LEWISTON – Work harder. Find partners. Rely less on a single savior to either shine a spotlight on an artistic work or bankroll an entire project.

Artists need not starve, though.

That was the message Thursday as 140 people gathered in Lewiston for a statewide summit on the arts.

Arts groups may survive if they make their case to leaders in government and business that they improve their communities, boosting both quality of life and the financial health.

“We have research now to back it up,” said Craig Dreeszen, a consultant with the University of Massachusetts’ Arts Extension Service and a presenter at the summit.

“It used to be that we just made it up,” he joked.

In Maine, more than 8 percent of the economy comes from the creative sector, said a representative from the Maine Arts Commission.

Too many artists have banked their future on “that one big donor” that would make them solvent, much as city economic developers once spent too much time hoping for the one big employer. The days of a car manufacturer moving in and offering thousands of high-paying jobs are over, said Maren Brown, who directs the extension service.

“It’s small steps, I’m afraid,” Brown said.

The research is helping to convince government and business leaders to invest in the arts, she said.

“We’re measuring the success,” she said.

The arts account for more than $160 billion of the national economy, said Felicia Knight, spokeswoman for the National Endowment of the Arts.

“You are business people,” the Camden native and former TV reporter told delegates at an afternoon workshop. “The arts have jobs, too. And they’re clean.”

Delegates to the all-day conference – held at the Franco-American Heritage Center and the Lewiston Public Library – came from all over Maine.

Many hoped merely to exchange business cards and chat with their counterparts.

Kim Brennan of Waterville’s Freshwater Arts drove to Lewiston to hear some strategies for sustaining her group. She hoped to leave with a few nuggets of information to take home.

“My first goal was to network,” she said, sitting in a plush seat at the Franco Center. If she could catch a tip for pitching her group to local leaders or find a grant-writing hint, that would be good, too.

Nancy Rosenbaum, who helped organize this summer’s Maine Jewish Film Festival, said she hoped to drum up work. She helps write grants for nonprofit groups.

“Everybody is competing for limited resources,” she said. “In most cases, people are working really hard.”