Opinion: Investing in the Creative Economy of Northern Ohio

You might not know it, but there are more than 10,000 artists between Cleveland and Toledo. Arts and culture are economic forces throughout Northern Ohio, creating and supporting many for-profit and nonprofit jobs here. Two recent studies by the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture show just how real that impact has been. Renewed investment in these areas would build on that strength.

The Cleveland music sector accounts for more than 6,000 jobs in Cuyahoga County, with 55 percent of these jobs directly employed by the music sector and 25 percent employed in the supply-chain industries of the music sector.

Another sector that combines visual arts, crafts and design (VACD) is also an important economic driver for the region. In 2013, the total economic impact of the VACD sector accounted for 17,844 jobs, 54 percent of which were people directly employed by the VACD sector and 25 percent of which were people employed in jobs in the supply-chain industries of the VACD sector.

In short, music and the arts already play a vital role here and their potential for even faster growth is starting to show.

Creative industries are not just a direct source of jobs either. For every 100 jobs created from new demand for the arts in the United States, 62 more jobs are also created in related industries.

On May 6, the National Endowment for the Arts announced several national creative arts award winners who are working right here in Ohio's 9th Congressional District. The winners were recognized in the Art Works category — a category that exists to encourage direct contact between the public and community arts. These national awards help support an industry that contributes more than $698 billion to the U.S. economy every year.

Art and design shape our public spaces and make them more beautiful. They encourage us to change our thinking and our actions, and forge new ways for us to connect with the world.

Consider the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Free Stamp, the giant dandelion Rotaflora, the eerie yellow glow of The Verdant Walk, and more. Look around next time you take a stroll through the city and you will see what we mean.

Industries in our district are taking notice. Many have forged public-private partnerships to support arts education and to integrate the arts into their work.

Designers at Libbey Inc., a glassware company based in Toledo, review artwork submitted each year by high school students as part of the Congressional Art Competition. They look for the entry with the strongest graphic features. These visual elements are used to create a design that is then applied to a set of tumblers at Custom Deco of East Toledo. This unique award shows student artists and their families one example of how creative arts and design can drive Northern Ohio industries.

Our educational priorities are shifting to meet new and growing demand for training in science, technology, engineering and math, sometimes called STEM. Educating students in these fields will help our region and our country remain globally competitive, but they alone will not be enough. The arts belong in this list, too. Design gives companies like Ford and Apple their most prominent competitive advantages. Science, engineering and creativity are the key ingredients for breakthrough innovation and our education. Let's add creativity and the arts to turn STEM into STEAM.

If we neglect the intersections between technology and design, our best ideas will not reach their full potential. If we overlook the economic gains brought by our region's artists and creative industries, our region will not reach its full economic potential and our next generation will be less prepared to compete in the global marketplace.

Arts and culture already are doing their part to support our economy and strengthen our community. Northern Ohio has a unique potential for developing a creative economy.

Investing in public art and arts education, and creating new public-private partnerships that help capitalize on those investments, give us our best hope for sustained, long-term economic growth, job creation, new competitive industries, and a healthy and prosperous future for us all.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo represents the 9th Congressional District, which reaches along the Lake Erie shore from Northwest Ohio into Cleveland. Tom Schorgle is CEO of the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, in Cuyahoga County.