Arts Mean Business Event at Rome Arts and Community Center Recap

By STEVE JONES Staff writer

CASHING IN ON CULTURE — Audience members smile as Rep. Richard L. Hanna, R-22, Barneveld, speaks about the importance of art in the community and as a tool for economic development. (Sentinel photo by Makenzi Enos)

The arts bring to a community experiences that are often hard to define in dollars and cents, but they are necessary for a community to have in order to stay "dynamic, livable," said U.S. Rep. Richard L. Hanna said Friday at the Rome Art And Community Center’s "Arts Means Business" presentation.
"The arts can’t thrive in a community that can’t thrive also," said Hanna, R-22, Barneveld, to a crowd of about 50. "What you give to people to experience, they can’t live a full life without."
The challenge, said Hanna, is often to convince people and government, that the arts are not something one has to measure against needs such as food and shelter when it comes to monetary support. "I don’t think that’s the choice," he said.
A community can have it all, he said. But it’s not easy to make that clear. "You’re critical to development, but you’re also in danger." A community, he said, must incorporate the arts into a larger push to be a good place to live. Don’t put people in a position to have to choose between supporting the arts or funding basic needs for its citizens.
"Things will turn around," Hanna said. His district, before recent redistricting changed its boundaries, had the most universities and colleges of any district in the country. The overall need, he said, is to make a community where students stay here after graduation.
For example, Rome, Hanna said, has a classic piece of Americana in its Honor America Days parade. It brings people out and brings them together "as a human family."
Hanna also noted the area’s growing immigrant population. While the Mohawk Valley needs young people to make it a home, it also has an influx of immigrants who have their own cultural expectations. Find out what those needs and desires are and address them, he suggested. "I look around and see the average white guy, but that’s not the demographic of where we live."
Peggy O’Shea, president and chief executive officer of the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, also spoke. She outlined the Foundation’s efforts to bring cultural groups from the area together.
Using techniques from other areas, the group created a powerful tool — a community events calendar.
The online calender now available at www.gotocnyarts.org is a place where arts groups can post events, which can lead to cooperation, complimentary programs and coordination of schedules, she noted.