THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 30, 1994 TAG: 9410300043
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: MARK MOBLEY
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
If location is everything, what does it mean when Virginia borders American Samoa? The commonwealth is close to last in per capita funding of the arts. To discuss changing that, and to improve the local state of the arts generally, artists and business people met Saturday at Virginia Wesleyan College.
``Culture: Our Invisible Industry'' examined the economic benefits of arts activities and speculated on the cultural future of Hampton Roads. The lead speakers were actress and arts advocate Kitty Carlisle Hart and Ellen Dressler, director of cultural affairs for Charleston, S.C., home of the Spoleto Festival USA.
Much of what was said was predictable - few folks like to hear themselves talk more than artists. But some eloquently connected the arts with the quality of life that corporations seek and want to foster. One of the pithiest analyses of the situation came from Andrew Fine, founding chairman of the lobbying group Virginians for the Arts.
``It's no surprise that every time Virginia Beach or South Hampton Roads or Hampton Roads is in competition for some national concern, Charlotte cleans our clock,'' Fine said, adding that he'd hate to have the job of economic development director in Virginia Beach, because there's ``no water and questionable funding for the arts.''
Charleston's Dressler described her city's amazing rise to international prominence. She credited the foresight of a strong mayor, and cited imaginative initiatives by which a town without much private industry cultivated its orchestra as well as the arts festival.
Hart was breezily inspirational as she ranged from her 18 years as chairman of the New York State Council on the Arts to filming ``A Night at the Opera'' with the Marx Brothers. ``When I was asked I thought I was slumming because they were just knockabout comics,'' Hart said. ``They were sweet to me.''
What most listeners will remember is her exhortation to badger legislators for funds. ``I don't know why that hasn't gotten through the arts organizations' heads.
``Do it more than once. Because the homeless, the people for education, the people for the banks, they all do it,'' Hart said.
One of the sponsoring organizations, the Cultural Alliance of Greater Hampton Roads, had already publicized an Old Dominion University study about the multiplier effect of arts spending.
Every dollar in an arts group's payroll generates $2.42 in local spending.
The most productive comments of the day came from James F. Babcock, chief executive officer of First Virginia Bank of Tidewater and co-chair of Hampton Roads Plan 2007. Babcock challenged arts groups not to compromise but to produce innovative work, and to set aside savings to alleviate lean times.
He also advocated creation of a group health insurance plan for local artists.
But Babcock's most intriguing challenge was to boost the image of Hampton Roads with an event of the Spoleto Festival's magnitude.
That's an enormous, but not impossible, task.
Acting like the cultural capital of Virginia, and not the entertainment center of Samoa, will take more than funding. It will take regional cooperation, artistic courage and an emphasis on quality never before seen here. by CNB