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Rochester metro ranks among the top communities for support of the arts

The Rochester area has made a top-20 list of organizations being recognized for their support of the arts.

The list is put out by the National Center for Arts Research, part of Southern Methodist University, and it publishes what it calls an annual Arts Vibrancy Index.

The Rochester metro area ranks number 19 on the list of the top 20 most ‘arts vibrant’ large communities (population over 1 million). The total survey  ranks more than 900 communities.

Dawn Lipson is the board president for the Arts and Cultural Council for Greater Rochester. She says the solid ranking doesn’t come as a big surprise.

“We’ve anecdotally known this all along, so many people say that this community has great arts and great culture and for a city its size is unsurpassed, but this gives some validation to this comment,” she told WXXI News.

Lipson says one way that this ranking may help is in local efforts to get more government funding for the arts.

“It also helps as the arts council moves forward and talks to our own local legislators and we can point to this and say, look, somebody recognizes that we have great arts in this community and they should be supported.”

And Lipson says having a strong arts community can help attract people who are thinking of moving to the Rochester area.

“When they’re looking at a community they are looking for the quality of life and what is that quality of life going to be if I move there. Most people come with families and they’re going to be looking at schools, but if they’re interested in music they’re going to look for something like the RPO, if they’re interested in art, they’ll look to see what kind of arts we have.”

Lipson says the Arts and Cultural Council has been working more aggressively to make sure that local arts organizations are getting more recognition for the kinds of activities they are involved in.  The Arts & Cultural Council has been in the process of restructuring over the last several months.

Lipson is also a member of the Board of Trustees of WXXI.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.