Workshop tackles using arts as driver for economic opportunity

About a hundred people gathered Thursday for the “Big Strategies and Real Tactics for Connecting Artists, Audience, and Place” workshop hosted by the California Desert Arts Council. The workshop was aimed at marketing and promoting economic opportunities through the arts.

Both city officials and local artists discussed how the arts could be used as a driver for economic opportunities. One way would be to establish cultural districts, something the city of Indio is looking into.

“This is an opportunity to bring to bring artists in to create artist housing and really enliven downtown with 24/7 activity,” Carl Morgan, economic development director for the City of Indio, said.

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According to research from Americans for the Arts, cultural tourists typically spend $1,319 per trip compared with other visitors, who spend $820 per trip on average. They also stayed longer during their trips.

The city of Indio was looking to harness those numbers through the massive turnout of music festivals such as Coachella and Stagecoach, in the hopes some of the attendees would make return visits to the city at other times of the year.

“Art is just a really nice tie-in and it’s going to create an opportunity, I think, to bring people from the West to the East, to our city,” Morgan said.