Creating a Cultural Economy
In his latest book, The Age of Access, Jeremy Rifkin describes the cultural economy by explaining how culture has become commodified as a result of the demise of the Industrial Age and a saturation of the market with manufactured goods. "Cultural production is beginning to eclipse physical production in world commerce and trade," says Rifkin. He characterizes three sectors of society: the economy, government, and culture. Because of the increasing importance of global economic networks and cyberspace commerce on the Internet, the first two sectors have become less focused on the local concerns of society. Therefore it is critical to revitalize the cultural sector at a local level in order to fill this institutional vacuum. The production of culture and the shared experiences it creates are the new commodities of the 21st century. Fredric Jameson also discusses this fundamental relationship of culture and the economy in his "Notes on Globalization," and places it in a postmodern context. "The becoming cultural of the economic, and the becoming economic of the cultural has often been identified as one of the features that characterizes what is now widely known as postmodernity."

Rifkin also notes his concern that culture will be rapidly depleted as it becomes commodified, and that the local context of culture as a shared experience may be lost when marketing efforts reproduce culture into entertainment through the media and the Internet. In the midst of increasing globalization and commodification of culture, it becomes even more important to focus on the local context of culture, meaning where and how it is initially created. Artists will inevitably participate more in the global cultural economy, but once again, if the local economy is not well established with a strong basis of community support behind it, then artists will permanently leave for more developed centers such as New York, Miami, and Paris. This permanent flight will affect the local community by depleting it of a cultural commodity, as well as of the shared experiences for the larger community.

As was mentioned earlier, there is and has been, a serious dearth of commercial art galleries in Tijuana and Baja Norte. The choice of destination is difficult — many artists fear the stiff competition in Mexico City, yet complain of the conservative art scene in neighboring San Diego across the border. They talk about Los Angeles or New York, but most lack either the contacts or resources to go there. Some artists are able to win government scholarships to travel and create projects, while others choose to acquire second professions that are more economically secure, such as doctors, dentists, lawyers, and teachers. Ironically, these second professions may prevent the "flight of culture" as artists develop permanent economic ties to their city.