TheMostComprehensiveStudyofItsKind.pptVIP

* Every day, the 100,000 nonprofit arts and culture organizations that populate the nation’s cities and towns are making their communities more desirable places to live and work. They provide inspiration and enjoyment to residents, beautify shared public places, and strengthen the social fabric. The Americans for the Arts study demonstrates that the nonprofit arts and culture industry is an economic driver in those communities as well—a growth industry that supports jobs, generates government revenue, and is the cornerstone of tourism. At a time when governments at all levels are making tough budget choices, this study sends an important message: that support for the arts does not come at the expense of economic development. When we increase our investment in the arts, we are not supporting a frill or a luxury. Rather, an industry that supports jobs, generates government revenue, is the cornerstone of tourism and economic development, and drives a creativity-based economy. Nonprofit arts and culture organizations pay their employees, purchase supplies, contract for services, and acquire assets from within their communities. Their audiences generate event-related spending for local merchants such as restaurants, retail stores, hotels, and parking garages. This study sends an important message to community leaders that support for the arts is an investment in economic well-being as well as quality of life. Arts Economic Prosperity III is the most comprehensive economic impact study of the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture industry ever conducted. It alters the percent the arts are luxuries worth supporting in prosperous times but hard to justify when the economy is struggling. Researchers collected detailed expenditure and attendance data from 6,080 nonprofit arts and culture organizations and 94,478 of their attendees to measure total industry spending. Project economists customized input-output analysis models for each study region to provide specif