As members of the Helper artist community, we are writing in response to complaints recently quoted in a Salt Lake Tribune article, which reflects opinions we have often heard during our 17 years living, working and raising a family in Helper: that the majority of downtown is overly filled with art galleries that neither create business nor produce sales tax for the town, actively keeping other retail from having a spot.
While selfishly we would love for the artists and their various contributions to be painted in a more flattering light, we will happily settle for eliminating misinformation, as well as pointing out that large and small communities will routinely seek artists as part of their downtown revitalization strategy, building upon the inherent energy, creativity, volunteerism and rehabilitation that art communities foster, which eventually leads to a thriving retail district and better opportunity for all.
To clarify, the artists that sell in downtown Helper do collect sales tax, just like any other business. However, not all art produced in Carbon County is sold locally. While a lot of hard work and tourism effort has created a viable market for local collectors and passing tourists in the last 25 plus years, some of the artists that live and work in Helper still need to sell much of their work out of area and out of state. Those sales tax dollars then belong to the resort communities in which these paintings can more regularly be sold.
However, the income produced by these sales returns to Carbon County to be funneled into our local economy through taxes on homes and studio spaces, as well as into our local restaurants, hardware and grocery stores, and other businesses. The tourists who visit Helper’s art galleries are often doing the same, even when they are not purchasing art.
Additionally, many neglected downtown buildings were renovated and restored by either artists looking for work/display space or by those drawn to the growing energy in town. Art and culture create a natural gathering spot – something to build retail around – as the successful First Friday activities so many of us enjoyed before the COVID-19 outbreak demonstrated.
We believe it’s only a matter of time before a very pressing need for retail overtakes the number of galleries and studios on Main Street and some artists and galleries continue to shift to the outskirts of our city and county to make room for these new opportunities, spreading the growth net even wider. That is the economic cycle. However, it’s a building process that has been underway for decades and is only just beginning to bear more obvious fruit.
We would only request that you ask the artists about their business procedures and practices rather than assume; that we create bridges toward each other rather than walls. Each piece of Helper and Carbon County’s history is significant, both the old and the new, and we build a more powerful future together if neither is dismissed or minimized.
Ben and Melanie Steele
Helper, UT
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