Not sure I understand the angst. I don't know any artists skirting environmental laws. Most are trying to raise environmental awareness. I do not personally know any artists bribing anyone and what are "hedge fund minions"?

The presentation yesterday was just data about impact. There were disclaimers, which are included in the information being made public. 

Essentially, anything that brings tourists and people from outside our area TO our area is bringing revenue. If we only rely on Duluthians to bring revenue, each time we eat at restaurant chains and shop at other chains we are siphoning off capital from our region to the pocketbooks and vaults of those who are elsewhere. So, if MN Ballet and local theater and Arts events bring people from out of town, then it is good for Duluth. They stay in our hotels and eat at our restaurants. In this way, the arts and culture here has made positive strides.

Thanks for the note. I was actually going to reply sarcastically to your comment and ... ummm showed I need more skill at this sort of thing. Tanks.

Essentially what interested me was not the numbers themselves but the logic behind them. Visit Duluth has hard data that says how much a visitor to Duluth is worth to our region. Even if those numbers are not perfect intuition says that more people coming to our region is worth more than if fewer people were coming here. The arts just add one more reason on top of other reasons for people to come here. When I came here in 1986 there were only warehouses in Canal Park, and the city was still suffering under the weight of the post-Carter recession (also called the Reagan recession because he was prez.). The city has more theaters, more restaurants, and more arts than you could find back then. At least things have moved in the right direction.