Indiana Art and Culture Roundtable

Maxwell L. Anderson is the Melvin & Bren Simon director and CEO of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

As Indiana reels in the grip of the recession, it's clear that business as usual is not an option.  And business as usual has kept culture out of public policy discussions, considering it a 'frill' at best, or a hotbed of deviant thinking at the worst.  It's obvious that leading cultural organizations in Indiana are key assets in the lives of Hoosiers, if only from the millions of people who visit our largest cultural attractions--more than attend sporting events in town--and that these institutions have the potential to rebrand Indiana as a forward-thinking state interested in welcoming conventioneers and cultural tourists from around the world.  The two public policy issues I hope can get some traction during this critical moment in the state's economy are:

1. public financial support of large cultural organizations can only help stimulate more investment and tourism in the region; and
2. culture needs to be on the table as a key ingredient of trade missions, convention and tourism business development efforts, and core investment in infrastructure.