Cities: Art and the Creative Class Aren't Going to Save You

Thomas Sevcik says that hoping for an economic benefit by attracting the creative class and artists is a wrongheaded strategy.

1 minute read

December 17, 2010, 9:00 AM PST

By Tim Halbur

Yael Friedman at Urban Omnibus comments on Sevcik's provocative presentation at Art Babel, which Sevcik admits is the wrong audience, saying, "I'm very sorry, I should be talking to mayors and art strategists at cities instead of the people in the art business."

Friedman summarizes Sevcik's presentation:

"Sevcik posed several challenges to the accepted wisdom about the impact of the creative industries on cities. Along with questioning the Bilbao Effect, he targeted the value of the 'creative industries' themselves. He posited that the creative industries are actually innovation-averse, citing several studies that argue that, due to chronic under-funding, 'once [creative industries] find a formula [of] how they can sell a product – a special type of website or special strategy – they tend then to sell the same thing over and over.'"

Art Salon | Urbanism | Why Art and the Creative Class will Never Save Cities from Art Basel on Vimeo.

FULL STORY: Thomas Sevcik: Why Art and the Creative Class will Never Save Cities

Thursday, December 16, 2010 in Urban Omnibus

Community / Economic Development World Public Art Creative Class

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

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