From major metropolitan areas to small rural towns, research shows that the nonprofit arts and culture industry is an economically sound investment. It attracts audiences, spurs business development, supports jobs and generates government revenue. Locally as well as nationally, the arts mean business.
Turning Around Downtown: Twelve Steps to Revitalization
From the Brookings Institution. Highlight: “Downtown revitalization requires a high degree of cooperation and is best achieved when a unique private/public process is used.”
Another community finds investment in arts pays dividends
The money that pours into local arts events has the Greater Morgantown economy humming to the tune of $4.1 million according to a study commissioned by Arts Monongahela. The year-long research project, conducted by the West Virginia University Bureau of Business and Economic Research, surveyed arts patrons from July 2005 to June 2006 to see where they came from and how much they spent. Seventeen non-profit arts organizations participated representing the diversity of arts that flourish here in Morgantown: theatre, dance, visual and literary arts.
More than 60,000 individuals attended 121 arts events in Monongalia County during the survey period. The study estimated that these arts patrons spent more than $2.8 million in tickets, at restaurants, and retail businesses generating a total economic impact of $4.1 million. The study found the average visitor spent $51.16.
WDDI Economic Impact
Waynesboro Downtown Development, Inc.
Position Statement
Wayne Theatre Alliance Funding
May 2007
“Attendance at arts events generates related commerce for local businesses such as restaurants, parking garages, hotels and retail stores. Data collected from 94,478 attendees at a range of events reveal an average spending of $27.79 per person, per event – in addition to the cost of admission. This spending generated an estimated $103.1 billion of valuable revenue for local merchants and their communities in 2005.”
“Nonprofit arts and culture organizations in the United states drive a $166 billion industry – a growth industry that supports 5.7 million full-time jobs and generates nearly $30 billion in government revenues annually. This study lays to rest a common misconception: that communities support arts and culture at the expense of local economic development. In fact, communities are investing in an industry that supports jobs, generates government revenue, and is the cornerstone of tourism.”
Arts & Economic Prosperity III, 2007
Americans for the Arts