By Margarita Engel
Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1874–1927) is now known as the father of modern bird art. He traveled with many scientific expeditions all over the world. His best-known works—paintings for habitat exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History in New York—are still beloved by visitors today. His art helped to encourage wildlife conservation, inspiring people to celebrate and protect the world of wings.
Question:
The American Museum of Natural History in New York exhibits many of Fuertes’ works. How does a museum help our economy?
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A museum helps our economy because it provides jobs for the people who work in the museum itself: the curators, tour guides, museum shop and restaurant employees–when people visit a museum they tend to spend money at the museum. However, looking at the bigger picture, museums help the economy because by the museum being a city, it will draw in people who are interested in culture and who have money to spend on other things as well. People will visit a city for the museum and additionally generate money for transportation, hotels, restaurants and shops in the surrounding area, as well as patronizing other forms of entertainment that the city has to offer: ballet, opera, playhouse, sporting events. The city builds a reputation as being rich in culture and property values in the area increase. In the The Sky Painter, the children in Louis Fuertes’ neighborhood were fortunate to have this amazing artist as a local resource and were inspired by visiting his studio. Thinking of this from the perspective of an art teacher, I know that many museums will send a representative out to the the schools to teach students about the programs the museum has to offer, this in turn, will inspire a student to become passionate about a topic, so they are engaging their parents to play an active role in their learning by taking the child to the museum, but also by buying books on a particular subject area of interest, toys that relate to the topic and even enrolling in classes to practice a desired skill. The student may even become passionate enough about a topic to focus on it for their college education and a lifelong career, thus creating other job in years to come.
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The Sky Painter, by Margarita Engle, and illustrated by Aliona Bereghici, is a beautiful book. The drawings are amazing, and I can imagine how wonderful Louis Fuertes’ true paintings are to see in person. I would love to visit The American Museum of Natural History in New York City to see them.
I would be among the many (and have been) to take a trek to museums to see specific works of art and/or entire exhibits, in and out of town. This being said, 76% of all U.S. leisure travelers participate in cultural or heritage activities. This includes visitors to museums who spend 60% more on average than other leisure travelers. This adds to the $21 billion that museums directly contribute to the U.S. economy each year (which generates billions more through indirect spending – such as hotels and restaurants – by visitors). Museums also employ more than 400,000 Americans. Museums, and other cultural organizations, also return over 5 times as much in local, state and federal tax revenue as they receive from all levels of government.
Other ways that museums help our economy are that they contribute about $2 billion to education. Visitors also use public transportation, taxis or Uber to travel to and from museums. A quote from Susan Kluttz, the Department of Cultural Resources secretary, sums it up: They “are one of the primary institutions that preserve those stories that help provide both local communities and the entire state with shared identities, images, and what in the business world is known as ‘brand identity’ – the foundation of economic prosperity,” she said.
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The economic impact of museums can be seen in a variety of ways. Museums in the US employ 100’s of thousands of full and part time employees. Museum traffic in large cities impacts the municipal economy by increasing parking, bus, and train revenues. Admission fees to some museums as well as gift store revenues are another example. Local, state and federal tax revenues increase as well. One of the greatest impacts of museums is the cultural and educational impact of sharing our treasures with people.
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Museums are a form of cultural entertainment and enrichment. Whenever we traveled as a family growing up, my parents took us to museums–art, history, religious, cultural, etc. In all honesty, I did not grow to appreciate this exposure until I was an adult. I now look forward to checking out museums in any city that I travel to, and I hope that I instill this appetite for art and culture in my children (and my students).
Museums draw tourists, visitors, educators, and artists of all kinds. Local economies benefit through the foot traffic, the income brought to hotels, restaurants, transportation, and other attractions, as well as the obvious: staff and employees of the museum, the gift shop, etc. The more culture a city has, the more visitors are drawn to it. With continued patron funding, extraordinary exhibits draw residents and outsiders to the museum. Like the second post by Laura Striker, I’d, I’d to be able to view Louis Fuertes’ paintings in person in New York (or a traveling exhibit). They are stunning in this picture book, The Sky Painter, by Margarita Engle.
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Museums greatly impact our economy. First, they increase our travel and tourism. Many times those who vacation, choose areas with art, science, and children museums. Thus, the travel and tourism industry such as the hotel, travel food, retail industry is impacted as people will spend money in those establishments. Museums also are amazing for children and adults to exercise their brains. Museums encourage deep critical thinking, creativity, conversation, social skills and interactions among parents, students, teachers, educators, etc. Museums encouraging deep thought and social skills also impacts the economy by creating an enriched economy of higher level thinkers.
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The Sky Painter, by Margarita Engle, and illustrated by Aliona Bereghici, is a beautiful book filled with gorgeous illustrations of birds. This is a great book to spark your interests in birds and nature. Next time I get to NYC I would like to see Fuertes works of art at the Museum of Natural History.
Museums have so much to add to a community, not just for cultural reasons, but also for economic reasons. Visiting a museum can inspire a person to purchase items for their own home that reflect something that they saw at a museum or something that enlightened them on their visit. Museum gift shops and art galleries are great places to purchase items that reflect a visit to a museum. Other economic influences museums have on a community can be through museum memberships, travel and parking. Museums are constantly renovating, building or adding new displays which also has an economic impact through construction workers, contractors, designers, docents and all employees involved in making a museum run smoothly. Museums have so much to offer a community, just think about how your next visit will affect the economy.
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It was a gorgeous book! I think the illustrations added to the really unique story of the bird man. This picture book would appeal to adults, teachers and kids. I liked the way the relationship he had with his parents was portrayed. I made me laugh.
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In the library and teaching world we are taught the importance of museums for virtual and interactive educational purposes and to pass this knowledge on to parents and students. Museums attract millions of people around the world and they are part of a huge tourist attraction in most urban cities. To have diverse attractions and varied offerings can help assure a this very important part of the economy as it generates business in the area of the museum, the economy within the museum, and the travel industry.
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Museums truly impact the economy in a variety of ways, including, but certainly not limited to the tourism industry, the travel industry and the local restaurant and retail industries of the cities they are located in. Museums provide jobs to a multitude of career choices of varying educational levels and experiences. They generate revenue through special exhibits and programming for community organizations and schools. I personally have attended overnight events in a museum with my Girl Scout troop and have enjoyed programs presented by our local museum in my classroom.
To borrow from the quote – “If you build it, they will come.” (Field of Dreams, 1989) Museums continue to attract a hugely diverse population that ultimately benefit from the immense cultural, historical and artistic treasures they contain. I venture to say that many visitors are often inspired to the point of bringing the hope of building or developing a museum back to their own communities, thus further expanding their own economies.
Museums certainly enrich the lives of those who visit them as well as the economies of the cities and communities that support them.
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