The arts are vital to the Kansas City economy. They can help lead our COVID recovery

In addition to the catastrophic toll in human lives, the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the American economy to an extent unseen since the 1930s. Tens of millions of workers have been displaced, and hundreds of thousands of businesses shuttered.

The arts have been hit disproportionately hard. Sixty-three percent of American artists and creative workers have become fully unemployed during the pandemic. To date, U.S. nonprofit arts organizations have lost more than $15.7 billion, and 9% of those organizations are “not confident” that they will survive the pandemic. Locally, the Mid-America Regional Council reported last October that while Kansas City’s overall economy has lost 12% of its jobs, the arts and entertainment sector has suffered a 48.9% drop in employment.

There are countless reasons why this is cause for concern. First, the arts mean business. If the arts and creative industry were a single entity, it would be Kansas City’s third-largest private employer, generating nearly 9,000 local jobs. Before the pandemic, the arts created nearly $300 million in local economic impact annually, and accounted for a 4.2% share of business activity.

In 2017, more than 92,000 Missouri residents were employed in arts and culture jobs and generated 3.1% of the state’s total gross state product. More than 46,000 Kansans were employed in arts and culture jobs, and generated 2.7% of Kansas’ gross domestic product.

These aren’t just performers: They’re also stage crew members, lighting and sound technicians, set and costume designers, box office workers, ushers, and concessionaires, janitors, electricians, and security personnel, administrators, teachers, graphic designers, directors, writers, painters, sculptors, printers and so much more.

The arts generate ideal tourists by getting people out of their homes and spending money in the community. Thirty-four percent of arts attendees live outside the county where the performance occurs, and they spend, on average, more than $47 beyond the ticket costs on items such as meals, drinks, parking and lodging. Arts tourists tend to stay longer and spend more to seek out cultural experiences.

The arts play an important role in boosting learning and achievement for young students, especially those living in poverty. Meaningful arts experiences increase cognitive development and teach children the skills necessary to succeed in life, including creative thinking, problem-solving, innovation, articulating a vision and imagining possibilities.

And the arts create community by bringing together people of diverse backgrounds, ages, races and socioeconomic statuses to share a common, extraordinary experience. The arts create communal bonds among strangers, who collectively exalt virtuoso performances, are buoyed by heroic redemptions and send up peals of laughter and applause for accomplished performances.

While the performing arts have largely been silenced this past year, their revival can help lead the way to a post-pandemic recovery of jobs, economic activity, tourism, community-building and emotional healing. Just as the Works Progress Administration invested in Depression-era muralists, musicians and writers, we need a 21st century investment in the arts to stimulate our recovery from the economic and psychological trauma of the past year.

State and local governments should invest a portion of their grants under Congress’ new coronavirus relief bill into reviving devastated arts organizations and artists, and each of us should do our part to revitalize the industry. When theater doors reopen and artists and arts venues begin producing extraordinary experiences again, we will know that this dark winter of despair is finally ending. Then we can rebuild a new sense of normalcy in our lives.

This story was originally published March 21, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "The arts are vital to the Kansas City economy. They can help lead our COVID recovery."