The arts are an important part of a community, according to several studies that show the many positive impacts they have.
A 2021 study supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and others found that the arts are important for social cohesion, which contributes to the well-being of a community.
Springfield has a thriving arts scene and a variety of genres. But there are challenges to keeping that going.
Arts and Culture is one area of study in the Community Focus Report, which is celebrating 20 years.
Leslie Forrester, executive director of the Springfield Regional Arts Council and Bridget Bechtel, executive director of Sculpture Walk Springfield, talk about the current state of the arts in the city.
Let's start by having you introduce yourselves and tell us how long you've been part of the arts scene in Springfield.
Forrester: So I've been at the Springfield Regional Arts Council for over 11 years now, and been a part of the (Community Focus) Report for just as long.
And how about you, Bridget?
Bechtel: I have only been in been with Sculpture Walk Springfield for two years, so not as long as Leslie, but just as fierce.
Forrester: Just as fierce.
Leslie, tell us a little bit about Springfield Regional Arts Council.
Forrester: The Arts Council, our job breaks down into three buckets because ultimately the Arts Council is is designed to be the ambassador for the arts, the hub, whatever the arts community needs is something that we really work on. But in three buckets, particularly advocacy, so building community awareness, understanding the economic impact of the arts, talking with policymakers and elected officials about why the arts are important. We also do educational activities. In fact, we just got back from Jeff City a few weeks ago because we won an award for our award winning arts education programs focused on at risk students, grades K through eight.
Congratulations on that.
Forrester: Thank you. Yeah we're really excited about that. And then the third bucket is all about collaboration. And Springfield's known for that. But we definitely walk the walk in the arts. And so collaborations like Arts Fest on Walnut Street, First Friday Art walk, the Creamery Art Center is a way we live in collaboration. And so finding those unique partnerships, whether it's across the arts scene or across the community, finding those collaborations that have deeper impacts for everyone.
We'll talk more about that here in just a few minutes. Bridget, give us an overview of Sculpture Walk Springfield.
Bechtel: Sculpture Walk Springfield is a public arts nonprofit here in downtown. We facilitate all of the sculptures that you see around, and we have recently kind of ventured out into some new areas. We are responsible for the new neon mural that you may have seen back of the Fox Theater. The interactive neon mural number 23. And we also partner with a lot of local businesses and local groups to do commissions. We recently helped beautify the new general aviation terminal, Midwest Premiere for the airport. We are currently working with Visit Springfield for something for Route 66, and we'd like to partner with all sorts of different organizations and bring art to everyone. Murals and sculptures are a way to experience art in your everyday life, and we think that that is such an important part of a culture and of a community.
Leslie, how important is it for a community to have a healthy arts and culture sector. And Bridget, you can weigh in on this too, if you'd like.
Forrester: Yeah. So I see arts and culture is a way we are identified. It's who we are. It's the authentic Springfield, Missouri. It's not something everybody has, because what's created here is by people who live here and who are excited to celebrate here, who have something to say about living here. And so a thriving arts and culture community has an economic impact. It creates a place where people want to be. We need strong parks and schools and great roads and a safe place to live and all of those things. But most communities also need that, so what makes us authentically Springfield, Missouri, and it's typically found in the arts and culture scene. You know, we look at other communities and we talk about the vibe in other communities. The vibe comes from culture. The vibe comes from the arts and the creatives, whether it's the music scene in Nashville or movies and things like that in Hollywood or Broadway in New York City. So those — arts and culture is who we are and how we identify ourselves. And it's it's really a critical piece to a thriving, healthy place that has quality of life for everyone and makes people want to stick around here longer because that's what we want, right? We want this to be a stopping point as you go off somewhere else. We want this to be the place where you want to set down roots and live your life and create beautiful things here, whether it's a business or a piece of art or the next great Broadway musical or whatever that is, we want you to stay here and do it because you can do that here in Springfield and be a creative person here. And that says a lot about who we are.
And, Bridget, your organization is working to create and bring in some of these art pieces like you mentioned, the mural behind the Fox Theater, which is really visible and cool to see as you're going to downtown from that side of the square. What's it like to be part of that?
Bechtel: It's so rewarding to be able to give something back to the community and to do our little part to try to make it better. You know, Leslie is exactly right. The culture is the community. It's who we are. It's how we identify ourselves to other people and how we can self-identify. So getting to bring beautiful things and things that are nice and things that make people excited about their community are, you know, it's a huge, it's wonderful. It's impactful. When we had the ribbon cutting ceremony or the light switching electrical unveiling as I think what I ended up calling it. You know, we have to have a pun in there.We had this enormous group of people that had come to the artist talk, and then they sat out and just tons and tons of people in on the middle of the street just can't wait for the sun to go down so they could all see this happen together. And it was just this moment of unity. And it's this moment of this is something for us. This is something we can be really proud of. And I kind of hope that we can kind of keep that up. Very often in our community, I hear the phrase, this is why we can't have nice things. And I would love to challenge everyone to change your perspective on that and say, we deserve those nice things. So, you know, let's keep bringing it. You know, beautiful things bring beautiful ideas and beautiful people around.
And we do have a thriving arts community in Springfield overall. What is the health of Springfield's arts and culture sector?
Forrester: Well, so we did a study...from May of '23 to May of '24, and it was the prior year to that, but to study what the economic impact looks like for arts and culture. Because you can see it, you can feel it. It's always had a bit of an intrinsic value. It makes you feel good, but there's actually an economic value to that as well. So arts and culture in Springfield generate $89.2 million of economic activity. And that's a big number, right? When you think about it's going to see a show of the Landers downtown, but usually you're going to go out to eat beforehand. You might buy some fancy new shoes. If you're like me, you've got to hire a babysitter. I always have an empty tank of gas, so I got to pay for my gas to get to the theater. All of those have a ripple effect across the economy, and all of those things likely would not have happened had I not been going to see a show or going out to First Friday art walk. And so those ripple effects are really important. So in that way it's a really important piece of our community and worthy of investment. But we also have lots of good challenges as well.
I want to get to that here in just a minute. The Community Focus report for 2024 — we're going to focus on blue ribbons first — gives blue ribbons in the areas of arts and culture for audience engagement, a collaborative approach and regional travel for cultural experiences. Let's look at each of those separately. How are we doing as far as audience engagement in the city?
Forrester: I think most arts organizations as a group have very dedicated audiences. And, you know, we're coming up on the five year anniversary of of the shutdown from COVID-19. And we saw what, how loyal and committed those folks were, because all of those arts organizations are still here today. And that's not the case nationally. And so there's definitely dedicated followings for every one of those arts organizations in town. And so as they're doing as their programming seasons to provide us with some new experiences, some challenging experiences. They're also very intentionally programming things that we are familiar with and are really excited to be there. And arts and culture, in terms of developing audiences, it's really about developing community, right? Because not only are you going to go do a thing because you want to see that thing, you also want to see who else is there. It's I'm going to meet my my neighbors, or I'm going to come with me and have this new experience. Or in my case, my parents just moved to town in August. So we have these new collective experiences together and sitting shoulder to shoulder together, which we didn't. We have had a recent memory collectively to not have that experience. So, you know, when Michael Spyres is back in town for a few days and does a performance, everybody wants to be there. And so we're recognizing the importance of that. And so it's — demand is only growing. And really what I hear from arts leaders is that we're still in a bit of a sprint. So we used to be focused on catching up after we reopened, but that sprint never slowed down. And so keeping up with the demand and the interest and the passion for going to have those experiences here in our community hasn't slowed down at all. So we're, for a lot of folks, it's like, are we keeping up? How do we keep up? How do we grow resources to ensure that that these things are still here and accessible for everybody?
And you mentioned collaboration before. Springfield is often talked about for how well it collaborates. And you said that's really important in the arts community. How important is collaboration for the arts scene?
Bechtel: I think it's completely essential, you know? Art is I mean, it's so multifaceted and on so many different levels that we can always work together to find something. One of the things that's truly special about Springfield is, I think, the collaboration. People in this community like to be a part of this community. They want to support the things they believe in. They want to somehow incorporate them into their own thing. Sculpture Walk feels very grateful that we very frequently have these conversations with people of, how can we get you more involved? How can we get the kids from SPS to get down here and see this? How can we provide them the opportunities to learn more about these things? What kind of art classes can we discuss? Where can, you know? It is on every single level and it affects everyone? We're very lucky in that way that this is a community that's willing to do the work and willing to kind of find those ways to come together.
And are we bringing in people from around the region to Springfield for arts and culture?
Forrester: Yeah. According to our economic impact study, about a third of our audiences currently are coming from outside of Greene County. And so we're planning to put some more funding into drawing more folks here to come more often and stay longer. Because, again, back to the economic numbers and putting some some data to that, a visitor to Springfield is going to stay longer and spend more money here than a local because, you know, you go home at the end of the evening. But if you're if you're staying here overnight, there's additional tourism tax that's being collected. You're going to have to eat out more often. You're often if especially if you're traveling for culture, you're going to spend more money locally at local shops and at local restaurants and that sort of thing. So that's really a valuable piece to to Springfield that way.
And I know there are challenges. You said there are, but I know there are. The Community Focus Report gives red flags for funding challenges, human capital and physical infrastructure. And I want to look at each of those individually. And I'm sure you can both weigh in on that. How difficult is the funding piece for both of your organizations.
Bechtel: As far as funding barriers, I think that there is more of an assumption that the city provides a lot of funding for these for especially for Sculpture Walk. I think people automatically assume a few things about us. One, that is, I have a surplus of sculptures hidden in a storage unit somewhere, which is not true. So all of these, all of the sculptures you see are coming from somewhere else. They're brand new to us. They are not hidden away, and that costs money. And the second thing is that the city is just funding this. This is not a city based or a tax based organization. We rely mostly on our local community. And, you know, with that being said, we are, again, vulnerable to the community changes. So when the community is feeling a little bit of tightness, you know, our budget, our budgeting and our fundraising can see a depreciation if we are, you know, celebrating another Chiefs victory, people are going out and spending money more at bars. They're giving more, you know, so it all kind of just ebbs and flows. But like any kind of other organization.
Forrester: Yeah, I mean funding is always a challenge. It's never not going to be on that red flag list. It's always been since I've been a part of the process. And even before that. I don't know of a nonprofit that will say, you know, I've got enough money, we're good. You don't need to give us any more money. That won't happen. But right now, due to the all of the uncertainty in a variety of different areas, it's a new challenge because, you know, nonprofits are really good at pinching pennies. We're really, really good at doing more with less. And we're trying to get to a point where we're talking about doing more with more. But in times of uncertainty, donors will give less. You know, it's the spectrum. Like there's, everything is great, the economy is soaring, everybody's feeling great, people are really great at giving. We're in crisis at the other end, whether it's a major recession or a pandemic. People give then. But that middle section where people are really uncertain about what's going to happen tomorrow, what's going to happen with my 401 K, what's going on with the stock market? New changes at the federal level are happening. That has an impact, not just on the funding that go to organizations that receive federal or state dollars that impacts the the giver and the giver, who is, you know, a $25 a year giver all the way up to the $10,000 giver. And so the uncertainty and being able to budget in that kind of environment is a real challenge and something that, you know, it's flexed a lot in the last six weeks in the early parts of this year, and that's a really nerve wracking for a lot of folks and, you know, me included. So we're being even more intentional about not only how we're spending it, but also building scenario planning. What if this whole line of funding goes away? We do have diverse revenue sources, but any one of them goes away. It could be really a challenge. And, you know, we don't want to ever get rid of staff. We're already understaffed as it is or get rid of programming because there's a huge need for it. People are showing up for it. So how the current funding cycle, the current budget cycle that we're all in currently is, is one of a great deal of uncertainty. And so we need donors and our people who really are interested in keeping things going to really be be at the table and be with us.
And another another challenge is human capital. First of all, what is human capital and how does it impact the city's arts community?
Forrester: Yeah, like human capital is really talking about the the workforce in arts and culture. For the most part, we really have a hard time competing with for profit and even some within the nonprofit sector in general. Because, again, back to budgeting. Also exciting — arts people love to talk about budgets, but staffing is really, really hard because we are have a hard time competing at the salary level, certainly at the benefits level. And arts people, you know, nonprofit folks in general, deserve to be paid a living wage and to be able to say, 'I can take care of my family with this salary and I can cover health care benefits, and I can feel secure in this job.' And that's a real challenge. And there's been plenty of studies — The Community Foundation of the Ozarks has done a study about how executive directors across the nonprofit field are feeling, and generally speaking, we're feeling pretty burnt out, right, five years after the pandemic and things that are happening now. And certainly all the problems cannot be solved by money. But you know what?
Bechtel: A lot can.
Forrester: A lot can. But what if, you know, executive directors had their one executive director job and didn't have to have a side hustle or two? You know, things like child care are really, really expensive. This is a path I'm currently walking myself. It's really hard to do that. And it's really hard to convince somebody who is in a well-paying job with tons of benefits, and their health care is covered 100% to come and do this. They may be passionate about the field. They might be really passionate about sculpture or music or art in some way, but they just can't justify it. So it's really hard to keep people, and it's really hard to find new folks that are willing to do the work because we just have a hard time competing. So finding ways to get investment in that area, because that is not typically where money comes from, from grants and other sources, right? It needs to go to the programming expenses. We don't get programming if you don't have people to do the programming, or if I can't turn the lights on at the Creamery Arts Center, we also can't have programming. So it's really all about that, but really sort of turning the perspective on the supposed overhead versus programming costs impact what we're talking about ensuring we can pay our people well and keep them here and keep them producing really great arts programming.
Yeah, a real challenge for sure. Another is the the physical infrastructure piece space to actually create and present it. And what are how are we doing in that area?
Bechtel: We actually were talking about this before we got here. Springfield is, our art scene is thriving, and we are very grateful to be in such an area. But there aren't a lot of places for us. You know, the Creamery Art Center is years in in the need of expanding. The Springfield Ballet is a huge organization, and they just need more space. And Springfield Symphony, there are so many arts organizations, but there's also only so many spaces that arts organizations can afford to rent, and even in those spaces, that are going to be able to accommodate them. I think the opera is the perfect example. You know, you have to have soundproof walls and you have to be able to host rehearsals, and yet you still have to do the day to day administrative stuff on a budget. That's again, it's like Leslie was saying with the workforce, it's a very specific problem that can only be solved by very specific parameters. And, you know, we are very lucky, again, I know I say this a lot, but to live in a community that also sees that we need to have that need and to try to help us. The Gillioz Theatre is a great example of turning their third floor into an artist space or a nonprofit office space. The Hatch Foundation is doing something similar when they built their new offices, you know, there is that outreach. But again, to be in downtown, you know, there's a lot of old buildings down there that need a lot of work and need a lot of care and love. And there's a lot of developers that are holding on to buildings that they aren't using. That could be great spaces for art organizations. I don't know. I, it would be, it would be nice to have more space. And I think unless unless we start seeing again back to funding, we're not going to be able to grow in those spaces.
It sounds like those are some tough challenges to meet.
Forrester: And a lot of the space needs are, it's not a traditional office building. It would be so much easier if we just needed a suite of offices. But we need things like a rehearsal hall, because a lot of our organizations you see on the stage, most do not have a rehearsal space. So they're making do and putting pieces together that don't get put together in the larger the entire show until maybe two days before they are in front of an audience. And that's that's terrifying to think about, right? You've got two days to work out all of the problems, or a large enough space for, say, the entire symphony to consistently rehearse, you know, every month before they go on stage. There's a huge need for that. And then when you also think about what we need to do to retain students, you know, who are graduating from wonderful places like Missouri State and OTC and Drury and Evangel. When they leave school, they lose their music rehearsal rooms, and it's real hard to practice your saxophone in your apartment, or your drum set or your whatever. You know those noisy things. Or you can do it for a little while, but you may not have somewhere to live afterwards, right? Or an art studio. If you lose a space, you may have space at school, but once you graduate, where do you go and make a mess? Throwing a pot or a piece of pottery on a wheel is really messy. Not great if you have a carpet, right? So what can we do to make sure Springfield is accommodating and resourceful for creatives to stay here so you don't feel like you have to fly out and go somewhere else. Sometimes it's just a little extra square footage to say, this is your space to go create the next great sculpture, or come into the rehearsal hall and we can produce this entire show and rehearse here where we've got room to accommodate. We just don't have that yet. So that's really the next — we address some of those early problems in the early 2000s into, you know, the last 25 years. Now we're set up in a position to go to the what's the next 25 years look like, and what are we going to need from that?
Yeah. And it sounds like there are definitely some challenges to meet, to remain strong and remain thriving. I know we're starting to see some like, artists spaces pop up, which is encouraging.
Forrester: Yes.
So I think that that will help, but I know there's a great need for that. What are some other things we're doing well in the area of the arts, and what are some other challenges that we haven't talked about yet?
Forrester: I think doing more of this, the advocacy work is a strong certainly a strong point. You know, conversations like this. Making sure arts representatives are at the table in all conversations. The arts aren't just for art's sake, right? The arts are a part of the economy. They're a part of public safety. They're a part of the greater funding structure of our community. They're there about the signage that we see. And so making sure there's arts representation in those spaces is something that we've been really, really intentional about. And I think that that's certainly been very strong. I know that there is a lot of work being done by a lot of very smart people about how to attract great bands and acts and things to go on the stage. You know, Joy and Jeff over there are doing an amazing job at creating a really unique historic space. You know, the list is long. I probably shouldn't name names because everybody is doing an amazing work. You know, the (Springfield) Art Museum project coming up is going to be a transformational project for our community. And that's the arts, right? Transformational projects when that project is all finished. And so, you know, we got to keep the momentum going. Let's not slow it down and keep that that excitement to see what's going to come next. You know, with Sculpture Walk. They had such a huge success with that spider tag mural, and people still talk about it. So helping sculpture Walk keep the momentum going for the next great thing that becomes an identifying piece that is truly Springfield. That's something to be super proud of. And just generally speaking, when you look at other communities, when you go visit other places and they find out where you're from and that you know, you've got, we do have a ballet and a symphony and an opera and several fantastic theaters and historic theaters. We have festivals, we have sculpture walk, we've got sculpture and parks. For a community our size. That is not the typical. And we've had it for a really long time. And some of our challenge now, I think, is that we take it for granted. I find myself taking that for granted. This is the way it is everywhere. It's not. There's something pretty magical about how that looks in Springfield, and that we've supported it for as long as we have that we have. We can boast about the creative people that are coming out of here that are living incredible lives in Hollywood and in the music scene, and I'm not going to name names there, too, because I'm sure I'm going to forget somebody there. But there's a long legacy of that. And so that is something we should be wildly proud of and further investment in that. Like what? Who else is coming? Who's coming next? What's next to come out of Springfield? Like Beth Domann always says, 'it's the freaky vortex of talent.' What's going on here? What's the secret sauce? Maybe it's the cashew chicken, I don't know. But seeing that investment continue and to be celebrated and and to grow into those next infrastructure projects and like things that aren't necessarily glamorous on the surface but are so critical to seeing more of that. We want more of that. Because that man, that's something I'm real proud of to say, oh, I'm from Springfield, and that's where Chapel Chappell Roan came from this area or Brad Pitt or whoever else you might want to put on that list. Like, that's that's some bragging points. You may go somewhere else to do it, but you started here. And if we have the bones ready to go for that next little second grader coming up and developing their skill into whatever it's going to be, that's a source of pride that we should really, really develop.
I don't want to think about Springfield without arts and culture. Taking all of that away would just change the city.
Forrester: Yeah, it would be a whole, whole different place.
Bechtel: I think that there is something very special about Springfield in the way that we never feel like that's enough. That's enough. That's enough theater companies, that's enough dance studios. That's enough paint gallery or painters, galleries. Like, we every every theater company or every arts organization offers something different and unique and something special. And we seem to I think it's a wonderful thing all embrace each one of those Springfield Contemporary Theatre. Mosaic arts collective. The Springfield Little Theatre. You know, there's there's three right there who has three theatre companies that I mean, and I know there's even High Tide, and we have all of these opportunities for people in our city to express themselves and to try new things. And I saw yesterday, one of the members of Mystery Hour is making their Lander's debut in the upcoming humorous production. So it's like you get to try all these different facets, you can be all these different people, and there's enough pie for everyone.
Forrester: Yeah, that's so true.
Well, thanks to you both for coming in and talking to me today about the arts in Springfield. I've been talking with Leslie Forrester, with Springfield Regional Arts Council and with Bridget Bechtel of Sculpture Walk Springfield.
Support for Making a Difference is provided by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.
