
The changes--some more obvious than others--in the pulse of New York City have lately sent me into drifting daydreams imagining where else I might prefer to make my life as an artist. One of the trends that seems to be causing not just me but many of my friends and colleagues to wonder the same thing is a slow brain drain from the city. It just feels like the city has become less and less hospitable to creative types. The fact of the matter is: artists thrive when they are surrounded by other artists, so I'd never consider going somewhere where we were hard to find. And New York still boasts the highest concentration of artists of any place in the country but, honestly... how long can this last?
A few months ago, E.C. author and demographic guru Robert David Sullivan turned me on to this NEA study on Artists in the Workforce 1990-2005.
What they found wasn't so surprising, really. The greatest concentrations of artists seem to be on both coasts, specifically in New England and in California and the Pacific Northwest. Although there are other pockets of high concentrations such as New Mexico, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Las Vegas and Chicago.
Interestingly, Vermont has one of the highest percentages of writers per capita. Perhaps not surprisingly, the highest concentration of dancers and choreographers can be found in Las Vegas. And the highest concentration of actors... you guessed it... Los Angeles!
But what does any of this really tell us about the quality of life of any given locale? Beats me. E.C. author Andrew Altenburg theorized recently that NYC will reach a tipping point, after which artists will embark on a mass exodus. The only question is: where will they end up?
If the recent New Orleans diaspora is any indication, chances of a 2nd NYC sprouting up in one concentrated locale are remote. But, assuming another small-to-mid-size American city were to usurp NYC as the cultural mecca, what city do you see as the most likely contender?
Hit "comment" to let me know where I should start visiting on a regular basis. Who knows? Maybe we'll all meet again someday in . . .