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- MAn KRY6ER / The Star
STANDARD BEARER: A sign-carrying Mike Clay joined hundreds of his fellow Hoosiers on Monument Circle to support
the cultural scene in Central Indiana. Clay is a member of the Athenaeum Pops Orchestra.
Support for the city's cultural scene draws
hundreds to a rally on Monument Circle
ART TO ART TALK
By Konrad Marshall
konrad.marshall@indy.com
Hundreds of Hoosiers
braved patchy rain and
cool winds swirling
around Monument Circle
at noon Monday to rally in
support of the arts.
Known as "Indy Culture
Matters," the rally was organized
by the Indianapolis Consortium of
Arts Administrators to raise the
public profile of cultural
institutions and their value,
BY THE NUMBERS
»The Indianapolis nonprofit arts
community generates $468 million for
the local economy.
» The arts community supports more
than 15^000 full-time jobs.
» Approximately 53 arts and cultural
groups will benefit from funding jn
2009.
» As an investment, for every
$1 of local government support, the arts
generate at least $5 in return for the
local economy.
» Arts organizations provide
programming to more than
1.6 million students and more than
47S,000 senior citizens annually.
» Attendance at Indianapolis arts events
totals nearly 7 million visits annually,
exceeding that of professional sports
events.
— Arts Council of Indianapolis
f*~j + MORE ONLINE: Go to
v=J lndyStar.com/multimedia to
r^%| view a photo gallery and see a
IS#J video from Monday's rally.
particularly amid the economic
crisis.
John Pickett, executive director
of the Indianapolis Opera and vice
president of the consortium,
acknowledged last week that in
addition to simply raising
awareness, the rally stemmed
from frustration at the level of
financial support given to the arts
in Indianapolis.
This year, for instance, the Arts
Council of Indianapolis received
$1,870,000 from the city budget
and the Capital Improvement
Board in public funding for the
arts - a decrease of $673,500
from 2008.
» See Art, Page A15
"Art is everywhere.
You never know where
it begins or ends until
you put a frame
around it. And I just
think there's a lack of
support for the arts,
yet study after study
shows it has a
positive impact on
business."
Tim Harmon (left),
who runs an architectural
salvage business
