ART BIZ | Turning an Artistic Idea into Cash

Postcard of the "Flag of the People's Republic
of Palm Beach." 2016. 48" x 72", Acrylic on Canvas.

I was talking today with Kenneth Walker at a Harvard event. 

He went to Brown as an undergraduate, and finished up at the Harvard School of Design.

He told me the minute he met me that he was an architect inspired by Ayn Rand. He had great faith in the free market and was also on the Palm Beach Planning and Zoning Board.

I asked him: "How does a Libertarian function as a member of the Palm Beach Gestapo?"

Walker with Flag.

He said, casting his eye to the next table: "I can see a vacant seat or two for you over there."

But he was just kidding... I think. Later I checked online and he is  portrayed as representing small businesses that are being oppressed by the P&Z Board. A worthy role.

He had a lot of interesting things to say. He swam with the pop-art folk in the 1960s and developed his own style, before he started his firm Walker Group Designs. What intrigued me most from an ART BIZ perspective is that he has figured out how to turn his artistic ideas into cash. His idea after the election of Donald Trump in 2016 was to develop a flag for the "People's Republic of Palm Beach."

I didn't ask him how he interprets his flag. The Palm Beach Post says he just made the British red and blue more tropical, switching to the pastel green and pink of Palm Beach.

My own interpretation is that the gold dollar signs are for the Randian producers, who are cornered by the pinko stripes of the  moocher-taker-looter-parasites. That would fit the title of the flag and the role the artist plays on the P&Z Board.

So I asked him how much he charges for this cute little flag, thinking I could pick up a couple of them as gifts. He said that he had made three paintings in different sizes, selling at $25K, $35K and $45K, as I remember. 

Then he made the painting into a real flag, ready to haul up the flag pole complete with free grommets to hang it by. He made 20 numbered flags. He sells them for $10K each. In case you are as curious as I was, he has sold seven of them. So he has 13 left in inventory. 

He told me that if anyone buys one of his unsold Palm Beach Flags through this post, he will donate a percentage to a charity of my choice. What an opportunity for you, reader, to do good at the same time as you indulge your artistic whim! Please follow up with Wendy Fritz (interview here) at the Fritz Gallery, +1-561-906-5337. Say you are responding to my post.👍

MONEY | County Wealth – Indian River, Fla.

Indian River County, Fla. Economic Summit Meeting, March 2016. That is your blogger in the red shirt.

The Indian River Economic Summit met last week at a restaurant overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Vero Beach.

We discussed the Indian River and County and Vero Beach economies.

Indian River County ranks #7 in Florida on per capita income. See chart at right.


Zip Code Economic Analysis

Narrowing down to zip codes, Indian River County includes one of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States (32963, the Barrier Island of Vero Beach, traversed from top to bottom by State Road A1A).

IRS data on Adjusted Gross Income and Income per Return are available for 199 Florida zip codes.

But some of the zip codes cover are enclaves–with a small number of individuals and don't constitute real communities.

So in reviewing Florida's zip codes, we start by deleting those with fewer than 100 tax returns. That gives us the following 25 highest-income zip codes:

City	Zip Code	Returns	AGI	Income per Return
Florida	FLORIDA	6,894,447	294,420,323	$42,704
Miami Beach	33109	191	416,400	$2,180,105
Tallahassee	32306	53	39,727	$749,566
Fort Lauderdale	33394	35	19,786	$565,314
Palm Beach	33480	6,564	3,003,143	$457,517
Pensacola	32581	25	10,526	$421,040
Jacksonville	32232	62	21,027	$339,145
Boca Grande	33921	653	219,622	$336,328
Boca Grande	34630	40	12,216	$305,400
Boca Grande	32749	11	3,001	$272,818
Longboat Key	34228	3,610	972,220	$269,313
Orlando	32827	397	93,075	$234,446
Longwood	32752	361	81,969	$227,061
Vero Beach	32963	6,752	1,505,406	$222,957
Naples	34102	5,576	1,166,510	$209,202
Naples	33341	14	2,846	$203,286
Bradenton	34201	498	100,902	$202,614
Bradenton	33940	828	164,565	$198,750
Pensacola	32589	21	4,147	$197,476
Pineland	33945	204	39,435	$193,309
Miami	33261	420	78,226	$186,252
Boca Raton	33496	10,086	1,802,136	$178,677
Naples	34103	6,084	1,081,434	$177,750
Naples	34108	7,419	1,311,940	$176,835
Bonita Springs	34134	4,619	810,984	$175,576
Miami	33231	46	7,498	$163,000

Now we delete the odd zip codes with fewer than 100 tax returns and focus on the top 10. Look at the four zip codes that have 1,000 or more tax returns filed. These four zip codes stand out as viable communities with high incomes–Palm Beach 33480, Longboat Key 34228, Vero Beach 32963 and Naples 34102. Vero Beach ranks #3. The smallest is Longboat Key and the largest is Vero Beach. All four communities have cultural facilities that punch way above their weight for communities of their size.

1	Miami Beach	33109	191	416,400	$2,180,105
2	Palm Beach	33480	6,564	3,003,143	$457,517
3	Boca Grande	33921	653	219,622	$336,328
4	Longboat Key	34228	3,610	972,220	$269,313
5	Orlando	32827	397	93,075	$234,446
6	Longwood	32752	361	81,969	$227,061
7	Vero Beach	32963	6,752	1,505,406	$222,957
8	Naples	34102	5,576	1,166,510	$209,202
9	Bradenton	34201	498	100,902	$202,614
10	Bradenton	33940	828	164,565	$198,750

How does this play out in Vero Beach?

The Indian River Library is an indicator of the importance of being a wealthy community. It has benefited not only from the county's strong tax base but also from significant gifts that increase the library's usefulness to its patrons:

• A new two-story Main Library opened in 1991 and a bequest to the library by the Julian W. Lowenstein family in 1985 has been used to help construct a new library building with a much-expanded 2nd floor.
• It now houses The Florida History and Genealogy Department, reference department and reading room, bearing the name of Mr. Lowenstein.
• The library owns a microfilm copy of the entire U.S. census from 1790 to 1860. 
• The county commissioners approved funds to expand the children's, reference and genealogy departments. Between 1991 and 2002, the genealogy department quadrupled in size to 4,000 square feet.
• It includes the Indian River County Historical Society photographs (5000+) and documents (20+ boxes) to the library's "Archive Center", which now has more than 35,000 titles, 40,000 microfiches, 11,000 microfilms, 9 computers and Wi-Fi.

At the end of the last century the library was first or second in Florida in per capita attendance at adult programs and new borrowers.  This may account for the three negative reviews on Yelp of the library's services in 2013 and 2015 in comparison with, for example, the County Library branch at Sebastian. But one goes to a library primarily to look for books and other documents, and secondarily for the services of the staff, so it might be a good trade to go to the busier library even though the staff may be busier and less generous with their time than in a library with fewer books and patrons.

St. Edward's School – and the Classical Orchestra that performs there – is another gem in Vero Beach.

The Vero Art Museum and the Riverside Theater are two more institutions that are astonishingly vigorous for such a small community.

The Indian River Medical Center his attracting talented doctors in a variety of fields. The Vero Beach Regional Airport is a joy to use as an alternative to Orlando, West Palm Beach or Melbourne.

New attractions are picking up support like the Indian River Historical Society.

Our Summit over, we agree on a positive outlook for the
Indian River County economy.

Indian River State College is a community college with some B.A. degree offerings in public service and agricultural fields for which demand for skilled help n the region is high.

For advanced degrees students attend institutions in neighboring cities with academic faculties offering master's and doctoral programs.

The Economic Summit meeting concluded with a general sense of optimism about the county's economy, with a diverse base of supporting institutions and available labor for agricultural, cultural, real estate, retail, medical and sports employers.

The Summit members were, however, concerned that local priorities remain focused on adequate protection of the environmental attractions that draw visitors and retirees to the area. This means controlled growth and aggressive precautions to avoid or prepare for natural and man-made disasters.

INCOMES | U.S. Counties, 2013

The dark blue areas have seen significantly higher personal incomes in 2013.
The brown areas have been flat or have seen declines. The others are
closer to the national average increase of 1.3 percent.

Personal income data by county for 2013 were just released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Of course, the numbers being for the year 2013 when it's nearly 2015, the reaction could be: Ho hum.

But the delay is made up for by the reliability and importance of the numbers. They provide a good comparative look at the counties.

Personal income data by county tell us how their neighbors are doing over time and relative to the rest of the country.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers on jobs and unemployment are released faster because we agree to suspend disbelief in our eagerness to have the data in our hands. The BLS tries to adjust the data to mask the variability of the data resulting from seasonality and small sample coverage in the household survey. The BEA's per capita personal income numbers by county are closer to a final answer to the important question: "How are we doing, money-wise?"

Some regional data are in the table below, abbreviated to make it easier to talk about and handle (the full table is at www.bea.gov under "Regional"). The top line is the summary for the United States. Per capita income grew from $42,332 in 2011 to $44,765 in 2013. There was quite a jump between 2011 and 2012, 4.4 percent, but the increase between 2012 and 2013 was less than one-third the rate, 1.3 percent.

Knowing that the country as a whole had a spurt of personal income in 2012 and then fell back to a lower rate in 2013 helps interpret how each state and county was doing.

The states vary considerably among themselves and between years in the change in their share of the increased income. Arkansas jumped 6.8 percent in 2012 and then rose only 0.8 percent in 2013. The District of Columbia actually saw a loss of per capita income in 2013, but at $75,950 in 2012 that was a loss from a high base.

The variability is even greater among counties. Indian River County (Vero Beach) saw its per capita income grow 5 percent in 2012, but then it declined in 2013. Palm Beach grew 4.8 percent from its high base of $57,252 and kept growing in 2013 at the national rate of 1.3 percent.

Table 1. Per Capita Personal Income by County, 2011-2013	Per capita personal income and Rank in State				Change and Rank in State
	Dollars			Rank	Percent change		Rank
	2011	2012	2013	2013	2012	2013	2013
United States	42,332	44,200	44,765	--	4.4	1.3	--
Alabama	35,010	35,942	36,481	--	2.7	1.5	--
Alaska	48,181	49,906	50,150	--	3.6	0.5	--
Arizona	35,512	36,624	36,983	--	3.1	1.0	--
Arkansas	34,089	36,423	36,698	--	6.8	0.8	--
California	44,749	47,505	48,434	--	6.2	2.0	--
Colorado	44,183	46,315	46,897	--	4.8	1.3	--
Connecticut	57,547	60,223	60,658	--	4.7	0.7	--
Delaware	42,696	44,031	44,815	--	3.1	1.8	--
District of Columbia	74,103	75,950	75,329	--	2.5	-0.8	--
Florida	40,215	41,041	41,497	--	2.1	1.1	--
Indian River (Vero)	51,890	54,501	54,448	5	5.0	-0.1	62
Miami-Dade	38,242	39,467	39,880	17	3.2	1.0	41
Orange (Orlando)	36,333	37,479	37,844	24	3.2	1.0	44
Palm Beach	54,616	57,252	57,985	2	4.8	1.3	34
St. Lucie	31,289	30,932	31,182	40	-1.1	0.8	49
Georgia	36,422	37,229	37,845	--	2.2	1.7	--
Hawaii	42,989	44,578	45,204	--	3.7	1.4	--
Idaho	33,677	35,142	36,146	--	4.4	2.9	--
Illinois	44,169	46,009	46,980	--	4.2	2.1	--
Cook	46,966	48,948	49,661	7	4.2	1.5	90
Indiana	36,367	38,136	38,622	--	4.9	1.3	--
Iowa	42,656	44,014	44,763	--	3.2	1.7	--
Kansas	42,098	43,380	44,417	--	3.0	2.4	--
Kentucky	34,568	35,857	36,214	--	3.7	1.0	--
Louisiana	38,501	40,617	41,204	--	5.5	1.4	--
Maine	38,802	39,863	40,924	--	2.7	2.7	--
Maryland	52,191	53,659	53,826	--	2.8	0.3	--
Baltimore	51,886	53,835	54,009	6	3.8	0.3	14
Baltimore City	42,071	43,386	44,053	15	3.1	1.5	10
Massachusetts	54,235	56,713	57,248	--	4.6	0.9	--
Suffolk	55,608	57,491	57,660	6	3.4	0.3	14
Michigan	37,163	38,585	39,055	--	3.8	1.2	--
Minnesota	45,220	47,377	47,500	--	4.8	0.3	--
Mississippi	32,108	33,446	33,913	--	4.2	1.4	--
Missouri	38,016	39,933	40,663	--	5.0	1.8	--
Montana	36,890	39,142	39,366	--	6.1	0.6	--
Nebraska	43,721	45,914	47,157	--	5.0	2.7	--
Nevada	37,445	39,229	39,235	--	4.8	0.0	--
New Hampshire	47,664	50,056	51,013	--	5.0	1.9	--
New Jersey	53,323	54,932	55,386	--	3.0	0.8	--
Atlantic	41,397	42,288	42,425	19	2.2	0.3	18
Bergen	67,248	69,281	69,495	4	3.0	0.3	19
Burlington	49,471	51,149	51,638	12	3.4	1.0	12
Camden	44,229	45,063	45,544	15	1.9	1.1	9
Cape May	50,908	53,070	53,932	9	4.2	1.6	3
Cumberland	35,413	35,468	35,825	21	0.2	1.0	10
Essex	53,597	54,318	54,606	7	1.3	0.5	15
Gloucester	43,488	44,833	45,169	16	3.1	0.7	13
Hudson	49,111	49,978	50,172	13	1.8	0.4	17
Hunterdon	69,717	74,534	75,523	2	6.9	1.3	6
Mercer	53,037	55,933	56,906	6	5.5	1.7	2
Middlesex	50,267	51,730	52,291	11	2.9	1.1	7
Monmouth	59,875	61,997	62,901	5	3.5	1.5	4
Morris	71,914	74,826	75,054	3	4.0	0.3	20
Ocean	42,121	43,016	43,214	18	2.1	0.5	16
Passaic	43,853	44,600	44,688	17	1.7	0.2	21
Salem	41,138	41,550	41,997	20	1.0	1.1	8
Somerset	72,704	76,918	77,685	1	5.8	1.0	11
Sussex	50,800	52,592	52,958	10	3.5	0.7	14
Union	52,297	53,638	54,382	8	2.6	1.4	5
Warren	46,070	48,115	49,040	14	4.4	1.9	1
New York	51,941	54,099	54,462	--	4.2	0.7	--
Albany	50,275	52,587	53,515	7	4.6	1.8	16
Bronx	32,565	32,680	32,852	60	0.4	0.5	44
Dutchess	47,083	49,378	49,627	10	4.9	0.5	48
Erie	42,925	45,063	45,496	16	5.0	1.0	35
Essex	36,268	38,392	39,309	34	5.9	2.4	4
Kings	41,038	42,211	42,306	24	2.9	0.2	53
Nassau	68,979	72,460	72,549	3	5.0	0.1	58
New York	116,329	120,382	121,632	1	3.5	1.0	34
Putnam	55,844	58,865	58,955	4	5.4	0.2	56
Queens	43,140	44,431	44,966	19	3.0	1.2	27
Rensselaer	41,961	43,371	44,152	22	3.4	1.8	15
Richmond	49,839	51,223	51,328	9	2.8	0.2	55
Rockland	54,294	56,746	56,657	6	4.5	-0.2	60
Suffolk	53,774	56,819	56,940	5	5.7	0.2	54
Ulster	41,818	44,045	44,527	20	5.3	1.1	30
Westchester	75,291	80,505	80,363	2	6.9	-0.2	61
North Carolina	36,508	38,538	38,683	--	5.6	0.4	--
North Dakota	47,868	56,310	53,182	--	17.6	-5.6	--
Steele	55,909	81,029	53,918	16	44.9	-33.5	50
Ohio	38,631	40,230	41,049	--	4.1	2.0	--
Oklahoma	38,980	41,399	41,861	--	6.2	1.1	--
Oregon	37,707	39,258	39,848	--	4.1	1.5	--
Pennsylvania	43,806	45,577	46,202	--	4.0	1.4	--
Rhode Island	44,571	46,257	46,989	--	3.8	1.6	--
South Carolina	34,079	35,347	35,831	--	3.7	1.4	--
South Dakota	44,439	45,676	46,039	--	2.8	0.8	--
Tennessee	37,151	39,002	39,558	--	5.0	1.4	--
Texas	41,016	43,271	43,862	--	5.5	1.4	--
Utah	34,235	35,891	36,640	--	4.8	2.1	--
Vermont	42,968	44,443	45,483	--	3.4	2.3	--
Virginia	47,076	48,715	48,838	--	3.5	0.3	--
Washington	44,565	47,055	47,717	--	5.6	1.4	--
West Virginia	33,954	35,140	35,533	--	3.5	1.1	--
Wisconsin	40,780	42,475	43,244	--	4.2	1.8	--
Wyoming	49,260	52,469	52,826	--	6.5	0.7	--
1. Per capita personal income was computed using Census Bureau midyear population estimates. Estimates reflect county population estimates available as of March 2014.
2. Percent change was calculated from unrounded data.
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis

The New York State counties are interesting. The average incomes confirm the reputation of Manhattan (New York County) as dwarfing neighboring county incomes. The next-highest skip over the "Outer Boroughs" and go to Westchester, Nassau, Putnam, Suffolk and Rockland counties in New York State and a similar group of high rollers in New Jersey. Westchester saw a big 6.9 percent leap in personal income in 2012, but it and Rockland both saw a small decline in per capita incomes in 2013.

Notice the oddly high variability of per capita income in Steele County, ND. A 45 percent increase in 2012 and a one-third decrease in 2013. However, the explanation is simple. The total population of the county is under 2,000 people, so a few families with highly correlated incomes - for example, all dependent upon revenue from the same oil well - could skew the county numbers.