What Brings $521,300,000 to Tampa Bay?

Tampa Bay FL, March 2008 - Tourism…the Port…Phosphate…Citrus…Construction…These are some of the industries that come to mind when we think about the ones that contribute significantly to our local economy. It is time to add a new industry to that list, an industry that brings over $521.3 million annually to our region. Not only does this industry pump a significant amount of money into our local economy, it provides a diversity of benefits to add to the quality of life in Tampa Bay.

This major industry is THE ARTS. The Tampa Bay Business Committee for the Arts, Inc. (“TBBCA”) recently announced the results of a professional study of the economic impact of the arts in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. This is the first measure of arts impact on the two counties since the original joint study conducted in 1999. The report was sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and conducted by the PwC Sports, Convention and Leisure Practice.

I have just seen one of the most artistically and musically expressive films in a long time, "August Rush".

In the film, music is boldly exemplified as the non-physical or spiritual force that unites a separated family…music itself becomes the main story-line here, the backdrop being the relentless search for a boy who has never met his Mom and Dad, and the reunion of those parents.

I was reminded, upon seeing this film, of my own sense of purpose for ever walking out on a stage to entertain audiences throughout my many years of performing and producing music and theater. My purpose re-ignited.

Key word is “purpose”. Surely every performing, literary or fine artist with any sense of integrity to his public in giving a performance or creating an art form, carries their purpose with them.

An artist “gives” a performance or creates an effect through his art …and it is so vitally valuable that these gifts carry the purpose of unburdening or dissolving the most stressful and negatively-impacted elements of our society and uplift the individual recipient.