Wednesday, May 23, 2012
The Sundance Institute and Americans for the Arts have released a new report based on findings from the most recent National Arts Policy Roundtable, Innovating for Impact: Arts-Based Solutions for a Stronger America. It recommends four ways in which the arts in America can be an economic driver as well as a vehicle for initiating positive social change:
1. Deepen Strategic Alliances Across Sectors: Expand cross-sector collaboration between the arts and other institutions to help solve social problems.
2. Communicate the Value of the Arts: Engage individuals of all demographics in crafting and delivering personal narratives that demonstrate the importance of being an artist and the power expressing oneself gives them.
3. Expand Lines of Inquiry and Future Research: Use both qualitative and quantitative data to demonstrate to the philanthropic, government and corporate sectors how the arts can be a key component in social problem-solving efforts.
4. Integrate the Arts into Legislative and Other Policy Reforms: Leverage available funding streams to include the arts as part of economic development, neighborhood revitalization or other community-based initiatives.
The report is the result of a gathering of 35 leaders from the business, government, philanthropy, education, and the arts sectors, including noted actor Stanley Tucci and World Pac Paper CEO Edgar L. Smith.
In fact, Tucci's time at the Roundtable motivated him to testify before Congress on the unique ability of the arts to unify people from diverse backgrounds by giving them common experiences. He also discussed how the arts can be used to help America's citizens better understand and be proud of who they are as a people.
Smith, too, was inspired by his time at the Roundtable. Filmmaker Lee Hirsch's discussion of the making of critically acclaimed documentary 'Bully' at the Roundtable prompted him to bring the filmmaker and project to Cincinnati for a premiere as well as a series of in-depth dialogues with more than 12,000 young people in May 2012.
