I am . . . a Citizen or Patron

the Shaw Center for the Arts, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

"We now have an economy powered by human creativity… Creativity is the decisive source of competitive advantage… Technological and economic creativity are nurtured by and interact with artistic and cultural creativity."
Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class

"We tend to look to New Orleans as a place where the past continues to live. But I think much more important for the United States is that this is the place where the future is visible."
Ari Kelman, Historian, in the American Experience PBS documentary New Orleans

It is impossible to overestimate the impact that New Orleans has had upon American culture. Having been the site of the nation’s first opera house, the setting and inspiration for many of its greatest literary works, and the home of this country’s most profound invention (jazz music), the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana have given birth to a way of life and a spirit as unique as anything in America itself. The Broadway South initiative will again bring these qualities to the forefront of the state’s heritage. As Orlando is defined by the images of Disney and Las Vegas is known for its “free-wheeling” gambling spirit, so once more will the great state of Louisiana be recognized as the Grande Dame of performing arts.

As a citizen…
The Broadway South initiative means economic improvement in our everyday lives. From improved roadways and streets, to more firemen in times of need, to more police to protect and to serve, to schools that are clean and safe environments for learning, to hospitals that are open, to bustling foot traffic for businesses, to the opportunity to open your own business—the Broadway South initiative means to not only improve upon and promote our greatest commodity—our culture, but Broadway South is a means to an end, to improving the quality of our everyday lives.

As a patron…
The Broadway South initiative means increased access to the performing arts. Patrons aren’t just wealthy individuals who give to the performing arts. Patrons are supporters and lovers of the arts. Regardless of your station in life, if you go to a play, you are a patron. If you go to a musical, you are a patron. If you go to a comedy revue or a circus, you are a patron. The Broadway South initiative, with all of its economic benefits to many levels of participants, really means that access to the performing arts will be expanded. Broadway South imagines patrons like the banker, seated next to a waiter, seated next to a lawyer, seated next to a single mother of two—all laughing at the same line of dialogue in a comedy play. Or "oohing" and "ahhing" over a dance routine. In the end, true patrons of the arts are those who love the arts and go to the events. The Broadway South initiative means to provide just such access to patrons of all levels of life.

Related Information

John Eger’s paper The Creative Community
Link to PDF Download

ERA Trends
Link to PDF Download

Related book:
The Rise of the Creative Class
Amazon.com Info+Buy Link

A Related Public Television documentary:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/neworleans/