Virginia has, in recent years, begun supporting a variety of incentive programs and tax breaks for creative individuals and endeavors inside the Commonwealth. Notably, up to this point, are the film incentives with guidelines established by The Virginia Department of Taxation and the Virginia Film Office for the Virginia Motion Picture Tax Credit Fund. Spending $250,000 in the Commonwealth allows production companies to qualify for tax credits, promoting a variety of high-profile film and television shows such as Homeland, Dopesick, and Lincoln, just to name a few, to bring their productions to the historic neighborhoods and mountainous wilderness of Virginia.
Currently though, in hopes of furthering the creative community that is ever-present in the Commonwealth, the Virginia General Assembly is considering House Bill 642 introduced by Virginia House Delegate Jackie Glass. This new endeavor, to be administered by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority, would stand as a landmark decision allowing for the distribution of competitive grants up to $20,000 to “independent content creators and creative economy entrepreneurs.”
The Commonwealth of Virginia’s official website describes the “Creative Economy” as “industries that have their origin in individual creativity, skill, and talent and that have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property, including production of audio, video, or visual content; literary or performing arts; production of film, music, software, or video games; production of physical goods, including instruments, art, crafts, furniture, robotics, and taxidermy; and television or radio.” With such an open-ended definition, these grants could be open to just about anyone or any organization that needs funding to help pursue their creative endeavors.
I’m a lover of, participant in, and advocate for local music, as it is the absolute bedrock on which the entire industry rests; great musicians and future world-renowned artists can come from literally anywhere. Richmond’s vibrant and varied independent music scene is one of the greatest and most defining aspects of this city, with huge musical acts like No BS! Brass and GWAR having emerged from this city, while also serving as proving grounds for some of the world’s biggest performers like Lil Dicky and Lucy Dacus. There’s something about this part of the world that creates and inspires amazing musicians.
However, beyond Richmond’s music scene, there is of course the high-profile gallery culture in Richmond, with everything from small independently run one-room galleries on Broad Street to VMFA, one of the largest art museums in North America. The Richmond Mural Project was the beginning of a flood of public art works in the city, notably murals cultivated by the RVA Street Art Festival.
The list of unique and beautiful Virginia creative businesses goes on with companies such as Iron Oak crafting handmade custom furniture, or any number of jewelry makers and other small goods that form the kind of artisanal small goods economy coveted by any community.
Of course, as an artist in this community, it’s easy to say that providing government funds to directly support local artists is a good thing. However, even for those who are only consumers of art in this area, when one considers the amount of revenue generated by the arts and culture sector of not only Richmond’s economy but all of Virginia, it’s kind of hard to deny the positive economic impact.
According to Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6), a study conducted by Americans for the Arts of the economic and social impact of arts and culture organization, in the Richmond and Tri-cities areas, the artists of this region generated a wide variety of economic stimulation. AEP6 defines economic impact as the following:
- Jobs: a total figure of people employed (full-time, part-time, and seasonal employment jobs).
- Resident household income includes salaries, wages, and entrepreneurial income paid to residents. It is the money individuals earn personally and then use to pay for food, mortgages, and other living expenses.
- Tax revenue to local, state, and federal governments includes revenue from taxes (e.g., income, property, or sales), as well as funds from licenses, filing fees, and other similar sources.
According to AEP6, nationally “arts and culture” generated $151.7 billion of economic activity in 2022. That amounts to $73.3 billion in spending by organizations within the sector and a total of $78.4 billion in spending by audiences attending what the study refers to as “event-related” activities. 2.6 million jobs are dependent on the arts and culture industry, which earned governments $29.1 billion in tax revenue off of $101 in personal income that residents earned.
On a more local scale, the Richmond and Tri-Cities’ nonprofit arts and culture industry generated $329.9 million in yearly economic impact in 2022. This included $213.2 million in spending from organizations and individual artists, and $116.7 million in event-related expenditures by their audiences. That economic activity supported 6,742 jobs, provided $266.6 million in personal income to residents, and generated $82.7 million in tax revenue to local, state, and federal governments.
But why here? Well, for a number of reasons. Allow us to begin with the fact that the arts turn cities that harbor creative communities into a destination that visitors will travel to, and where they will spend money thus driving economic stimulation for not only the arts and culture industry, but for adjacent industries as well. As AEP6 showed, out of 224,677 surveyed attendees to a variety of artistic events, over 30% came from outside the city. Residents and visitors attending an event-related artistic showcase will often also make a night of the event spending money on food at a local restaurant, purchasing refreshments at the location of the event, and perhaps spending money on childcare as well as a variety of other expenses. AEP6 shows that on a typical night out, a local attendee will spend in the realm of $38.46 per person per event, and that’s even before considering the cost of event admission. For those visiting from out of town, 77% of whom said the cultural event was their primary reason for visiting, event-related expenditure was around 50% more at $60.57.
And sure, I can throw numbers at you all day long, but what does it all mean? Essentially, what it boils down to is investing in the overall health of our cities and townships and building communities where people want to live. Once more, as AEP6 puts it, “when we fund the arts, we are investing in an industry that stimulates the economy, supports local jobs, and contributes to building healthy and vibrant communities.”
To get the perspective of an active civic promoter and proponent of the bill, I spoke with local artist and renowned muralist Chr!s Visions. Visions made his way down to the Virginia House of Delegates on January 23rd for an event called Creatives on the Capitol to make his voice heard along with a number of other artists from Richmond and the Norfolk-Virginia Beach area. He cited the words of fellow creative @darknightent in saying, “Virginians have had to be successful in spite of Virginia instead of because of Virginia.” For a state that has cultivated talents from Pharrell to Sandra Bullock, it has not been too kind in the past to promote those talents and attempt to keep them here.
As a young artist fresh on the scene, regardless of medium, it can be hard to find one’s footing as trying to make a name for oneself while also trying to pay the bills with various day jobs results in a lack of time and energy to devote to the craft. As Visions said, “a lot of artists would like to create 24/7, but we have the real world we have to deal with.”
Unfortunately, Visions mentioned that those incredible artists who either are from Virginia or used the comparatively smaller markets of the Commonwealth as a proving ground often leave. “We’re a lifeblood,” said Visions. “Virginia has its feet in so many mediums from music to art, and we see it trickle out into the world, but it’s always through some other places. I think a lot of people move from Richmond; we start here, but sustaining here and living here is another thing.”
Beyond all that, as I’m sure we all discovered in the last few years, art of all kinds is an escape; a way to understand the world around us and make the trials and tribulations of life more bearable. The COVID-19 pandemic destroyed many industries, including and especially event-based artistic endeavors, which were perhaps the slowest to recover due to our lack of convening during that time. In the words of AEP6 one last time, “the arts infused our lives with joy when it was hard to find, staved off isolation and loneliness when it was most persistent, and increased life satisfaction when it lagged the most.”
Contact your local delegate and tell them you support VA HB Bill 642.
Find out more about Creatives For Virginia HERE
