Economic boost eyed in arts campaign
A new marketing campaign launched this week to promote Bangor's art and cultural offerings is expected to draw more visitors to the city and possibly retain recent area graduates.
The city and the Maine Arts Commission have created "Bangor Arts," a brand and website, bangorarts.org, to promote arts organizations, according to Shirar Patterson, the city's business and economic development officer and staff liaison to the Downtown Bangor Partnership. The new "Dancing Buildings" logo and plan were unveiled by city officials at the Bangor Public Library on Monday, according to Patterson. "It will get the word out about our great arts community," she says.
Joining forces in the $25,000 promotion are the Bangor Museum and Center for History, Bangor Public Library, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, Maine Discovery Museum, Penobscot Theatre Co., River City Cinema, Robinson Ballet and the University of Maine Museum of Art.
Patterson says if the campaign attracts more visitors, then downtown restaurants, merchants and other businesses will benefit. The city, the Bangor Chamber of Commerce and the Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau intend to research and gauge the economic impact of the marketing campaign.
In a 2004 study, creative economy proponents identified $2.5 billion in wages paid to people employed in creative industries in Maine, fueling a statewide initiative to build and nurture a vital arts sector in the economy. John Rohman, chairman of WBRC Architects-Engineers in Bangor and chair of the Maine Arts Commission and the state's Creative Economy Council, has been a leader of that effort.
Patterson says promoting the arts strengthens the connection between a lively cultural scene and a community's ability to attract and retain young people. One of Bangor Arts' goals is to convince University of Maine, Husson University and Eastern Maine Community College students to live and work in the area after graduation, Patterson says.
The marketing campaign is funded by two $10,000 grants from the Maine Arts Commission and the city's Commission on Cultural Development, as well as in-kind donations from the city.
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