Investing in the Arts as a Regional Economic Development Tool: A Case Study of SUNY Buffalo State College Arts Students

The intent of this study was to determine the financial needs of the art students attending Buffalo State College when considering producing their art. In order to establish this need, this case study required the opinions of arts students on their current and future potential financial circumstances including, prospective income supplementation to produce their art work, ability to produce art work given their current and future financial outlooks, the importance of their financial circumstances in relation to the production of their art, the degree to which they currently or foresee the use of financial products and services to produce their art, access to financial products, including credit and loans to produce their art, the extent of their own personal financial literacy and management skills, and the use of public assistance to subsidize their living so that they can produce their art, such as Medicaid, Food stamps, cash assistance, etc. The instrument used in this study consisted of a survey. The participants of this study included students from various arts departments at Buffalo State College, including, the following departments: Theater, Design, Fashion and Textile Technology, Fine Arts, Interior Design, Art Education, Art Conservation, English, and Music. This research was founded on the researcher’s experience as a Community-based Financial Counselor and administrator of a micro-loan program providing financial access and education to working families in Western New York. This study revealed that financial considerations play an important role in an artist’s ability to produce their art. An artist’s financial circumstances, their own financial knowledge and skills, and their ability to obtain financial support has a significant impact on the ability of artist to produce their art. The study also indicated that artists are generally unconfident about their personal financial knowledge and skills. Furthermore, according to this study, artists’ remain hopeful, indicating that they don’t intend to use public assistance to subsidize their living expenses in order to be able to produce their art work