Art and entertainment constitute America's second-largest export. Host Americans -- 96%, to be exact -- are somehow involved in the arts, whether as audience participants, hobbyists, or via broadcast, recording, video, or the Internet. The contribution of the arts to the U.S. economy is stunning: the non-profit arts industry alone contributes more than $857 billion per year, and America's fine and performing arts enjoy world-class status.

Despite its size, quality, and economic impact, the arts community is not articulate about how they serve public interests, and few citizens have an appreciation of the myriad public policies that affect American arts and culture. The contributors to this volume argue that U.S. policy can -- and should -- support the arts and that the arts, in turn, serve a broad rather than an elite public. Indeed, increased support for the arts and culture equals good economic and trade policy; it also enhances the quality of life and of community, and helps sustain the creativity of American artists and organizations.

By encouraging policymakers to systematically start investigating the crucial role and importance of all the arts in the United States. The Public Life of the Arts in America moves the field forward with fresh ideas, new concepts, and important new data.

"A great primer and very useful introduction, across the silos, for students and those interested in the frameworks of cultural life."-Frank Hodsoll, former chairman, National Endowment for the Arts "Blissfully eclectic in its content, and powerfully consistent in its delivery, this book offers an essential perspective on the arts, culture, and entertainment."-Andrew Taylor, director, Bolz Center for Arts Administration, University of Wisconsin-Madison The arts and creative sector is one of the nation's broadest, most important, and least understood social and economic assets. It encompasses nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, for-profit creative companies such as advertising agencies, film producers, commercial publishers, and community-based artistic activities. The thirteen essays in this timely book demonstrate why interest in the arts and creative sector has accelerated in recent years, the many ways that the arts are crucial to the social and national agenda, and the critical issues and policies that relate to their practice. Leading experts in the field show, for example, how arts and cultural policies are used to enhance urban revitalization, to encourage civic engagement, to foster new forms of historic preservation, to define national identity, to advance economic development, and to regulate international trade in cultural goods and services. Reflecting the rapid growth of the field of arts and cultural policy, this book will be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more and understand the intricacies of the cultural policy field. Joni Maya Cherbo is an independent arts and cultural policy scholar and consultant. Ruth Ann Stewart is a clinical professor of public policy at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. Margaret Jane Wyszomirski is the director of the graduate program in arts policy and administration at Ohio State University.