The art of growth: Ties between Development Organizations and the Performing Arts

The intent of this study is to show that (1) the arts have come to play an important role in urban growth, (2) this role is an important motivation for corporate giving to cultural organizations, and (3) the coalescence of interests between arts organizations and development forces is evidenced by direct ties between downtown development-oriented organizations and major arts organizations. The extent of overlapping directorships between development and arts organizations is compared with overlaps of directorships tying other types of civic organizations to the development organizations. The setting for the study is Louisville, Kentucky, a city in which economic and growth problems recently have been faced by heavily investing in an arts-based growth strategy.