DeltaARTS move to Schoettle Center a win for whole community

DeltaARTS move to Schoettle Center a win for whole community

I am so pleased to see the progress our community is making when it comes to education in the arts. Just this week, we witnessed the ribbon cutting for the first phase of the Glenn P. Schoettle Arts Education Center on South Rhodes street. DeltaARTS has provided arts education and imaginative learning experiences to thousands of students in our area since 1972.

The arts not only preserve our unique culture and heritage, but they have proven to be a sustainable strategy for revitalizing rural areas and inner cities.

On Oct. 6, we have an opportunity to learn more about how opportunities in the arts can help strengthen West Memphis. The Arkansas Arts Council is scheduled to meet on that day at 2 p.m., in the ASU Mid-South campus.

This is one of four meetings the council holds annually. Although most are held in Little Rock, the council typically holds one a year in other communities around the state. The Council’s new chair, Antzee Magruder, lives in West Memphis and extended this invitation.

The Arkansas Arts Council was established by the legislature in 1966 in order to receive funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. The council, which is an agency of the Department of Heritage, advances the arts in Arkansas by providing services and grants.

This includes endeavors that encourage literary, performing and visual artists. The Arkansas Arts Council also provides technical and financial assistance to Arkansas arts organizations and other providers of cultural and educational programs. This statewide programming and assistance ultimately provides cultural, educational and economic opportunities for the benefit of all Arkansans.

Have you ever wondered why the government is in the business of supporting the arts?

It’s because study after study has shown the arts ultimately support our economy.

The creative industry, which includes everything from art teachers in the classroom to actors in community theaters, employees 35,000 Arkansans. It is the third largest employer in the state next to the transportation and the food industry. The creative industry earns about one billion a year in the state.

Cultural tourists spend 36 percent more at their destination than other kind of travelers. Statistics also indicate arts audiences spend more than $100 billion a year nationwide on admissions, food, and lodging.

Public support of the arts reduces barriers such a poverty and geographic isolation from public participation.

By continuing to support the arts with state revenue, we are creating jobs and ultimately producing more tax revenue for tomorrow.

From State Representative Deborah Ferguson