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Elorza Arts & Culture Proposal 1

A Showcase for the Creative Capital

The Elorza plan to create a major arts & cultural festival in Providence

Introduction Providence has arts and culture to rival cities many times its size. It has a strong tourism industry, and a nationally acclaimed food scene. It routinely ranks high atop Travel + Leisure magazine’s annual “America’s Favorite Cities” reader survey in many categories, such as “best time to visit: fall,” “best pizza,” and “best hamburgers” (all #1 in 2013); “most attractive people” (#2 in 2013); “most stylish people,” “gay friendly,” “best ethnic food,” and “best time to visit: summer” (all #4 in 2013); and “architecture/cool buildings” (#5 in 2013). (And for what it’s worth, we topped Boston in every single one of those categories.) Our creative community is robust and entrepreneurial, and is an underappreciated economic driver for the city. An Americans for the Arts 2011-12 study of the Providence arts economy reported that an expenditure of $190,054,892 in nonprofit arts and cultural organizations resulted in 4,669 full-time equivalent jobs, above the national median and regions of similar size. This has a compounding effect, too. The State of Rhode Island estimates that for every $1 spent by an arts organization in Rhode Island, $2 is generated for the spillover economy in restaurant patronage, hotel reservations, and related business. Tourism is Rhode Island’s second biggest industry, supporting an estimated 50,000 jobs, according to Commerce RI.


Despite all this, Providence still has not reached its full potential as a cultural destination. Our city has all the essential strengths to be a magnet city – attracting visitors, new residents, money, and talent – on par with hotbeds like Portland, OR,

Austin, TX, or even Boston. I firmly believe that part of what is holding Providence back from achieving greater national spotlight is that we have not made a strong enough effort to market the city. Providence’s brand identity has not been developed to be competitively marketed at the national level. As Mayor, I will lead the effort to create a weeklong, large-scale arts and cultural festival that will showcase all of the things Providence does best: arts, food, culture, entrepreneurship, tourism, architecture, and much, much more. This festival will

serve as Providence’s cultural calling card on the national stage, much in the way that the South by Southwest music, film, and interactive festival does for Austin. This will allow us to market the city as a national destination with a clear and unique brand identity, attracting more visitors and residents, dollars and jobs, talent and businesses. Austin, TX and South by Southwest: a case study for the impact of a festival A great event has an impact on a place that goes beyond its brief time frame and direct economic influx. It can help brand that place, tell its story outside its borders, become a part of its identity, and serve as a cultural currency that can be leveraged to enhance its image and attract attention. There is perhaps no better example of this effect than Austin and the South by Southwest festival. In 1987, Austin was a quirky college town with a lively music scene, but by no means a top-tier destination, and South by Southwest (SXSW) was a small, regional music festival that drew about 700 people. Twenty-seven years later, Austin is a cultural hotbed known for its hip music and film scenes, a highly rated place to live, and a major tourist magnet. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Austin-Round Rock is the second strongest U.S. metro economy. In that same time span, South by Southwest grew into one of the largest music festivals in the world. It now encompasses film and interactive technology festivals, resulting in nine days of industry conferences, six days of trade shows, five nights of music, and nine days of films. These concurrent developments are not mere coincidence. In many ways, South by Southwest is what put Austin on the map, culturally speaking. It established the city’s reputation as a place on the cutting edge of music, film and


technology, and developed a marketable sense of identity. It drew in more people who experienced what the city had to offer, inspiring many to return, sing its praises, encourage others to visit, or even relocate there. It gave Austin the cachet and credibility it needed to brand itself as a first rate city. The ripple effects have been profound. Many other high profile events have enlivened the city in SXSW’s wake, including the Austin City Limits Music Festival and the Austin Film Festival. The economic impact of such a festival is immediate and significant, and also has ripple effects that continue to benefit the city. Let’s examine the economic impact of South by Southwest on Austin. That festival is a mature brand in a much larger city, so this is not meant as an apples-to-apples comparison. Rather, it is simply meant to offer some indications as to the economic potential of a large-scale festival. According to Greyhill Advisors, the firm that evaluates SXSW’s economic impact, the 2013 festival (the most current year for which there is full data) drew a total of over 155,000 paid conference and festival participants1. When attendance for SXSW’s free public programming is factored in, that number grows to over 300,000. This resulted in the direct booking of 13,000 hotel reservations, totaling over 56,000 room nights – and the resulting surge in demand caused a 20% spike in the average nightly room rate. Similarly, music venues see an average increase in revenues of 45% over their next highest month, along with comparable increases at restaurants and bars. Despite lasting only two weeks in March, SXSW maintains a full-time, year-round staff of 120, with temporary and seasonal workers representing the equivalent of an additional 50 full-time staff. The 2013 festival had a direct economic impact of $145.8 million2, indirect impact of $37.5 million3, and an induced impact of $34.9 million4, for a combined economic impact of $218.2 million. In short, the benefits extend far beyond 1 Defined as any individual who attended at least 1 SXSW activity. 2 Direct economic impacts include expenditures directly injected into the local economy by SXSW, official sponsors, event attendees and exhibitors. A direct economic impact attributable to SXSW, for example, might include revenues from a catering company hosting official festival events. 3 Indirect effects include increases in sales, income and jobs associated with companies that benefit from SXSW expenditures. A representative indirect impact attributable to SXSW might include the increased revenue of a food distribution company that supplies products to SXSW’s caterer. 4 Induced effects attributable to SXSW include spending by individuals who experience increased earnings as a result of the festival and conference. Groceries and other goods and services purchased by a catering company employee with the earnings from SXSW are representative of induced impacts.


the two-week festival itself. Overall, SXSW is the single most profitable event for Austin’s tourism industry, and the highest revenue producing event for the Austin economy. Furthermore, these numbers do not account for additional dollars produced by unaffiliated third parties co-opting SXSW attendance. There are also immense ancillary benefits for the city of Austin. According to Greyhill Advisors: “Thanks to SXSW, global coverage affirming Austin’s idiosyncratic image reaches millions of creative professionals throughout the world. In 2013 alone, SXSW – and by extension, Austin, Texas – achieved over 458 million broadcast, print, and online impressions. Although the media exposure enjoyed by SXSW and Austin comes with relatively little cost to the city, such coverage has enormous value. The positive impact of SXSW is compounded because it contributes to a coherent message about Austin, thereby strengthening the city’s brand identity. In 2013, the value of SXSW print and online publications coverage totaled more than $37.5 million.” (Emphasis mine.) Providence is ready for a “North by Northeast” Providence is a similar city to Austin: while significantly smaller, it too boasts a quirky, creative culture, a nerve center of higher education, and thriving food and theater scenes. Unlike Austin, however, Providence lacks a major cultural calling card on par

with SXSW with which to brand itself as a true destination. To be clear, it’s not that the city lacks culture, creativity, or excitement – it’s that those offerings are too diffuse, too difficult to discover and navigate, not just for outsiders, but for locals as well. There is so much happening, but one needs to know where to look in order to access it. What is missing is a density of activity,

a recognizable brand, and a focused, large-scale effort to market the city. Our city has a unique and powerful value proposition as a destination, but we lack the right marketing platform on which to deliver that proposition in a clear, concise way. Providence can’t afford to continue being a “best kept secret” type city. While it already enjoys a reputation disproportionate to its size, it has not nearly fulfilled its potential as a cultural hotbed that can outclass much larger cities. Compared to Boston, Providence is the scrappier, hipper, more affordable neighbor that becomes an extremely desirable place for the creative class, families, and young professionals – in short, the type of people who can reignite an economy. All the pieces we need to make it happen are right in front of us – we’re just not putting them together. I will lead the effort to create a weeklong festival that will put those pieces together. Its intent is not so much to create


culture; rather, it is to take existing culture, package it, and distribute it to a wider audience. It can be our very own “North by Northeast.” (Sorry, folks, that name is already taken by a festival in Toronto that is a much more direct copy of SXSW.) The closest thing we have to this now is WaterFire, an event that helped define the “Providence Renaissance.” Its impact is significant: WaterFire is responsible for $70 million in economic impact for the community, generates $5 million of direct tax revenue for the State, and supports over 500 jobs for local residents. However, because it is a series of one-night events held over the course of several months, its effect is too diffuse – it doesn’t concentrate the critical mass of people, attention, and activity necessary to have the game-changing impact that SXSW had on Austin. If you miss this week’s or this month’s WaterFire, you can always catch the next one; SXSW only happens once a year, creating a sense of urgency for those who consider attending. Providence needs an annual festival that showcases all the things it does well in a coherent, easily marketable way and on a scale that garners regional and national attention.

Building on previous efforts In a sense, this festival will continue the work that was begun, but never brought to full fruition, by Sound Session, the “genre-defying music festival” that was produced in partnership by the Black Rep and the City of Providence in the previous decade. Founder/artistic director Don King often spoke of Sound Session’s potential to be

Providence’s South by Southwest, and in its last few years it began to realize some of that. Sound Session began to activate the city’s neighborhoods and encourage a sense of community ownership – that it was Providence’s festival, not simply the Black Rep’s or City Hall’s festival. This started to manifest in programming that was created independent of the Black Rep or the City with the intention of piggybacking off the Sound Session brand. Rather than viewing this as

competition, King saw it as a sign of progress, evidence that Sound Session was becoming part of the city’s cultural fabric. Unfortunately, Sound Session ended before it had the chance to evolve from a festival into a tradition. One of the problems with Sound Session was that it was, first and foremost, a music festival. A music festival of that size lives or dies by the national and international musicians that headline its stages, and this became a struggle for Sound Session. While this new festival will prominently feature music, including the kind of nationally known headliners necessary to draw in outside audiences, it will not focus exclusively on


music. Providence does not have the kind of national reputation as a music capital that Austin or New Orleans does. In visual arts and design, however, we are competitive at that national level. We boast a drawing power and national reputation in the arts community that goes beyond our small size, an invaluable asset. In many ways, Barnaby Evans and Don King have proven that Providence is ready for this festival. Evans proved that an event could both contribute to and symbolize the revitalization of a city. King demonstrated that the magic and excitement of a festival can ripple out from the city center to activate neighborhoods and communities, that the seeds of a tradition can be planted and nurtured. However, they are only two of the many people whose wisdom and experience we will draw upon bring this festival to fruition. This will be an opportunity to build upon and catalyze existing efforts. Events like FirstWorks, WaterFire, StyleWeek Northeast, Wooly Fair, A Better World by Design, the Business Innovation Factory Summit, Maker Faire, AS220’s Foo Fest, the EatDrinkRI Festival, the Rhode Island International Film Festival, Providence Roller Derby, and others are already drawing visitors to our city and appealing to audiences beyond our borders. By rallying them together to create a tasting menu of Providence’s best offerings, we make a powerful argument for return visits. The plan to make it happen I will engage these communities in creating this festival by drawing lessons from the Providence 375 anniversary celebration of 2011, and adapting some of that basic infrastructure and best practices. The planning committee for that celebration, which was lead by the City’s Department of Art, Culture + Tourism (ACT), was able to rally a grassroots effort to create roughly five months of festivities and events with limited resources. That model encompassed what amounted to three concentric circles of people, resources, and ideas; we will establish a similar model for this festival.

First circle: There will be a central planning committee under the leadership of ACT to oversee the macro aspects of the festival and devise the core infrastructure: organizing participants, raising funds and selling sponsorships, crafting a marketing and PR plan, engaging the media, drawing in attendees, executing logistics. The committee will also program and fund several of the keynote events throughout the festival, including a culminating parade and block party. This committee will invite and engage members from relevant organizations, institutions and stakeholder groups, such as the Rhode Island Foundation, WaterFire, FirstWorks, StyleWeek Northeast, Wooly Fair, AS220,


InDowncity, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the music, arts and theater communities, the universities, neighborhood groups, and more. Second circle: The central committee and some of its members and constituent organizations will have at their disposal resources that can be dispersed to individual artists and performers as well as arts organizations. Those recipients would then also produce events and programming throughout the festival. Providence 375 provides an

example of this: the National Park Service, which was represented on that committee, had grant money to create programming at the Roger Williams National Memorial, and put out a request for proposals to the wider arts community. Several artists and organizations were selected from those proposals and given smaller grants to create events in the park. This committee would take a similar approach, asking members of the central committee to bring to the table any existing resources and funding at

their disposal, and encouraging them to seek out new ones, which they can then lend to the larger effort.

Third circle: Any person, business, or organization that wishes to host an event, put on a show, or otherwise participate in the festival without having an actual formal relationship to the planning committee would be encouraged to do so. Here again, we can draw a lesson from Providence 375. That committee’s aim was to create a full season of activity, but it lacked the resources and operational capabilities to do so. The committee also knew that hundreds of small events were in the works under the auspices of various individuals, organizations, and venues independent of the anniversary celebration. It engaged the entire community and asked many people and groups to brand their work under the Providence 375 umbrella. In this way, Providence 375 became the rising tide that lifted all boats: it drew upon existing community efforts to populate the Providence 375 calendar, and those participants got the added exposure that came with being branded as part of the celebration. This festival will make that same effort to catalyze the city’s latent creativity. The goal is to create a sprawling, decentralized hub-and-spoke network of activity and programming that leverages existing efforts and resources to maximum effect. This allows the heavy lifting to be spread throughout many constituent organizations and agencies, and also fosters a sense of community ownership.


The aim is to launch the first festival, possibly in an abbreviated, Thursday-Sunday format for the first year, in late summer or early fall of 2016. While attendance will be an important focus, it will not be the most important metric in the early going. The critical mass of people necessary to have a major event will not simply materialize in Year One. It will be built over several years through word of mouth, marketing, and courting media coverage. In particular, attracting the attendance of influencers and early adopters – journalists, bloggers, social media experts, tastemakers, artists, performers, etc. – will be a focus in the first year, as they will lend credibility and spread word of mouth. Over the course of several years the festival will grow in size, density of programming, and attendance. Many people in Providence already believe in this idea, and I am not the first to propose such a thing. Over many years of conversations with many of the city’s most creative people and biggest cheerleaders, a common theme emerged: that we have all the pieces necessary to be a first-rate destination, but nobody has successfully put those

pieces together. More specifically, many of them seemed to arrive at the same conclusion: that the way to achieve this is by creating a “North by Northeast.” As mayor, I will harness the existing momentum and excitement around this idea to finally bring it to fruition, with the City’s Department of Art, Culture + Tourism at the helm. The City will provide leadership and seed funding to launch this festival, but the bulk of its budget will not consist of municipal dollars. ACT will then put out a request for proposals for an individual, nonprofit organization, or business to execute the festival. This entity will become the City’s partner, responsible for assembling a committee of all relevant stakeholders, seeking out funding for the majority of the budget, and seeing the plan through to execution. The City will be a stakeholder in a much larger effort, similar to its partnership with the Black Rep on Sound Session.

The majority of funding for events of this type comes not from municipal funds, but from grants, foundations, corporate sponsorships, and revenue generated directly from ticket and merchandise sales. There are examples of federal and foundation grants for projects to boost the arts and/or tourism that can help piece together the basic infrastructure to launch this festival. For example, the National Endowment for the Arts offers “Our Town” grants of up to $200,000 to “creative placemaking projects that contribute to the livability of communities and place the arts at their core.” In fact, it was a $200,000 grant in 2011 followed by $75,000 in 2013 from this very same fund that allowed the City to partner with FirstWorks and over 18 other community organizations to launch the now biennial Festival On the Plaza at Kennedy Plaza in 2013. Ultimately,


the real funding to make this festival sustainable will come from corporate sponsorships and festival revenues. Conclusion I have said throughout this campaign that the key to revitalizing our economy is to build on our strengths. This is the same approach I took in my plan to double our export economy in five years: identify our strengths, map our opportunities, and develop a plan to capitalize on them. Our rich arts and culture represent another strength we must build upon. This is already an important economic driver for our city, yet we have not truly capitalized on its potential. I believe that creating a weeklong, large-scale showcase for our arts and culture will enable us to better brand and market Providence as the Creative Capital, producing a direct economic impact through the festival, and also creating ripple effects that will compound that impact. This will be Providence’s cultural calling card in the way that South By Southwest was Austin’s, putting the rest of the country and the world on notice that Providence is a destination for creativity and culture. Then one day other cities will look to Providence as a model for how to use the arts to jumpstart an economic revival.

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