Understanding the Arts and Creative Sector in the United States

"A great primer and very useful introduction, across the silos, for students and those interested in the frameworks of cultural life."-Frank Hodsoll, former chairman, National Endowment for the Arts "Blissfully eclectic in its content, and powerfully consistent in its delivery, this book offers an essential perspective on the arts, culture, and entertainment."-Andrew Taylor, director, Bolz Center for Arts Administration, University of Wisconsin-Madison The arts and creative sector is one of the nation's broadest, most important, and least understood social and economic assets. It encompasses nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, for-profit creative companies such as advertising agencies, film producers, commercial publishers, and community-based artistic activities. The thirteen essays in this timely book demonstrate why interest in the arts and creative sector has accelerated in recent years, the many ways that the arts are crucial to the social and national agenda, and the critical issues and policies that relate to their practice. Leading experts in the field show, for example, how arts and cultural policies are used to enhance urban revitalization, to encourage civic engagement, to foster new forms of historic preservation, to define national identity, to advance economic development, and to regulate international trade in cultural goods and services. Reflecting the rapid growth of the field of arts and cultural policy, this book will be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more and understand the intricacies of the cultural policy field. Joni Maya Cherbo is an independent arts and cultural policy scholar and consultant. Ruth Ann Stewart is a clinical professor of public policy at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. Margaret Jane Wyszomirski is the director of the graduate program in arts policy and administration at Ohio State University.