麻豆影视

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Elizabeth Brown-Ellis and Dr. Philathia Bolton spent the last two years watching the pandemic put a damper on their Ohio communities.

As a University of Akron professor, Bolton watched her students dig for inspiration and purpose amid online classes and an isolated college experience.

As head of the Lima Symphony Orchestra, Brown-Ellis watched 75 musicians adapt and find ways to make ends meet while the audience moved from the seats in front of them to their computers at home.

But what they didn鈥檛 see was a dimming of the need for arts in education and in the community navigating a world without public events.

鈥淎rts are not just leisure activities, arts are fundamental parts of our society and our economic prosperity,鈥� Brown-Ellis said.

Brown-Ellis and Bolton are two of the newest members of the Ohio Citizens for the Arts鈥� Board of Directors, with Brown-Ellis serving as president of the board. The OCA is an advocacy organization that lobbies the state General Assembly and Congress to support arts in the state.

Bolton, who teaches 20th and 21st Century American literature and specializes in African American literature, saw the impact of the arts in one particular student, who said coming back to in-person gave her a new purpose, and even used a painting to express her feelings about the readings in Bolton鈥檚 class.

鈥淭here鈥檚 so much exhaustion (from the pandemic),鈥� Bolton said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know when it clicks or when it happens, but I think art鈥�has this way, no matter where we are, of finding us and pulling us in, and making us realize what matters.鈥�

For some people, it鈥檚 the tradition of going to the Nutcracker Ballet, for others it鈥檚 learning about the Harlem Renaissance. But for many, the arts represent a return to normalcy, something that the state and federal governments need to realize helps employers attract workers and keep residents in Ohio.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a way to look to your left or your right and you鈥檙e connected with our communities and with our people,鈥� Bolton said.

Brown-Ellis is the perfect example of that concept. Formerly an international financial attorney in a different state, she moved back to her hometown of Lima looking for a marketing job while waiting to take the Ohio bar.

When the Lima Symphony Orchestra took her in, she fell in love and left the legal work behind.

鈥淲e have the opportunity to make an impact here,鈥� Brown-Ellis said. 鈥淏ecause it is a small town, there is so much opportunity and obligation to bring performing arts to the seven-county radius.鈥�

The arts 鈥渨ere given a lifeline鈥� with pandemic relief funds coming to the arts industry, which Brown-Ellis said still has one of the highest unemployment rates.

In November 2020, the state put $20 million in toward the arts, considered a temporary stop-gap.

That lifeline came after $74 billion in estimated monthly losses for 鈥渃reative occupations鈥�, according to a 2020 report by the Brookings Institution. The OCA released a report in 2018 saying creative occupations accounted for $41 billion in state economic activity, and 290,000 jobs per year.

This month, the arts industry got a total of $1,065,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts, in the form of 45 grants. Three of those grants went to Ohio research facilities 鈥渢o analyze the value and/or impact of the arts,鈥� according to the NEA.

MetroHealth received $85,000 in a research grant, along with Case Western Reserve University, who received $75,000. Ohio State University received $30,000 in research grants in the arts.

The future of the Ohio economy is beginning to depend on the arts and humanities, according to those teaching the students going into the workforce. Bolton said she鈥檚 heard from people in the financial and insurance sectors who are looking to connect with humanities students.

Bolton argues the creativity and critical thinking that comes from arts education brings different voices to the table that can adapt as the state and country does.

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e part of our country and you鈥檙e concerned about the well-being of your state, it behooves us to do what we can to take care of our people,鈥� Bolton said.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David DeWitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on and .

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