By Mary Alice Murphy

Department of Cultural Affairs Cabinet Secretary Veronica Gonzales visited Silver City on Wednesday afternoon for a Community Conversation on Renewing and Prioritizing New Mexico's Creative Economy.

Felicity Broennan, DCA director of strategic initiatives and partnerships gave a "shout out to John for hosting us." The event was held at Bear Mountain Lodge, co-owned by Linda Brewer and John Rohovec. Rohovec continues to serve as a New Mexico Arts commissioner.

Broennan said, in 2013, the department commissioned a report with the University of New Mexico's Bureau of Business and Economic Research on renewing the creative economy of New Mexico.

"We have a $5.6 billion creative industry in New Mexico," Broennan said.

She introduced Gonzales by reading her bio, which is extensive, and welcomed attendees for their interest in the creative economy.

Gonzales said she did a tour of the state to learn how to better connect the department's services with all parts of the state.

The real need was to look at arts as an economic driver and how to better understand its value.

"Gov. Martinez supported this study in partnership with UNM and BBER," Gonzales said. "They were thrilled to work with us to understand the impact. The research was comprehensive. It was the first time a study had been done on the arts in 20 years. This one far exceeds the previous report.

"What are we the department doing to meet the challenges in this report?" Gonzales asked and began to answer. "Culture is the essence of who we are as a people. Culture is essential to maintaining the sense of community. The creative economy is the fastest growing. Arts and culture have become the essential preconditions of prosperity and economic development. Arts and culture are big business in New Mexico. Arts and culture employment exceeds that of construction and manufacturing combined. Arts and culture employ 9.8 percent of the total of those employed in New Mexico. They overlap a lot of other industries."

She showed a graph of employment by industry, which showed only primary jobs. "We know that artists often have to work another job to support their art. " She said the highest share of artists employed is in McKinley County, where the Zuni tribal members live. For the Zuni, 40 percent name art as their primary source of income and 72 percent name art as part of their income."

Gonzales noted that in New Mexico employment in the arts and culture is 3 percent greater than the national share. "We are one of the leading states in arts and culture. The challenge is the average wage. Artists are often weak in applied intellectual property, such as publishing, media, architecture, design and advertising. The report identified the challenges and gaps. Globalization/localism show the need for continuity and stability in expanding the workplace and marketplace."

The report calls on organizations to be more flexible and diverse and able to collaborate. People want it to be technology rich.

She cited New Mexico advantages, which include strong social networks; ease of access; retained history, culture and natural beauty; affordable and high quality of life; and allowance for experimentation.

The disadvantages include limited marketing and institutional support; small labor force and markets; isolation; and exclusion.

"The question has been asked of artists in New Mexico whether creative professionals would stay here or go?" Gonzales said. "47 percent said they will stay no matter what. They are the older ones, those who have been here longer. Preservation remains their priority, and they don't see isolation as a problem."

The younger generation and second generation New Mexicans make up 43 percent who would leave for opportunity, because professional considerations are primary; orientation is global; and isolation must be overcome.

Gonzales noted the report has 12 recommendations on how the state can translate the arts and culture industry into growth and economic prosperity. The recommendations fit into four categories.

The first is creative business development with public/private partnerships. They include a business incubator with training in marketing, fundraising, financial management human resource management and business planning. Also recommended is information technology service and training, including website and social media design and development. The website will serve as a platform for statewide communication and networking among individuals and organizations in the creative industries in New Mexico. "We will get involved and so will the McCune Foundation."

The second category is place-making and community development, including protecting Native American art against misrepresentation; prioritizing a community-based building and funding for Arts and Culture Districts; and implementing funding of community programs. "MainStreet is important in this." This category includes collaboration with the tourism industry, hospitality sector and trails programs.

Cultural education and engagement make up the third category. Vigorous implementation and monitoring of New Mexico's pioneering 2003 Fine Arts Education Act are in the works, as well as interdepartmental work to develop culturally relevant curricula for art teachers, with inventory and a centralized system of assessment.

The fourth category involves clusters, markets and branding, which encompasses development of cluster-based strategies to develop creative industries; protect creative industries in economic policy; develop national protection; and service an export marketing campaign that establishes a modern quality-focused brand.

"We need to build awareness around our state," Gonzales said. "The conclusions are that arts and culture industries are the foundation of a creative economy. New Mexico has remarkable cultural assets, but needed are the catalysts and strategies. Compared to programs to attract industries, supporting the creative economy is low cost."

She said the DCA's initiatives include partnering with the McCune Foundation and developing a statewide web-based platform for networking. "There is no way to share best practices," Gonzales said. "We need to boost funding for the New Mexico Arts grants program, and increase cultural heritage tourism via a cultural atlas. We will implement this program, but we feel strongly that locals should work to sustain the atlas. We plan to implement a cultural collaborative and develop cross-agency partnerships. If we produce clusters, which will be important in New Mexico, we can marry them with business management. We want to develop an app to show every cultural or historical property. We plan to implement a cultural collaborative to connect what we as a department have as assets, including music."

She said her agency had meetings with the Economic Development Department and with the Higher Education Department. "We are in partnerships with UNM, New Mexico State University and Highlands, from where we are placing interns in the media field. We are also reaching out to Indian Affairs and the Public Education Department. "

The site to find the UNM BBER report is www.nmculture.org

Gonzales said a 2013 United Nations report on the creative economy showed that it is happening across the world.

Broennan said she and the secretary would like to learn from the audience "what you need and what you are doing that is working."

Silver City Mayor Michael Morones said he found the presentation informative to hear about defining arts and culture industries. "It's broad and creates a lot of niches. Each seems to be focused on itself without much collaboration. I think collaboration would work well. I think the Arts and Culture District has been important, because it has brought a thought process to collaboration. Hopefully, we can work with the Departments of Cultural Affairs and Economic Development to move forward and sustain the creative economy."

Gonzales said the DCA had a definite commitment from the Economic Development Department.

Mayor Pro Tem Cynthia Bettison said she believed the Arts and Culture districts should be funded through MainStreet. "The ACD brought us together in ways that are complementary. But it's hard to work on unfunded entities, like the arts and culture district. Ours made a signature event out of the Clay Festival, but it has been hard to raise funds for it. I encourage you to work with Secretary (Jon) Barela (of the EDD) to get funding for the arts and culture districts. Make it a cooperative with the Cultural Affairs and Economic Development and with Tourism. I spoke against combining Cultural Affairs and Tourism, but they should work together."

Gonzales concurred and she said, in her conversation with Barela, they had talked about partnering with Tourism.

Carol Czujko, local business owner, said: "Creative thinkers can create apps and industries with higher paying job are also the creators. I don't see creative thinkers going into business incubators. We need to determine how to build on already in place creators and how to hold them distinct."

Gonzales noted that in order to grow the creative economy, "you have to draw people to stay here. Arts and culture is very complex, with a lot of overlapping. That is the importance of place-making, with a support system for artists. You need to provide opportunities for them to market themselves more globally if you want to grow."

Broennan said on the cluster department, they are working with the Anderson School of Management to form co-ops, such as the tulip industry in northern Europe. They have a countrywide cluster. They banded together the producers and the distributors. ""In an art cluster, the artist can create, perform or produce, but someone else does the marketing ad accounting."

Kevin Cook of Freeport McMoRan Community Development said the cluster concept is being successfully provided in childcare. "The providers take care of the kids and others do the accounting and such for all the providers."

"A comment from the funder's perspective," Cook continued, "the big challenge is when seeking funding, it is easy to see the short-term outcomes, such as lodgers' tax, gross receipts tax, but it's more challenging to show the long-term outcomes. Realtors hear that people were introduced to Silver City by the Blues Festival, for example. That helps sell funders."

Gonzales agreed on the importance of being "able to articulate that story of the impact of what we do."

Broennan said a big coordinated effort requires a lot of advocacy and communicating the pieces that need to come together.

Gonzales emphasized the importance of the community's connections to their state legislators. "You need a continuing dialogue with them. They are there to take your voice into that arena."

Tom Vaughan of FeVa Fotos said to follow up on Cook's comment: "Arts and music are always on the chopping block in schools. I think Silver City kids have more opportunities to get exposed to art and music."

Broennan said test results are better in students exposed to art and music. Gonzales said they also show resiliency.

Faye McCalmont, WNMU assistant to the president for cultural affairs, asked if county information was available in the BBER report and was told it was.

Ted Pressler, involved in the Western Institute of Lifelong Learning, The Southwest Festival of the Written Word and the Silver City Community Theater, said he had proposed a lottery system for arts and culture districts. "Why not expand it?"

Gonzales said he would need to talk to Sen. Michael Sanchez, "who is quite protective of his lottery bill."

"It's an important part of education," Broennan said.

Kevin Lenkner, Mimbres Region Arts Council executive director, suggested a couple of resources. "The Orange Economy has worked to get Colombia to be known for something else other than what it is known for. It has developed the country's cultural resources. Creative Oklahoma is another successful program. Rather than think of art, which is binary, creativity opens up to a broader conversation."

Broennan said New Mexico shares a lot of things with Nigeria, an impoverished, rural nation, which was colonized. "We have reserves, which preserve cultural tradition. New Mexico is uniquely positioned with other parts of the world."

Kurt Albershardt of the Murray Hotel noted that angel investors bring not just checkbooks, but also their attorneys and bankers. "Clusters are not present here. The end goal is not technology. You know a guy when he has relationships with a person who can do that and someone who can do something else. Here we also have regulatory challenges. But you need to go to the right people who have access to the right people."

WNMU President Joseph Shepard said, in his previous position, he helped build a university from scratch. "What we lack as a state is that network. We lack the ability to attract that network."

Broennan asked how to cultivate that network.

"It is developed through common interest," Shepard said. "You can develop a university, develop a philharmonic. How do we tap into the retirees who don't want to retire?"

Albershardt noted that, to be fair, "both of us were working in growing economies."

Czujko pointed out that the largest art market is in New York. "Where is the second largest?" She paused and said: "Santa Fe. Even during the downturn, Santa Fe brought in art collectors and art experiencers. Silver City could be a unique market for creative writing and upscale art. We need to learn how to make it fluid, by following the patterns in other creative industries. How do we bring the world here that enriches us and enriches the world?"

Gonzales noted that the department is putting a lot of money into marketing.

"We have to decide how we develop with the rest of New Mexico," Czujko said.

"This is an observation," Cook said. "What we are observing is that our large number of non-profits are not communicating. Many are duplicating efforts."

Gonzales said she heard a lot about that on her first tour, about siloing. "It's about place-making and community development."

Broennan commented that the Arts and Cultural Districts and MainStreet form a huge part of working together. "We need more of the same."

Gonzales said money overall for education has shrunk and districts have to decide how to allocate those fewer dollars. "But what are we doing to impact our children getting an education? It's for your superintendents to look at how they are allocating the funding. Albuquerque Public Schools reinforces classroom work with Sandia Outside."

McCalmont noted that there was huge advocacy behind the Fine Arts Education Act. "But the money has been funneled elsewhere. We have to have administrations that believe in culture."

Albershardt noted that he had heard before he came that people were paid to go into the schools and perform or create.

Bettison said, thanks to a Freeport Community Investment Fund grant, the WNMU Museum and the Silver City Museum have worked together to create a curriculum that "we hoped would take off. In talking with Silver and Cobre, it's most difficult to get kids out of the class because of testing requirements. Testing leaves almost no time to learn outside the classroom. Pre-kindergarten through fifth grade is the capture point for kids, but if you can't get the data or get kids in the door of the museums, it's hard. It would be wonderful if we could."

Shepard said, listening around the state, it's all about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) but "most people who run things had art in their background. For instance, our daughter was in an art magnet school, but she got her degree in math and is now going for a master's degree in engineering at Stanford."

"Why are the Chinese coming here?" Shepard asked and answered. "They are looking for creativity."

He said he was told that if he wanted to take a local work of art and pay for it with Arts in Public Places funding, he couldn't choose a local artist. "I would like to take art down College Avenue and make it a walking sculpture garden."

Gonzales explained the funding has to go through a public process to purchase a piece or commission a piece. "You do a call out, and it has to extend beyond the community, but you, the community, gets to choose."

Rohovec said the funding comes from 1 percent of construction costs on a project. "There is also a program where you can buy New Mexico art and locales can buy from New Mexico Arts."

Shepard noted that if an entity goes out for architectural services, for instance, it gets a 10 percent bump to local architects. "Why not the same for Arts in Public Places?"

Gonzales said: "You do have to follow the criteria."

McCalmont noted that only those who register with the state could get a call out.

Cook returned to the education component. "What about the concept of integrating science with art? You have to educate the educators that arts and sciences are not exclusive."

Broennan agreed and said interdisciplinary disciplines are needed.

Bettison gave an example of medical students working in art.

The final recommendation category addressed cluster markets and branding.

"Is it going on here?" Broennan asked. "Is there a way we can support new ideas?"

Jessie Thetford, artist and individual contractor, said she believes it is starting to happen in the area with the Southwest New Mexico Clay Trail. "Networking is happening, and I think it has great potential. Resources for it are limited."

Rohovec New Mexico Arts is establishing art trails. "The Fiber trails in northern New Mexico are very successful."

"It's a great idea to cluster around trails," Gonzales said. "We created packages for participants to give them the tool set and opportunities to work with others outside the area."

Czujko said she sees vertical areas of art. "On the meta side, what will draw people to southern New Mexico? I envision it in layers, with a collective draw to bring people in."

McCalmont said she thinks the ACDs have tried that sort of thing, with the idea to create resource centers with services for artists. "The only way the ACD here has survived is that it became a 501c3 and became the tourism entity for Silver City. There is no funding anywhere else. We still need to find more funding because we want to do other things, like a resource center."

"The competition for funding is intense," Gonzales agreed. "It should be audience-based. We think we have a plan for sustainability, so watch us, too."

McCalmont said the DCA used to provide $20,000 a year to the arts council, but it has dwindled to $6,000 a year, because of more councils being formed and going for the money.

"It's becoming more on a performance basis, but yes, you need more money," Gonzales said.

Bettison suggested using the model of Albuquerque Innovate for businesses. "We need to do that for the creative industry. We need to develop community advocates and develop a network."

Vaughan said: "Yes, we want to support the arts for ourselves. We are a mining town. Some places in New Mexico are oil-and-gas towns. We have to have other revenue streams. I think we're getting new revenue streams with tourism and art and food. We need to market that. It's jobs."

Cook said it comes down to collective impact. "Knock down the siloes, identify the 800-pound gorilla, partner with corporations and the university. One of my charges as community development manager is to make the town less reliable on mining. We want to see the community evening out, not being cyclical."