Rhonda Wilson explains how the creative sector is becoming the Midlands' new industrial heart.

In the 1700s the men of the Lunar Society met in this city to make ideas happen. Birmingham and the West Midlands were recognised as having the skills and knowledge to bring life to innovation.

Science, the arts, engineering, architecture and transport all became the subjects of collective energy and vision, developing the economy and driving commerce through creativity.

The same is true of Birmingham and the West Midlands today - the life of the arts in the region glows red hot and fuels the energy of the place; the signs of the artists are everywhere - making collaborations with communities, architects, developers, planners, major stores, businesses, global plcs, the city council, arts and development agencies. This is creativity personified, a place where people still come to realise ideas and share them. Not only with one another, but with the world.

Culture and imagination draw in local, national and international tourism, boosting the regional economy. When people come to be fascinated by ideas and creative ingenuity they also spend money.

They go to the shops, stay in hotels, use public transport and eat, in addition to visiting arts venues.

Every year in July, Rhubarb-Rhubarb - the UK's International Festival of the Image - spends around £90,000 on flights into Birmingham airport for its 60 or so international reviewers, on hotels, hospitality, on web and real-time promotional materials, venue hire - often turning desolate spaces into places of wonder. It works with local freelancers, PR agencies and paid temporary teams to deliver what is now known as Europe's premiere photographic review.

Each of the 170 participating photographers, from 33 countries, spends on average £600 for a three day visit - £102,000 - on hotels, travel and eating out. And they all go shopping, too.

In short the regional arts are acting as one big promotional machine which does its job exceptionally well and profiles the creative life of the region on a global platform, bringing in cultural visitors from the four corners of the world. The arts are the epicentre of passion and vision, driven by a relatively small group of individuals who are equipped to do business internationally, yet often go unrecognised for their skills as entrepreneurs.

They don't fit the mould of the archetypal business person but are as creative with money as they are with ideas and inspiration.

Rhubarb is not alone in its international tenacity, sitting alongside other small but inspirational organisations, such as Fierce, Capsule, Friction, Stan's Cafe and Sampad, to name but a few. They are names now known throughout the world as innovative creative businesses, attracting the very best of international talent to the region.

Gone are the days when arts organisations are dependent on funding. There is a growing awareness that the sustainability of the arts and creative industries depends on the mechanisms which encourage and promote trading - local, regional and international - as a means of generating income.

Arts have become big business. The creative industries are the third largest economic growth area in Europe and the sales of art, not only to collectors but also to the public, have grown substantially during the last three years.

The big issue is, how to contain this creative life in the region, or rather, how to ensure it stays here and grows. There is no end to the amount of artists who want to know more, who wish to engage in not only an intellectual life, but one which can offer them a future as citizens; who have a place in the future of the city and region; who are respected for their contribution to the life of the place.

During 2006, Rhubarb-Rhubarb and Creative Alliance alone, worked with over 200 artists to develop their potential to enter regional, national and international markets, creating showcasing events in the city, wider region and in Europe. In the process they supported the artists to grow confidence to face the rigours of global marketplaces, both real and virtual, which are becoming ever more complex and demanding. And by working with experts, to understand the context of their own work within those marketplaces.

In short, like any business, we researched the potential for creative growth, worked out how to get the product to market and acted with great energy . . . physically taking regional talent to European venues.

In July 2006, as an international collaboration between Arts Council England West Midlands, UK Trade and Investment, Hewlett Packard International, Addie Vassie Gallery - Amsterdam, and Les Rencontres D'Arles - France, Rhubarb-Rhubarb organised and managed Luminous, an exhibition of 12 fine art photographers from the West Midlands.

Housed in the awesome Hotel D'Arlatan, the central venue of the historic Arles Festival, the show remained for 72 days and was seen by over 22,000 international visitors. Recognising the potential to draw in cultural tourists, the venue was free of charge.

The photographers shed light on the outdated view of Birmingham and the region as a dark industrial zone, and made sales of images and two new venues in Berlin and Liangzou for the show. Regional arts personified within the international marketplaces.

Rhubarb brings the international world of the image to Birmingham and promotes Birmingham and the region to the world, and has now firmly established the West Midlands internationally as a centre for creative photographic excellence. It has never had a brief to market Birmingham but, like its companion organisations, does this inherently through the flair and freshness of its arts and artists - and the ability of its team to drive vans, speak French, install art in impossible spaces, hold an English tea party as a launch and broker major deals.

The arts also recognises the life of the region. During six days over the May Bank Holiday, photographer Barry Lewis set up his White Tent in the Bullring and made 1500 portraits, which celebrated the diversity of the city and its visitors. He chose Birmingham as his first city in the UK to photograph in his Portrait of Britain, struck by its internationalism and style.

Rhubarb brokered the partnership with the Urban Fusion programme and the Bullring. The portraits, which are extraordinary, are a contemporary portrait of Birmingham through its people.

So yes, the life is here. But like any business, if the life is to develop, there are issues concerning conditions for growth. Last year, with less than a one per cent investment, the creative industries in the region grew by ten per cent. A phenomenal achievement by any sector definition. Whilst many European cities are recognising the value of creative growth to local and regional economies by strategies offering free or subsidised showcasing and production accommodation, Birmingham has not yet grasped the regeneration opportunity.

Given the hot competition from Manchester and Liverpool as contemporary creative cities, Birmingham must show off and showcase the life of its regional arts, as they move to becoming creative industries and key economic drivers.

We probably have the most vibrant and yet most secret pool of creative talent in the country.

Imagine what the economic growth would be if it became more visible. Imagine how people would be more encouraged to invest or relocate here if they could see that creativity was something absolutely embraced by the the ethos of the city - to encourage ideas, not only as future economic growth but as a way of life. Creative thinking on an everyday level, which would attract the new generation of business investors who recognise the creative capital of ideas and innovative thinking.

All around the city and region are the physical reminders of our industrial history. Empty warehouses and former factories await being bought by developers, attracted to areas designated as creative districts, but beyond the means of creative organisations to own. Were they to be assisted to do this, the life of the regional arts would become more sustainable, more visible and give more confidence to a sector which is doing an international marketing exercise for the region, without a budget. And doing it alongside its proper job.

Put the life of the regional arts at the centre of the vision and we can reclaim the history of the place in a contemporary context - the creative industrial heartland of the UK, and then the world.

* Rhonda Wilson is the Creative Director of Rhubarb-Rhubarb, which exists to develop the creative and professional skills of photographic and digital artists wishing to have a future in the sector. In 2006 she received an MBE for Photography and International Trade.

• In July 2007, Rhubarb-Rhubarb will be using Curzon Street Station as a space for creative trading, marked by 'The Light Sale' - photographic works by regional image makers - July 21st-25th. Followed by the Rhubarb-Rhubarb International Portfolio revue, which invites 60 renowned experts from the image world to view the work of 150 regional, national and international photographers, stimulating the potential for global showcasing, commissioning and publishing opportunities. See www.rhubarb-rhubarb.net for details.

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As the centrepiece of this year's New Generation Arts Festival, The Big Debate will explore the health of Britain's regional arts scene and question the perceived cultural hegemony of London.

The event, supported by the NEC Group and The Birmingham Post, is designed to provoke a wide-ranging debate across a broad spectrum of interests, including business, politics and local communities.

Chairing the debate will be Richard Morrison, chief culture critic of The Times. Sir Christopher Frayling, chair of the Arts Council; Prof Germaine Greer, writer academic and broadcaster; Anthony Sargent, general director of The Sage, Gateshead and The Birmingham Post's own arts correspondent Terry Grimley, will be on the panel.

The debate will be held at the ICC in Birmingham on Monday June 18, at 2.30pm. To book a seat and register a question for the panel, visit www.thebigdebatebirmingham.co.uk