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A PATH TO DELAWARE’S ECONOMIC GROWTH
Published July/August, 2023 |
What role did the arts play for you personally during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns? For entertainment and wellbeing, did you turn to the work of individual writers, or visual and performing artists across television, movies, online, and other mediums? Did you rely on programming from Delaware organizations like museums, theaters, community groups, restaurants, venues, and more for creative ways to unite us? I did.
Witnessing this innovation and resilience of the arts and culture sector made me proud not just as a performing artist and patron of the arts myself, but as Delawarean. For a small state, Delaware boasts a long list of artistic and cultural assets; and yet; we have not begun to gain broader recognition of their full potential.
In this first year in my role as executive director of the Delaware Arts Alliance (DAA)—the nonprofit advocacy organization that serves as the unifying voice for the arts in our state—I have spoken to creatives from all backgrounds, including individual artists, nonprofits, for-profit creative businesses, and arts educators. They often feel underappreciated, undervalued, and relegated to their own island. Yet, they feel hopeful that emerging from the pandemic provides an opportunity to position the creative economy as a key strategy for addressing other economic, social, and policy issues in Delaware, as well as attracting and retaining residents, workers, and visitors to the state.
In pursuit of this, and recognizing the profound connection between the arts, tourism, and economic development, the Delaware Arts Alliance has embarked on an ambitious endeavor—the creation of a comprehensive plan to grow and support the creative economy through intentional policy change and investment.
Delaware’s Creative Economy and Cultural Tourism Recovery and Growth Plan will be the first project in the nation to deliver a unified vision and actionable policy agenda that aligns not only the entire arts and culture sector, but also state, county, and local levels of government.
With funding from the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) Travel, Tourism & Outdoor Recreation program awarded by Governor John Carney and the Delaware Division of Small Business, the DAA over the course of the next year will:
- Produce an interactive, publicly available GIS map of Delaware’s creative economy;
- Perform an economic impact study; and
- Create comprehensive recovery plans for Delaware statewide, all three counties, and in select opportunity zones (Wilmington, Middletown, Smyrna, Dover, Milton, and Georgetown)
A series of community focus groups, surveys, and meetings throughout the summer and fall of 2023 will inform the direction of the project to ensure we hear from Delawareans from all backgrounds. We already know that tourists and Delawareans alike seek authentic and immersive experiences. By supporting individual artists and organizations that make up the creative economy, Delaware can tap into a powerful engine of innovation, job creation, and community development. All of which will help bolster Delaware’s tourism industry while addressing pressing issues from housing to health to education.
Inform the development of this plan by completing this survey — go here.