The governor’s office should support the arts in Maine even if they never produce a dime in revenue, but Gov. Baldacci’s recent comments about his view of the role of the arts in the creative economy should have thrilled their supporters. He is asking the public to regard the arts as integral to the welfare of Maine and demanding that fresh ideas and a much bolder agenda for the arts come from his own administration. His continued support and both ideas are welcome.

Gov. Baldacci last week acknowledged as he accepted a report he commissioned on the creative economy that the arts are a small part of Maine’s economy. Even by the narrow definitions used by his researchers, the creative economy in 2002 generated a payroll of $2.5 billion, of which technology accounted for $2.3 billion and arts and culture combined for about $200 million. This shouldn’t be discouraging – the role of the arts is manifold: they are desirable first for the ideas they provoke, for their beauty and for pure enjoyment, in addition to the revenues they may generate. Maine’s opportunity is in recognizing these values and developing them.

That means that along with bonds that would send more funding to research and development to the university system and biomedical facilities around the state, investments in the arts will become crucial. The governor recognized this with his commitment of $100,000 toward the American Folk Festival in Bangor, with expanding the state’s commitment to tourism through Pine Tree Zones and by establishing a permanent Creative Econo-my Council, to be headed by John Rohman, chairman of the Maine Arts Commission. The State Planning Office and the Department of Economic and Community Development will help craft the council.

These are important links because they move arts and culture to a more prominent position in state government. They also demand much more from state arts officials, whose roles may become more similar to those in private, nonprofit R&D: attracting many more public and private grants, bringing in new, well-qualified people to their fields while helping those already here and encouraging new businesses to form as a result.

Maine has more to offer than money (it had better, considering its limited funds) and places such as the state’s institutions of higher education can help. The creative economy, at its most basic, consists of applying new thinking to processes and products, something businesses do regularly but not always with as much help as they need. The University of Maine already tests products for companies and could do more, as could the rest of the system and the community colleges. These excellent resources need only a better means for connecting with the public. The governor’s office could help them reach out more effectively.

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Speaking of reaching, or in this case, overreaching, the governor also emphasized last week the theme of tolerance as an attractive attribute of creative communities and said he would introduce a gay-rights bill in the next legislative session, a worthy impulse that would be better introduced outside of whether it was good for the state’s economy. The idea immediately produced another boneheaded comment from the Christian Civic League’s Michael Heath (“Maybe the governor has one of these imaginary gay genes?”), apparently to stir up his troops and annoy everyone else. Expect in January to watch lawmakers contort themselves into a body of indecision over whether gays should be able to live where they want or do their jobs without being harassed.

It should be a spectacle. Maybe Maine could sell tickets and use the proceeds to stimulate its creative economy.