College Towns and Creativity: Exploring Potential Interactions Between Educational Institutions and Local Cultural Economies

Karabi C. Bezboruah, PhD
Professor, Public Affairs and Planning
The University of Texas at Arlington

This paper explores local dynamics in “college towns” by focusing on connections between universities and their surrounding artistic communities. Adopting an institutionalist lens, it argues that cross-sector relationships between arts organizations, educational institutions, and local markets are reciprocal rather than instrumental, and that these relationships are essential for cultivating a desirable and robust sense of place-based arts vibrancy. We use the SMU DataArts Arts Vibrancy Index to develop an ordered logit model analyzing the impact of universities and two-year colleges on these local cultural economies. Findings suggest that two-year colleges act as anchor institutions that positively impact vibrancy. Notably, the model fails to indicate significant association between four-year universities and cultural vibrancy. We conclude by discussing implications for future research, cultural policymaking, and collaboration.

Trevor Meagher is an Assistant Professor of Arts Administration in the Department of Art Education at Florida State University. His research explores the evolving role of arts organizations in contemporary society, focusing on cultural policy, arts advocacy, creative placemaking, and cross-sector collaboration. He received his PhD in Public Administration and Public Policy as well as an MPA from the University of Texas at Arlington, and he holds a Bachelor of Music Performance with minors in Arts Management and Arts Administration from Southern Methodist University.

He regularly attends academic conferences and has presented at the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action’s annual conference, the Public Management Research Conference, and the Social Theory, Politics, and the Arts conference, among others. He has published in Cities, Voluntas, the Journal of Philanthropy, and The Future of Charity Marketing (edited by Mitchell & Hyde), and his work has been featured by the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council. At the 2025 Association of Arts Administration Educators conference, he received the award for Best Paper by an Emerging Arts Administration Educator.

Before joining FSU, Trevor held professional roles at Southern Methodist University, UT Arlington, the Coppell Arts Center, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

Karabi Bezboruah, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Public Affairs and Planning at the College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs (CAPPA) at the University of Texas at Arlington.Dr. Bezboruah also serves as the director of the two doctoral programs in CAPPA. These are the Public Administration & Public Policy (PAPP), and Urban Planning and Public Policy (UPPP).

Dr. Bezboruah teaches administration and policy courses in the Department of Public Affairs. She teaches the core courses in the Nonprofit Management specialization track and facilitates the graduate Certificate in Urban Nonprofit Management. She applies service-learning pedagogy in her courses, and has worked with community organizations, nonprofits, and local government agencies.

Dr. Bezboruah’s research includes cross sector collaboration, nonprofit management and leadership, strategic management, community development, cross-sector comparisons, NGOs – organizational role, gender role, leadership role & NGO effectiveness. Her work is in the intersection between public policies and organizational behavior, and she frequently collaborates with other disciplines to conduct research on policy issues surrounding health, housing and the environment.