To NFT or not to NFT? That is the question, and more, for Arts and Tech in our Creative Economy

Join Eat More Art Vegas at Art Square for a panel at Tech Alley, 3/18/23.

Join Eat More Art LLC and cNFTcon for a blockchain conversation.

"Culture War Rubble or Creative Renaissance?" Was our headline for the recent recap of the City of Las Vegas' Arts and Culture Summit last month. The Creative Economy will reign supreme in our time at the dawn of the third millennium, but to what end? Will it be an era of advancement fueled by human inspiration in concert with technological discovery, or a rush toward a dark age with ill-informed exploitation of creative enterprise in competition with AI fads and Big Tech?

Creative workers need to learn as quickly as they can about blockchain, NFTs, cryptocurrency, and AI not only to survive financially, but to advance and improve our condition as a society. I have studied and taught enough about Shakespeare's age to know that a renaissance does not come until the Artists of the world grab hold of innovation and make it work for them. I grew up in Silicon Valley in it's early years and I have learned hard lessons about what a double-edged sword the tech industry is to our creative ecosystem. Arts workers who learn early survive and create opportunity. Eat More Art Vegas is on a mission to make that easier for local artists to do just that.

Learning about tech is easier in person where you can ask questions face to face. Here are two opportunities:

Join Eat More Art LLC, cNFTcon, and the UNLV SBDC at Tech Alley, Saturday, 11 AM at Art Square Theatre for an open panel discussion and free networking opportunity. Come earlier for coffee, or stay after for Coastal Mediterranean hors d'oeuvre and networking.

Click here for more info or just show up at Art Square at 11am!

Attend cNFTcon this September 29th through October 1st, 2023. Attendees will learn a number of topics in the space including the basics of blockchain, artificial intelligence, NFTs, DAOs, staking, digital ID, security, Metaverse, and how all of these will change or impact business, government, education, economy and entertainment. Partners include the UNLV Office of Economic Development, zenGate Global, Clay Nation, Forgotten, IAMX, and Beyond Rockets.

Las Vegas Arts & Culture, it's your last chance to BE COUNTED in the AEP6!

Help us prove that local Arts mean business!

The NEVADA ARTS AND CULTURE AEP6 audience survey deadline is May 2023!

WHAT IS AEP6?

Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) is an economic impact study of the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture industry. It is the largest and most inclusive study of its kind ever conducted, with a specific focus on 360 participating communities from across all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

The Nevada Arts Council, Clark County Public Arts Office, and the City of Las Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs are research partners identified to assist Americans for the Arts (AFTA) with two primary data collection efforts:​

• An audience-intercept survey of attendees to arts and culture events that take place in the community

• A budget and attendance survey of the nonprofit culture organizations in the community.

​Each community partner will receive a customized final report of their DATA in Fall, 2023.

ATTENTION NONPROFIT LEADERS

1. Be on the lookout for the simple ORGANIZATION SURVEY email from AFTA & fill it out.

2. We still need audience surveys through May 2023, so share the QR survey codes at your events!

• The anonymous audience surveys take 3 min tops from the comfort of their smartphone

• Contact Eat More Art LLC admin@eatmoreartvegas.com or Maggie Plaster mplaster@lasvegasnevada.gov with the CLV Cultural Affairs team to get the QR codes

Click here for more info about the nationwide effort to prove the power of our creative economy.

Culture War Rubble or Creative Renaissance?

The City of Las Vegas can create opportunity through the Arts.

The Las Vegas Arts and Culture Summit convened on 16 Feb 2023.

The City of Las Vegas Cultural Affairs team held a remarkable event last month at a critical point for Southern Nevada's arts and culture sector, a community of nonprofit, commercial, and public stakeholders responsible for (at minimum) 4.7% of Nevada's GDP. The Las Vegas Arts and Culture Summit stood out as the first of it's kind calling together over 130 leaders from across the region to discuss their impact both economically and socially, and to collaborate on strategies for advancement. Randy Cohen of Americans for the Arts and Ruth Hartt from Culture For Hire, were among the guest speakers along with local Aaron Berger, Executive Director of the Neon Museum. Two creative development firms also presented as consultants for the city's cultural strategy; Jamie Giellis from Centro, and Barbara Goldstein from Art Builds Community.

Creative workers everywhere make education and enterprise possible in our community, along with a sense of wellbeing and belonging in our own skin. It was significant to see elected leaders like Mayor Carolyn Goodman speak on the record about the vital need for creative professionals in our community amid relentless attacks on free expression in the arts and humanities out in the field. The day made it clear there are scores of organizations and individuals shunning culture wars in favor of opportunities that can lead Southern Nevada into a creative renaissance.

City of Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman welcomed the summit attendees.

Councilman Cedric Crear acknowledged the work ahead for stakeholders in the local arts arena is substantial but worth it in his address to the group:

Councilman Cedric Crear addressed Arts and Culture leaders.

"We have done a number of different things and we have a long way to go. And you might have heard that we are working to create and to bring in a African American Art and Cultural Center as well right into the Historic West Side and we have hired some great consultants that have a lot of experience in doing exactly what we're trying to do. And we are on a phase two of a multi phase opportunity to create and bring art into our culture.

I think one of the city's goals is to be a resource for Las Vegas artists. That's important."

Arts help drive Nevada's economy. Image by Randy Cohen, @ArtsInfoGuy.

The Arts are not a cause, they are an industry, a tool for society, and the expression of our humanity; Nevada decision makers have a lot to learn about how to unlock their power for economic development. Randy Cohen offered DATA and tools to help policymakers and advocates alike advance the ball for potential partners including these insights:

"The US Department of Commerce, is now involved in studying the economic impact of the arts, the Bureau of Economic Analysis estimate the arts and culture industry in the United States nationally is an $876.7. billion industry, billion with a B, that is 4.2% of the nation's economy.

That's a bigger share of the economy than transportation, agriculture, tourism....There is an understanding now in economic development and commerce in the business world, that to compete and prosper in a global economy you have to innovate, you have to create, and the arts drive that creativity, innovation."

$8.1 billion of that is right here in Nevada, that is 4.7% of the state's economy which is ahead of the nation al average of 4.2%, and that supports about 37,000-plus jobs in the state. Further Department of Commerce research shows when there's a growth of local artists jobs, that will ultimately increase overall employment for a state. 72% of the American public says the arts unified communities, regardless of age, race, or ethnicity, 73% say "the arts helped me understand other cultures." According to Cohen, "Those findings spread across all socio economic strata. This is something that everybody experiences. So there are a lot of different kinds of benefit."

Click to use the social impact of the Arts tool.

Americans for the Arts offers a simple online tool to find evidence of the social impact of the Arts; the Arts and Impact Social Explorer. Cohen explained,"I call it the pinwheel, but you can go online and all and we've got almost 30 different categories...you click one of the pieces of the pie and it will give you some examples, the research, and some case studies."

After surviving the pandemic remotely together, the meeting was the first "face-to-face" for many who had toiled together in zooms and on shared google docs over the years. It was energizing to connect with colleagues and enjoy performances offered by area groups including Vegas Theatre Company and Majestic Repertory Theatre, along with High Stakes Barber Shop Quartet among others.

The energy was welcome as the arts and culture ecosystem is as strained as it is determined in a tough economic climate. Promotion of local arts now faces the toughest challenge yet with groups like the LVCVA going "All-in" on sports media without a strategy to support increasingly marginalized arts organizations.

Stewards of the Vegas brand still struggle to see the talent and opportunity at their own door because of outdated beliefs about the depth and breadth of the local arts and culture landscape; mistakenly thinking local artists need imported names rather than the respect they deserve from neighbors to make our city an unmatched leader in the creative industry.

It doesn't have to be this way and it can change right now with increased personal engagement between local artists and the leaders who impact them.

Eat More Art Vegas invites the community to join us at our March Vegas Arts Table on March 13 at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom. We will be holding a hybrid in-person/zoom meeting in April.

Agenda items include:

• Las Vegas Arts Summit recap

• AEP6 Audience and Organizational Survey "final phase" Q/A

• Updates from the Arts and Business scene: Tech Alley, UNLV SBDC, UNLV CBRE, LVGEA

• Whatever shameless plugs you want to share!

Invite local NV legislators, commissioners, and city council members, and for the Zoom link click here.

Special thanks are owed to the committee under the leadership of Maggie Plaster and the City of Las Vegas Cultural Affairs team for listening to the needs of arts leaders and delivering a substantive exchange. We at Eat More Art Vegas say, MORE PLEASE!