AKRON, Ohio — The city heard its first “state-of-the-arts” report on Thursday, with ArtsNow Executive Director Nicole Mullet providing a past and future look at how art as an industry in Greater Akron has been shaped since the inception of the nonprofit she leads.
“We serve as the backbone organization for arts and culture,” Mullet said of ArtsNow, which was created in 2015 to unify and grow the community’s artistic and cultural industry sector. “And we operate on the knowledge that a thriving, equitable and fully leveraged arts and culture sector will strengthen the region’s economic and social vibrancy.”
ArtsNow works on behalf of artists in all mediums, and includes organizations that range from art and performance studios to theaters, the zoo and environmental groups, she said. The nonprofit is funded through grants and donations, and asks for no dues or membership fees.
“We believe that a truly healthy Summit County is a Summit County where the arts are threaded throughout everything that we do,” she said. “That everyone — from children, to people of all ages — feels that they can connect and engage with the arts and it’s part of their everyday life.”
Prior to the pandemic, the arts in Summit County generated $1.4 billion in economic activity and employed nearly 18,000 people, she said. That added up to about $786 million in income and wages in the Akron metropolitan area.
Momentum in the sector had been building since 2012, Mullet said, when the GAR and Knight foundations conducted a study of the Greater Akron region to better understand the overall landscape of arts and culture in the community.
Armed with an understanding that the community wanted greater connection with and greater access to the arts, and that artistic businesses were financially struggling, community leaders and the city launched ArtsNow.
Since then, artists and arts organizations have steadily strengthened with some expanding their offerings, while partnerships and collaboration have taken shape, she said.
Development around the region encompassed artistic and cultural revitalization, driven by the desire to improve quality of life for residents, she said.
Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls reopened downtown along the Cuyahoga River, with small creative shops filling storefronts, similar to Barberton’s arts district, which is anchored by the Magical Theater Company.
ArtsNow works on behalf of artists of all mediums and cultural organizations. (Spectrum News/Jennifer Conn)
In Akron, the Bowery Project on South Main Street successfully revitalized a row of historic buildings, which are now a blend of residences and small businesses, she said.
Next-door to the Bowery, the Akron Civic Theatre completed an extensive renovation of its ticket arcade and grand lobby and added new performance space, she said.
The University of Akron announced it would re-imagine the university arts programs with an eye toward community revitalization for students and residents, naming Civic Theatre Executive Director Howard Parr the special advisor for arts and culture to University President Gary Miller.
“It is a giant step forward in our ability to connect both with the students on campus, the alumni, the faculty, and to ensure that the university and the community, and the city are truly working in tandem to advance these initiatives,” Mullet said. “It is a wonderful and exciting moment in the growth of arts.”
In the meantime, ArtsNow had been conducting research involving all segments of the community to build a cultural plan, which was launched in 2020.
The plan identified 10 priorities, which Mullet referred to as the organization’s “North Star,” and laid out a 15-year plan to progress arts and culture in the Greater Akron area.
And although the pandemic “devasted the arts and culture sector,” Mullet said, ArtsNow will be looking ahead, working on four areas from the cultural plan:
- Supporting a creative workforce
- Increasing access to arts and culture opportunities for young people
- Including the arts and culture in conversations around talent attraction and retention
- Exploring and researching long-term, sustainable support for arts and culture
