This is definitely anecdotal rather than backed by any data, but based upon observations across a few decades and working at three-four different organizations, there seems to be a degree of “a rising tide raises all ships” in regard to ticket sales. While audiences certainly have a limited amount of time and money to spend on participating in different arts and cultural experiences, it seems like more activity may be better than less when it comes to stimulating interest.

Last week we went on sale with tickets for our upcoming season and I was generally pleased with the rate of ticket sales for upcoming events. One thing I noticed though was that there was also a surge of sale for some of the rental events coming up between now and the end of the year. In some cases, shows that had been on sale for weeks but hadn’t had anyone purchase started to see purchases.

I have seen the same thing occur in other communities in which I have worked. There is also something of a reciprocal effect when rental partners are selling well or have a series of events occurring in the course of a weekend, my organization will see sales increases for our events.

I have observed something similar on the creative side which has convinced me that a vibrant arts and culture scene requires a lot of competing activity. I have worked for organizations where the administrative and creative staff have been highly degreed and credentialed and found myself wondering why less interesting and innovative work was happening despite having little competition that might require them to be cautious versus organizations where the participants were less credentialed and there was a lot of competition.

I came to realize these less credentialed people were participating in a lot of opportunities around the community. They were in improv troupes, Shakespearean plays, newly written/workshopped plays and musicals, singing cabaret, attending/performing in drag shows. When these folks created works of their own, it didn’t take much to see how these experiences informed their new creative endeavors. Not everything was brilliant, but you could see a lot of thought and work had been put into the storytelling.

I am sure some researcher can come up with a calculation that shows the sweet spot between where too little activity provides no incentive to do better and too much activity stifles innovation and chokes resources.

I have recently begun to generate a theory that a lot of creative and cultural activity in a community can help people feel they have the capacity to be creative. If there are only one or two prominent entities with highly credentialed creators, the general public can end up pointing to those organizations as the place where the people with special abilities and talent make art.

But if there are a lot of arts and cultural organizations providing different types of ways for people to express themselves creatively then there will be a greater chance for them to feel they have the capacity to be creative. This may manifest as opportunities to view or participate in performances and recitals , creating sidewalk chalk art, and contributing to pie and chili cook-offs. Where there are organizations that teach people to build bikes in impractical, but visually interesting ways and then parade around town while dressed in funny costumes. Or maybe hold soap box derbies with similar aesthetics.