Ford W. Bell and Alice French, Educational Museum Director

Editor’s Note:  The US House of Representatives voted 217-209 to cut $20.6 million from the National Endowment for the Arts budget for the remainder of FY11. This Op-ed is in response to that vote and in support of Museum Advocacy Day in Washington on March 1.
 For millions of Americans, museums are seen as refuges of learning, fun and spiritual uplift. That is true from the cherished Smithsonian museums on the National Mall in Washington to the Pearl Harbor-USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii to the Westmoreland County Museum right here in the Northern Neck. That’s why U.S. museums attract an estimated 850 million visits each year, more than all professional sporting

events and theme parks combined.
But it is important to remember in these challenging economic times that museums bring much more to our communities. Museums are also engines of commerce, serving to boost the civic and economic climates of communities large and small. That is the case hundreds of museum professionals will be making to Capitol Hill on March 1. We would like you to be a part of this effort. And here’s why.
Museums are vital cogs in the American economy, a declaration confirmed by the statistics. America’s estimated 17,500 museums employ more than half a million citizens and through direct expenditures alone inject some $20 billion into the American economy. Further, museums play an essential role in the U.S. travel and tourism industry, with cultural travel now calculated to account for some $192 billion in economic activity annually, according to data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Museums have long been cultural destinations in and of themselves — witness the 30 million visitors to the Smithsonian alone each year. Trips including cultural and heritage activities comprise one of the most popular and significant segments of the travel industry, accounting for 23 percent of domestic trips. And those trips generate economic activity for local businesses. Visitors to historic sites and cultural attractions — including museums — stay 53 percent longer and spend 36 percent more money than other kinds of tourists.
But as substantial as is the impact of museums on jobs and local economies, the contribution of museums goes much farther. As state and local government budgets are increasingly stretched thin, many museums are taking up the slack, filling voids in our social and community fabric. Certainly museums are critical tools for the estimated 2 million homeschooled children in the U.S.
Museums across the nation work with local school districts to help create curriculum. Museums have served to bridge cultural and ethnic divides in communities, from bringing recent immigrants together to meld their old traditions with those of their new homes, to offering English as a second language courses. Many museums have led the way in helping our citizens upgrade their job skills through computer training courses.
Here in the Northern Neck, museums bring history programs to the schools, work with local colleges to offer teacher certification credits, and provide programs to engage all of our diverse community members.  Our region is rich in its cultural heritage and the joint efforts of our institutions offer great resources to visitors and our local economy.
Suffice it to say that the mission of museums is public service. That’s the message that will be carried to Congress on March 1, when some 300 museum advocates from across the country come to Capitol Hill to convey to our representatives the value — economic and otherwise — museums bring to the nation. Join us in this effort by contacting your local officials, via e-mail or telephone or even old-fashioned letter, telling them what your museum means to you and your family. The American Association of Museums’ website, www.aam-us.org/ can help you.
As protectors, interpreters and exhibitors of our heritages — historic, cultural, natural and scientific — museums fulfill a crucial role in America. Help us communicate that to our elected leaders on March 1.