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Why the Arts Matter

by Susan S. Weiner

If the federal government is going to take taxpayers dollars for the creation or retention of jobs, why shouldn’t the nation’s arts industry be included? [2007 US Census statistics]

...When it employs over two billion people? 
...When it has an annual payroll of $57 billion?

And consider, these figures don’t include data from the nation’s film industry or the figures from the nonprofit arts industry!

Artists are entrepreneurs; they pay the full FICA tax (without any employer contribution), income taxes, and sales and property taxes, too. Artists are also employees of arts organizations, and of almost every other industry in America. Think about that dress or shirt or those back-to-school supplies recently purchased; those items, the fabrics, and the designs were created by artists. Think about the great logo on your sneakers or the graphics on the box of your favorite brand of ice cream.  They were designed by an artist. Think about your home and the building where you work; an artist designed them.

Artists are part of the American economic engine: they work hard, they feed their families, they are worried about their bills, and they make purchases that allow others to be employed. Compare the arts to other industries: I wonder if those who say that artists shouldn’t be supported through economic stimulus grants would also consider it wrong or frivolous to support the trucking industry. There are 124,000 arts businesses in the U.S.; only 120,000 in the trucking industry. Trucking sales are $33 billion greater than arts businesses, but their number of employees is smaller: 1.5 billion vs. 2 billion.

I love the arts, because of their intrinsic values: entire civilizations have informed the world through their art, the arts teach us about ourselves and others, the arts teach our kids how to read and understand, the arts help create communities, and that list goes on and one. 
My point is that the arts and artists are as deserving of our nation’s respect for their economic contributions as any other trade, profession, or industry.