Cincinnati Museum Center, Aronoff Center for the Arts and Riverbend Music Center hold their own against more general attractions; they all outpace the Bengals, and the Museum Center gets a higher score than Paramount's Kings Island.
But it's in the categories of customer satisfaction and places to take out-of-town visitors where arts and cultural institutions really shine.
When locals are showing off the town, the Reds top the list, and almost as many people eat out. What might surprise is that theater lands comfortably in the Top 10. Looking back at the last 12 months on area stages, with "Wicked," "Company," a Fringe Festival and sellouts all over town, suddenly it's no longer a surprise.
What pleases the Freedom Center folks most, says chief communications officer Paul Bernish, is that it's a repeat win in both categories.
In a poll that included amusement parks, major league sports, the Kentucky Speedway and other large attractions, arts institutions carried the day in customer satisfaction: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Art Museum, Aronoff Center for the Arts, Cincinnati Zoo and Cincinnati Museum Center followed the Freedom Center in that order to take the top seven.
"It reflects the fact that there's a strong cultural community," says Bernish.
Shawn Mummert of Enjoy the Arts observes the disconnect between where the majority of people go and the satisfaction they find, and he knows why arts get the best numbers. "Arts are experiential," he says. "People do appreciate what's authentic. Maybe you have to lead them there kicking and screaming, but once they're there, they recognize the connections to their neighbors and themselves."
That core arts audience also gives local cultural institutions high points for value: the top 10 are: Freedom Center, Cincinnati Art Museum, Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati Symphony, Coney Island, Cincinnati Opera, Kentucky Speedway and Newport on the Levee.
It's those statistics that impress Bernish. "If I were in charge of marketing the city, the strength of arts and culture is what I'd be focusing on."
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