Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Mercer resident Colleen Roeder, seated, talks about ideas with Land O'Lakes Arts Program Director Wendy Powalisz, center, and Board President Lynn Richie, prior to a Business Bites series event Wednesday at the Mercer Community Center.
By TOM LAVENTURE
MERCER, Wis. - The arts has a larger economic impact than most people realize, according a Business Bites presentation Wednesday at the Mercer Community Center.
"The arts has a $9.7 billion annual impact on Wisconsin," said Lynn Ritchie, president of Land O' Lakes Arts Board (LOLA) and a member of the Wisconsin Arts Board.
Yet, Wisconsin ranks 48th in state funding for the arts, she said. Artists are drawn to Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula to visit and to live and there is an untapped opportunity, she said.
LOLA had an informal start aft...
