Why an Art Corps?

People, not companies, are in the driver's seat in today's economy.  Companies are important, but attracting and retaining talent and people is even more so. Companies, employment, and ultimately economic development will go where people are. The two key components of the so-called New Economy--or knowledge economy--are people and place. The competitive advantage of a community in today's economy is its people. 

Increasingly, people do not move for a job. They move to the quality of a place. Those communities that have quality of place win, and those who don't have quality of place lose. A community intent on economic development must develop talent-attraction strategies. What people want from a community is a sense of place: opportunities to be around other people, diversity, and creativity. The challenge is to build communities that people want to live in.

Communities with the greatest sense of place possess public spaces that excite and intrigue residents and visitors. Distressed communities in America's inner cities are creating a positive chain of associations by marketing what they have and how they want to be. Denver's LoDo, Seattle's SoDo, San Francisco's SoMa, have transformed themselves through an image of outdoor public art and creative environs that make people excited to live and work there. The US Conference of Mayors noted that cities with strong arts and entertainment traditions attract tourism, convention and recreation dollars. A strong sense of place, reinforced by public art expression, bring people, generate sales for neighboring businesses, and improve a city's overall image. The cows of Chicago, fish of Baltimore, and even the recent painted plywood pigs of the near west side of Milwaukee have successfully generated positive associations to cause people to visit, shop, and reside. 

Every city, county and region in the United State is concerned with its image. The way a “place” is perceived locally and nationally has a direct bearing on its economic viability. The “Rust Belt” image plagues the Midwest after decades of pride in steel and manufacturing. If Milwaukee, perhaps more than most Northern industrial cities, is to prosper rather than march in place or decline, it needs to lead the way with high-visibility splash, a flourish of imagination and innovative thinking. MCSC’s Art Corps Initiative seeks to enhance the image of Milwaukee as a thriving, vibrant, and creative city filled with entrepreneurial and innovative talent. Artistic expression is a tool that can be used to recruit a supply of highly skilled labor.

The Art Corps Initiative is an art-based strategy to power innovative revitalization, community change and economic development in Milwaukee. The Art Corps Initiativeseeks to create an environment, a daring visual culture, a cosmopolitan sense of elan, an infectious optimism in Milwaukee that strives for creativity and admires artistic risk-taking as a tool for economic prosperity.