I want to begin by congratulating Stephanie and her team. What an amazing schedule of events they have created for us over the next 10 days! They really are a gift to Atlanta. Please give them a hand.
I know I'm singing to the choir when I talk to this gathering about the importance of a rich and diverse arts community to our quality of life in Atlanta.
You're already committed. That's why you're here.
My message today, however, is that even though you think you're doing a lot to enrich and strengthen the arts in Atlanta — and you are — we must do more.
Forty years ago Robert Kennedy predicted the future when he remarked on the growing disparity between the economic health of the nation and our social well-being. Kennedy said,
"The gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit or our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."
Just a few years ago, the late Mark Miringoff, a renowned social scientist, created a new measure called the index of social health. His number crunching proved Kennedy was exactly right. From the early 1960s forward, as the nation's measure of economic health the GDP rose steadily, the nation's index of social health consistently declined.
So we have RFK's vision and Miringoff's statistics both telling us what we know in our hearts: that the good life is not simply about economic well being.
We've all heard the compelling data about Atlanta's projected economic and population growth over the next decade.
Our task is to work together to ensure that we don't simply become a big city — but that we become a great city.
My husband and I visited China several years ago. We saw first-hand the amazing economic growth of cities in that country. Buildings were literally shooting out of the ground as we watched. There was scaffolding everywhere.
But what was most noticeable was that these big cities had no hearts.
The cultural revolution had destroyed their history, their art, their culture.
The new buildings were not enough to replace that.
Now they have a much harder job ahead — to create a soul in their cities.
Fortunately, in Atlanta we don't have that problem. Our city is rich in history and culture. But for Atlanta to become not just a big city, but a great city, the arts must become much more integral to the fabric of everyday life here. And the people in this room can make that happen. If we can begin to insert the arts in everything we support in the community, we will succeed.
Let me give you several examples:
I learned from a staff member of the city's planning and zoning department last week that no one has ever mentioned to the department that artists might be candidates for affordable housing. Yet many cities understand that like teachers, policemen and firemen, artists are desirable inhabitants of affordable housing developments. And when that housing is combined with studio and display space, neighborhoods can be transformed.
So as we work on affordable housing and community revitalization, let's put artists at the center of our discussion.
Likewise, many of us work on issues related to child health and development, education and job creation. The arts have a critical role to play in all of these domains. Instead of thinking about the arts in competition with social services, we must begin to think about how the arts are part of the solution.
Within our own businesses, we also tend to think narrowly about the arts. We do a great deal for the arts through the philanthropic arms of our enterprises. We can do so much more when we engage our entire organization.
- Our marketing arms can form strategic partnerships with arts groups that will help extend our brands. We can use every point of contact with customers — ad space, direct mail, point of service — to promote an arts partner.
- Our HR divisions can use the arts to engage employees, provide employee incentives and encourage volunteerism.
- Our PR departments can use the arts to reach out to our customers and enhance our public reputation
The challenge is to think creatively about strategic partnerships with arts organizations that will simultaneously provide great art, improve our community and benefit our bottom line.
Let me spend a moment talking specifically about the enormous opportunity presented by the National Black Arts Festival.
Just as our nation's economic benefits have not been distributed as evenly as we'd like, neither have the opportunities to participate in arts and cultural activities.
If you were to ask people in Detroit if there are enough arts activities in their community, 35 percent of African-American adults would tell you, no, there are not enough cultural activities in Detroit — and it's a big problem. Only 15 percent of white adults say the lack of arts opportunities is a big problem.
Ok, so maybe you think there's something odd about Detroit. Let's get on a plane and take the temperature of folks in Philadelphia, a city with arts and cultural offerings that attract people from all over the world.
In Philly, 42 percent of African-Americans say not enough arts or cultural activities is a big problem. For whites, the percentage is less than half that.
What about down south? Well, in Biloxi, Mississippi, 54 percent of African-American adults say not enough arts or cultural activities is a big problem... only 20 percent of white say the same thing.
I'll spare you a Howard Dean-like list of cities, but the story is the same across America — whether you visit minority-majority cities such as Gary, Indiana, or melting pot cities on the west coast such as Long Beach.
And, you'll find a similar discrepancy if you compare individuals making about $30,000 a year to folks making more than $60,000. By 2-to-1, the working class folks say not enough arts or cultural activities is a big problem in their community.
Why am I bogging you with all these statistics? Because unlike lots of other issues we face — the economy or health care or education, for example —we in this room can do something about this. It's within our control. We are blessed with a great problem — there is huge, unmet demand for the arts.
And here's the clencher — when we talk to folks in Detroit in more detail, and ask them what kind of art they're looking for, what we learn is that most minorities say it's important for art to reflect their ethnic and cultural identities.
What a great opportunity for the national black arts festival, right?
But it gets even better, more than half of white adults say they like to learn about other cultures through art.
Is that not the perfect recipe for the success of the National Black Arts Festival? We in Atlanta have a product that folks across the country and beyond want — no matter what their race or ethnicity.
Let's give it to them, folks. Let's make it all it can be.
Thank you.
