Arts and Culture

Tracking of indicators for Arts & Culture began in Vital Signs 11. At that time, BNIA-JFI selected indicators that provided a deeper understanding of the artistic characteristics of neighborhoods, the artistic economy, and the importance of arts to quality of life. Throughout the years, we added indicators such as public art, murals, and event permits to capture the artistic and cultural activities that occur within neighborhoods. In Vital Signs 21, the 10 ^th  anniversary of this chapter’s inclusion in the report, readers will find a sector hit hard by pandemic-related closures and resulting economic challenges.

These challenges were not readily apparent in Vital Signs 19/20, but the economic impacts on arts and culture and creative economy businesses are pronounced. Downtown/Seton Hill, home of numerous theaters, galleries, and cultural institutions, lost both workers and businesses since 2020. While year to year comparisons are challenging for the workforce data used in this section. The CSAs with the largest numbers of arts and creative economy businesses and workers all saw declines in 2021, despite remaining the top CSAs for these domains. This points to the neighborhood impact the pandemic had on this sector.

It is still too early to say whether the declines of workers and businesses in the arts will recover following the pandemic, but 2021 marked a groundswell of organizing, advocacy, and action in the arts. On April 30 ^th , 2021, Walters Art Museum employees announced that they sought to form a union as Walters Workers United, and the Baltimore Museum of Art soon followed. ^[1][2]  Residents of the Copy Cat & Annex buildings, used primarily as artist studios and lofts, also formed a tenant union following a legal battle over evictions. ^[3]  Both efforts highlight how the arts are inseparable from Baltimore communities. The arts are not just displayed in our neighborhoods – artists are essential to what makes our communities vibrant places to live and work.

While 2021 welcomed a slow return to public and in-person events, the number of event permits fell below 2020 rates to 0.1 per 1000 people for the whole city. We know that events returned in 2021 – The Baltimore Rock Opera hosted their first outdoor show in May and June, AFRAM hosted a hybrid event with in-person gatherings and virtual performances, Baltimore Run Fest took place in October, and the Christmas Market returned to Inner Harbor. ^[4][5][6][7] Still, major events like Artscape, the Kinetic Sculpture Race, and Flower Mart were canceled. Some of these events do not require a permit to close the right-of-way, so are not captured by this indicator. The lack of right of way closures likely reflectes uncertain landscape that informed how in-person gatherings were planned amidst an ever-shifting pandemic.

Vital Signs 21 includes arts and culture indicators divided into four general categories: the public art category represents a permanent and local medium of visual arts and culture, the public events category represents temporary activities that support social interaction and cohesion, the arts and culture economy category represents the talent, economy, and capital that arts and culture attract to Baltimore, and the public library category represents a locally-accessible system of community spaces and resources.

Vital Signs 21 tracks arts and culture indicators from three main sources: Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts (BOPA), Enoch Pratt Free Library, and InfoUSA. These sources are citywide data inventories that allow for a comprehensive overview of arts and culture as well as a breakdown of data into the neighborhood level for further analysis. When possible, indicators are created by normalizing these data by the population size or number of businesses of each area. Normalizing data reflects the concentration of the indicators relative to the population and allows for comparisons across neighborhoods' Community Statistical Areas (CSAs)   over time. ^[8] 

In 1964, Baltimore became the second city in the country to pass a Percent-for-Art law, which requires 1% of all capital construction costs to go toward public art. Since then, over 300 works have been publicly funded as a part of this program, including murals, monuments, paintings, and sculptures. In 2007, the City of Baltimore created a nine-member citizen public art commission that reviews gifts of public art and administers the Percent-for-Art program. ^[9]  

Public art is defined by BOPA as city-funded artwork that “enhances the cityscape, quality of life, and artistic and creative climate in Baltimore. ^[10]  Monuments, murals, paintings, sculptures, stained glass, fountains, and mosaics are among the art forms counted in the public art indicator.

Between 2020 and 2021, the number of works of public art in Baltimore increased from 1.6 to 1.7 per 1,000 residents. The CSAs with the greatest rates of city-funded public art included Downtown/Seton Hill (12.8 per 1,000), Greater Charles Village/Barclay (5.7 per 1,000 residents), The Waverlies (5.5 per 1,000), and Pigtown/Carroll Park (5.4 per 1,000). The CSAs with the lowest rates of public art per 1,000 residents in 2021 were Southeastern (0.0 per 1,000 residents), Cross-Country/Cheswolde (0.8 per 1,000 residents), and Edmondson Village (0.14 per 1,000 residents).

City-funded murals are included in both the public art indicator as well as a separate indicator in order to track where they are emerging throughout the City. Murals, a highly visible and growing art form in Baltimore, capture community sentiments and history engaging both residents and visitors.

Between 2020 and 2021, the number of publicly funded murals in Baltimore City increased from 382 to 444. In that time period, 7 communities gained 3 or more murals. The neighborhoods with the greatest increases included Clifton-Berea, Downtown/Seton-Hill, Greater Charles Village/Barclay, Oliver/Johnson Square, Midtown, Southwest Baltimore, and Upton/Druid Heights.

By 2021, the CSAs with the largest number of publicly funded murals included Downtown/Seton Hill (61 murals), Midtown (41 murals), and Upton/Druid Heights (24 murals). Seven CSAs had zero publicly funded murals (Cross-Country/Cheswolde, Dickeyville/Franklintown, Dorchester/Ashburton, Edmondson Village, Howard Park/West Arlington, Loch Raven, and Southeastern).

The arts and culture economy describes a diversity of industries that create employment and stimulate the economy, allow for educational opportunities in the arts and related fields, market and brand a city or neighborhood, contribute to creative-placemaking, and the reuse of spaces for communities. These industries range from spaces where the arts can be enjoyed, such as theaters or art studios, to institutions of learning that teach visual, musical, and performing arts, to businesses that involve creative skill sets, such as architecture firms or advertising agencies.

Vital Signs 21 includes indicators for “arts-related businesses” which are defined as belonging to industries that allow for the consumption and enjoyment of arts and culture as well as indicators for the “creative economy” which is more broadly defined as industries that use and support artistic and cultural skill sets to attract and generate capital, knowledge, and information. ^[12] 

From 2020-2021, the number of arts-related businesses in Baltimore City declined to 0.5 per 1,000 residents. In 2019, the CSAs with the largest rate of arts-related businesses per 1,000 residents included Downtown/Seton Hill (3.0 businesses per 1,000 residents), Midtown (2.6 businesses per 1,000 residents), and Harbor East/Little Italy (1.6 businesses per 1,000 residents). Downtown/Seton Hill and Midtown were also the CSAs with the largest declines in arts-related businesses during this same period. Three CSAs had zero arts-related businesses per 1,000 residents. Those CSA include Allendale/Irvington/S. Hilton, Clifton-Berea, and Edmondson Village.

In 2021, there were 3423 persons employed in arts-related businesses in Baltimore. The CSAs with the largest number of persons employed in arts-related businesses were Inner Harbor/Federal Hill (957 employees), Midtown (720 employees), and Downtown/Seton Hill (244 employees).

The rate of businesses and number of persons employed in the creative economy includes arts-related industries and adds other creative industries such as architecture, marketing, and publishing.

Between 2020 and 2021, the rate of businesses in the creative economy in Baltimore City declined from 1.3 per 1,000 residents in 2020 to 1.1 per 1000 residents in 2021. The decline was most noticeable in CSAs with previously higher rates. Downtown/Seton Hill still has the highest rate of businesses in the creative economy at 7.0 businesses per 1000, but in 2020, this rate was 9.9 businesses out of 1000.

In 2021, there were 11,262 persons in Baltimore employed in the creative economy, the lowest since we started tracking this indicator in 2011. The CSAs with the largest number of persons employed in the creative economy were Midtown (2,312), Inner Harbor/Federal Hill (1877) and Hampden/Remington (1,539). Midtown and the Inner Harbor/Federal Hill were also the CSAs with the largest declines in total numbers of workers in the creative economy between 2020 and 2021.

Baltimore is home to the Enoch Pratt Free Library system, one of the oldest continuously operating free public library systems in the country. One of the most important community assets of a neighborhood is the local public library, which provides access to literature and information both as traditional print media and in digital formats. Public libraries also provide spaces for residents of all ages to engage in literary and cultural events, workshops, and educational activities.

Public events are temporary convening areas in public rights-of-way that generally involve community participation, input, and initiative. Beyond promoting neighborhood activity, public events are directly linked to increases in civic engagement overall. Vital Signs tracks the frequency of public events through the number of event permits requested per 1,000 residents for activities such as parades, festivals, block parties, and marathons.  ^[16]  

Between 2020 and 2021, the number of event permits requested per 1,000 residents in Baltimore City declined from 0.4 to 0.1 per 1,000 residents. This is likely due to continuing impacts of the pandemic. While some popular events returned in 2021, many were scaled back or postponed for the following year.