work in Sculpture and Painting

April 1-April 25, 2003Arts in Education: Visual Arts Achievement Exhibition

May 2-June 27, 2003 Alabama Signatures/Eight Artists: Painting and Photography

The Alabama Artists Gallery, located at the offices of the AlabamaState Council on the Arts in the RSA Tower in downtownMontgomery, provides an on-going showcase of the work of Alabamaartists in all media.

Exhibition ScheduleAlabama Artists Gallery


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