CNY Arts offers support to individuals and organizations in the arts, culture and heritage sector across six counties
by Alexander Korman
Dear Oswego County Business Magazine readers,
I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Alex Korman, executive director of CNY Arts.
As Central New York’s regional arts council, CNY Arts offers support to individuals and organizations in the arts, culture and heritage sector across six counties, including Oswego.
I am grateful to the staff at the Oswego County Business Magazine for inviting me to share my thoughts in this special edition highlighting the nonprofit sector in Central New York.
There is a great deal of overlap between commerce and art. In addition to the benefits that arts and culture provide for education, entertainment and our quality of life, the sector is also a catalyst for economic development.
Many citizens in New York may not realize that the creative economy is a $145 billion per year industry statewide and accounts for more than 250,000 jobs, from Poughkeepsie to Plattsburgh and everywhere in between. In fact, the arts and culture sector contributed $1.17 trillion to the national economy in 2023 or 4% of the total GDP, ranking roughly equivalent to other high-impact industries like IT and construction.
These statistics may seem surprising. But when we take an in-depth look, it’s much easier to understand that art is not simply a hobby or an elective that we take in school. It is embedded in our communities and makes a measurable, positive impact on our lives. These experiences, the venues that provide cultural offerings and the creative practitioners who staff, administer or produce original content are an essential part of a broader, interconnected economic ecosystem.
Cultural events offer tangible downstream benefits to adjacent industries, including transportation, lodging and hospitality. For instance, visitors to Harborfest, the Maritime Museum or the Fort Ontario Historic Site often stay at local hotels, patronize our favorite restaurants and bring real dollars into the Oswego community. This is true across New York state and indeed, across the nation.
Equally important are the intangible advantages of celebrating and nurturing artistic vibrancy in our communities. Art offers a creative compass that allows us to orient ourselves in a rapidly changing world filled with opportunities, challenges and emergent technologies. And even though creativity is not something that we can buy off the rack or order for overnight delivery, it is nevertheless a useful instrument for navigation, especially as our region anticipates major infrastructural, industrial and demographic changes in the years ahead.
CNY Arts is grateful to the Oswego County business community for its commitment to supporting the local nonprofit sector.
Together, arts, culture and business can uplift our neighbors, welcome visitors to the region and make an important contribution to our collective well-being — all while bolstering economic prosperity.
Alexander Korman is the new executive director at CNY Arts. For more information, visit https://cnyarts.org or send an email to akorman@cnyarts.org.
