A letter to the editor, Gloucester Daily Times, October 15, 2001, p. A6

May we take this opportunity to request assistance from the arts community in Gloucester to fill in two ongoing surveys? We are working with Americans for the Arts to try to determine the effects of nonprofit arts institutions upon the economy of Gloucester. Gloucester is one out of more than 90 communities in more than 30 states that are participating in this study.

One survey is going directly to 24 art institutions in Gloucester, the other is going to be distributed among local residents or visitors attending specific local artistic performances. The data thus collected will be sent to Americans for the Arts for evaluation and analysis. They will then send us a report of their findings, which we will make available to all interested parties in Gloucester.

Aren't you curious to know what is the effect of the arts upon the economy of Gloucester and the economy of our country? We never know what we can do with this type of information. In the past, Americans for the Arts have used their first study of these issues to save the National Endowment for the Arts.

We hope that this knowledge will be used to appreciate the arts a little more for their own sake. We hope that they will also be appreciated for their contributions to our economic well being. And if Gloucester is going to be known a little more for traditionally being a generous host of the arts, that might not do harm either to the economy of Gloucester or to the economic wellbeing of our local artists.

CARMINE GORGA