economic impact study
arts & economic prosperity
Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) is an economic impact study all about the arts, conducted in partnership with Americans for the Arts down in Washington DC. It is a study that is used in regional planning, advocacy, economic development strategies and more! The study is conducted approximately every five years to gauge the economic impact (on employment, government revenue, and household income) of spending by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and the event-related spending by their audiences.
In 2017, the previous study, AEP5, documented that the nonprofit arts and culture industry natinoally generated $166.3 billion in economic activity (spending by organizations plus the event-related spending by their audiences) which supported 4.6 million jobs and generated $27.5 billion in government revenue.
The AEP series demonstrates that an investment in the arts provides both cultural and economic benefits.
What data do we get?
Arts Alive is partnering with Americans for the Arts on two primary data collection efforts: an audience-intercept survey of attendees to arts and culture events that take place in the community, and a budget and attendance survey of the comprehensive universe of nonprofit arts and culture organizations that exist in the community.
We will receive:
A final report customized for our community’s survey data and based on an economic input-output model tailored for our specific local economy. Improved economic analysis methods will provide each community with specific sources of government revenues generated (e.g., income tax, sales tax, hotel tax, property tax).
Arts & Creative Economy reports will be created for Cheshire & Hillsborough counties using federal data about the number of arts business establishments, employment, income, and artist employment.
Social impact measures have been added to the audience survey to gauge how arts and culture impacts neighborhood pride and cultural identity.
The AEP6 Playbook will provide research partners with practical monthly actions to increase local participation and promote the findings!
Why is the study important?
Arts & Economic Prosperity studies have demonstrated that an investment in the arts provides both cultural and economic benefits:
Nonprofit arts and culture organizations are businesses. They employ people locally, purchase goods and services from within the community, are members of their Chambers of Commerce, and attract tourists to their regions.
The arts drive commerce to local businesses. The arts, unlike most industries, leverage significant amounts of event-related spending by their audiences. In 2017, arts attendees spent $31.47 per person, per event, beyond the cost of admission on items such as meals, parking, and lodging—vital income for local businesses.
Arts travelers are ideal tourists. They stay longer and spend more to seek out authentic cultural experiences. One-third of attendees travel from outside the county in which the activity takes place and spend an average of $48 per person. (69% say they traveled specifically to attend the activity.)
Small investments. Big returns. In 2017, the combined $5 billion in direct arts funding by local, state, and federal governments yielded $27.5 billion in government revenue.
We will be leveraging the data and mobilizing our Arts Ambassadors to share with local and state government, business and community leaders, and local foundations and donors, why investing in the arts is so important to our local economies.