Memphis: Arts and Culture City, USA
Choose901 | This blog was written by New Memphis
Memphis is often touted as a “culture city,” but what does that really mean? The Bluff City is not only checking the box in the sector of arts and culture, it’s creating brand new boxes through creative innovation and leadership.
Leading the way to ensure both arts and culture take center stage in the larger conversation of economic development are organizations like ARTSMemphis and the Hyde Family Foundation.
ARTSMemphis is a grant-making organization that has distributed over $100 million since 1963 to artists and arts organizations. In addition to funding the work of the city’s creatives, it offers invaluable resources, including financial guidance, organizational advice, marketing support, networking opportunities and connections, and its robust events calendar.
A national study facilitated by ARTSmemphis in 2022 concluded an Annual Economic Impact of $192.9 Million by the Arts and Culture Sector in Shelby County. That economic activity—$120.7 million in spending by reported local arts and culture organizations and an additional $72.2 million in event-related spending by their audiences — generated $38 million in tax revenue and supported 3,775 jobs in Shelby County.
Created by Barbara and Pitt Hyde, the Hyde Family Foundation is grounded in generations of giving to create a thriving Memphis for all. It accomplishes this through a firm belief in the power of innovation, strategic leadership, and sweat equity, which culminates in a goal of working locally to set best practices nationally.
“Memphis is a city that has really changed the fabric of the world in ways that very few cities have claimed to from both a historic and contemporary aspect. Memphis is a city of visionaries. We are a city of people who don’t fit into boxes neatly because we are creating the boxes that other people follow.“
— Rachel Knox, Senior Program Officer for Arts & Culture at the Hyde Family Foundation
Every day is filled with creative opportunities in the 901, and the next 18 months are full of big milestones for arts and culture organizations — from opening new amenities (BVO, Memphis Art Museum, National Ornamental Metal Museum to name a few) to big anniversaries (from Music Export Memphis’ 10th birthday to Hattiloo Theatre’s 20th to the Dixon Gallery & Garden’s 50th to Overton Park Shell’s 90th…there are around two dozen other organizations celebrating BIG milestones).
Want to know more? Listen to this Meanwhile in Memphis episode to hear how ARTSMemphis and the Hyde Family Foundation are partnering to enable all Memphians to access, enjoy, and engage with arts in a more active way with Elizabeth Rouse (ARTSMemphis) and Rachel Knox (The Hyde Family Foundation).
Hear from real leaders making a real impact in Memphis each week on the Meanwhile in Memphis podcast, airing on Tuesdays at 8 am on WYXR 91.7 FM and streaming wherever you prefer to listen podcasts.