From non-profit performance space to galleries, to businesses that offer classes, to specialty supply shops, to the individual artist entrepreneur and contractor, neighborhood arts activity is an identifiable business sector. In some communities, artist entrepreneurs play a similar early entrant role for commercial strips as they do for artist housing development. As economists who study business clusters recognize, geographical proximity and the interactions that emerge from related activities within a local area are important even in the age of electronic connectivity. Clustering facilitates productivity and innovation; it generates new start-ups that provide a cushion against normal market churning. Arts organizations.
