Looks like Bozeman is at it again, breaking into national rankings list for the third time in 2 months. Bozeman is now considered one of the best mid-sized art towns in the US—thanks to a new Art Vibrancy Report released by the National Center for Arts Research. Bozeman had already been honored as a top 25 ski town in the world and was also honored as one of the nations most livable towns in the United States.
This national competition took the to 20 medium and small towns in America and ranked them based on their art, art culture, and art availability. The report added a variety of factors, but took a very scientific approach to such an unscientific diversion. The report based their rankings on numbers: the number of independent artists in the area, the number of art and culture employees, the number of art, culture and entertainment employees (yes these are different apparently!), and the number of art organizations in the area. Bozeman served itself well by placing highly in the number of independent artists (6th) and the number of art organizations per capita (10th).
The National Center for Arts Research explained their rationale in their rankings and I have taken a small quote from that rationale. It’s a truly positive review of Bozeman!
"It has numerous galleries that line the city streets as well as four museums: the American Computer Museum, the Children’s Museum, the Pioneer Museum and the Montana Museum of the Rockies, which houses an extensive collection of fossils. Montana State University’s diverse arts department provides a variety of offerings and there are landmark local organizations such as the Bozeman Symphony, Big Sky Association for the Arts, InterMountain Opera Company, Equinox Theatre Company, Montana Ballet Company, Dance Alliance Company, and Emerson Center for the Arts & Culture, a complex that offers the region’s artists a place to work and sell their work as well as performance space for local performing arts groups, several classrooms, shops, and cafes. State arts support is strong in Bozeman and the city receives a higher number of federal arts grants per capita than 97% of cities."
Congratulations once again Bozeman. Its easy to see why more and more people continue to relocate to the area, looking for a place to call home.
Sources: http://www.smu.edu/~/media/Site/Meadows/NCAR/NCARArtsVibrancyWhitepaper
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