"There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, ‘Morning, boys. How’s the water?’ And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, ‘What the hell is water?’" 

— David Foster Wallace, writer

The fallout from COVID reveals that Nevada runs on gathering, not gaming – a factor that has only increased since our recent marriage to professional sports. Nevada’s Creative Economy has suffered a loss of at least $1.3 billion in revenue and 64 percent unemployment so far in the pandemic. (I am convinced the real numbers are higher, but the creative freelance population that fuels the sector is hard to survey without a statewide network to connect them.) Prior to the Great Disruption, the independent Arts and Culture Industry was 5.5 percent of Nevada’s Gross Domestic Product — a larger share than mining. And that does not include the convention and event industries, which are also a part of our Creative Economy. (Theatrical designers and directors invent trade show and party experiences and they get lighting, video, and sound from stagehands. The same is true for broadcast and film. Creative workers are renewable resources, but we need more awareness about the proverbial water they swim in so we can protect them.)

Commercial entertainment is not a synonym for our Creative Economy; it is one aspect of it. 

In Nevada, the water we swim in is, among other things, a creative ecosystem. Las Vegas and Reno are monuments to both the visual art of "placemaking" and the collaborative invention of live experiences. Our rural communities rely on cultural lifelines to connect to others and generate commerce. The Arts are not a cause; they are an industry and tool for society.

The Arts connect society at the intersection between public engagement and personal purpose. Creative workers serve the largest number of voters in schools, at special events, and in the high-end entertainment industry. “Creatives” integrate into other business sectors as vendors and contractors in occupations like designers, writers, marketers, performers, visual artists, and managers.

We make art when we take an abstract idea from the inside and then, with creative skill, craft something tangible to express it on the outside. Everything human-made, including this sentence and the device delivering it to you, are the products of artistic practice and creative collaboration. Arts professionals are experts in turning a vision into reality through the mastery of innovation, collaboration, and craft. They devise with empathy, leading teams that produce work for commercial businesses, in arts nonprofits, as public servants, and to advance education.

When leveraged instead of neglected, creative talents make enterprises successful, communities vibrant, and the social fabric strong. We need them to create our recovery both economically and socially.

Local production companies, both nonprofit and commercial, are the manufacturing base for Nevada’s titans of tourism and entertainment. Strip venues do not create the work; they consume it. The Sands did not make Sinatra; Sinatra’s work product made The Sands. Shows are crafted by workers who dedicate funding and sweat equity toward the mastery of special skills. These Nevadans own homes, studios, and high-end equipment. They donate their resources to our schools and community programs and offer mentorship opportunities to non-traditional students that often lead to fruitful careers.

A substantial percentage of our creative workers are graduates of elite institutions, and service A-list international clients. Many are union members and serve as adjuncts teaching for our colleges and universities, tutors, and K-12 teachers. Las Vegas reigns as the best production services hub west of the Rocky Mountains for global companies including Production Resource Group (PRG). Broadway builds many of its shows in their shop here, alongside crews prepping tours for rock and roll and corporate events. That’s why scores of freelancers in the elite music touring industry are based in Nevada while their gigs roll around the world.

The first quarter of my 2021 Zoom calendar was busy with economic forums. I had hoped that the pandemic shock would have sparked an epiphany in the minds of Nevada’s “big fish” about the creative sector that helps them prosper, but there was little mention of it except in the City of Henderson’s “SelectUSA Virtual Tour: Nevada” presentation “Culture of Opportunity”. There is a lot of obsession at these forums with attracting the tech industry in order to economically diversify, and there’s a consensus that a comfortable quality of life and advancing education are the answers. So why do they ignore the Creative Economy that empowers those things?

For one thing, local cultural strategists are not regularly included in stakeholder conversations about economic development at the state level, and so decision makers don’t know what they do not know. The “Wizard of Oz” nature of showbiz and hospitality also adds to the blind spot. We are trained to “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” but they of course exist wherever gatherings happen — and it’s a whole diverse team, not just one guy pulling strings. We must see, study, and strategize with them before we squander their investment in our communities.

The Nevada Arts Council (NAC)  is a state agency charged with administering grants from funds awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other public programs to provide communities democratizing access to arts and culture. The NAC  is not an umbrella for our Creative Economy; it is an element of it. Their grants provide stimulus, but that is not their purpose. And the NAC is legally prevented from advocating for their own support, so they are not the voice for creative industries that Nevada really needs in Carson City, as well as at the county and city levels.

Historically, most local creative organizations attempting to grow a presence within their communities are treated as unwanted competition by casino bosses who myopically claim that independent local offerings do not put “heads in beds,” and should be excluded from promotional policy. For example, the NAC is an office in the NV Department of Tourism but that does not persuade board members at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). Southern Nevada’s independent Creative Economy has long suffered under the shadow of the Strip, which does not do either party any favors.

The closure of showrooms left the Strip with few enticements to part visitors from their cash, and it will stay that way until October for places like The Smith Center. The same is not true for local creative programs. Since September 2020 (at least), there have been ballet concerts in found spaces, singers at supper clubs, full orchestras with a public audience, opera and play performances indoors and out, gallery openings, poetry readings, religious observances, weddings, and product launches — all thanks to our local cultural community. Their output is impressive, but it is not sustainable without building the developmental infrastructure to support them.

Arts professionals lost the bulk of their income in the past 12 months and many did not get unemployment benefits. They have liquidated assets and lost workspaces. They need their tools and shops to earn again, or the strain on our state as a whole will be prolonged. Many are leaving for states like Colorado that have offices which target members of their sector for development, helping them to acquire space, partnerships, and regranting programs.

Creative workers know how to navigate with a compass rather than a map. Nevada needs to intentionally protect them through targeted economic development so their vision and skill can help unite and guide our communities through uncharted waters.

Sarah O’Connell is the vice president of the Producers Alliance of Southern Nevada and the principal director of Eat More Art LLC.