Crystal Bridges, Walton Arts Center to participate in arts impact survey
by March 9, 2016 5:29 pm 314 views
Walton Arts Center and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art will participate in Arts & Economic Prosperity 5, a national study measuring the economic impact of nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences.
Nonprofit Americans for the Arts will conduct research on this, their fifth study in a 20-year span, to measure impact of arts spending on local jobs, income paid to local residents, and revenue generated to local and state governments.
The Department of Cultural Affairs, one of 300 national study partners, will collect detailed financial data about local nonprofit arts and culture organizations, such as theater and dance companies, museums, festivals and arts education organizations.
Additionally, Crystal Bridges and Walton Arts Center will collect “audience-intercept surveys” from arts event attendees. These surveys will come in the form of short, anonymous questionnaires asking how much attendees spent on items like meals, parking/transportation, souvenirs, retail shopping, and overnight lodging directly related to the event. Additional analyses will gauge the role the nonprofit arts industry plays in attracting tourists to communities.
Previous studies revealed the average attendee spends $24.60 per person, per event, beyond the cost of admission on meals, transportation, babysitting, and other event-related spending. An average of 32% of all arts attendees travel from outside the county in which the arts event took place. These “cultural tourists” typically spend around $40 per person, generating revenue for local businesses and demonstrating revenue impact of the arts on other businesses within a community.
Crystal Bridges and Walton Arts Center will begin collecting surveys in 2016 with results slated for a June 2017 release.
“This study will show that when we support the arts in Northwest Arkansas, we are making an investment in an industry, one that supports and impacts the well-being of all those in in our community,” said Jenni Swain, Walton Arts Center vice president of programming.
According to Americans for the Arts’ most recent national study, the nonprofit arts industry generated $135.2 billion in total economic activity and supported 4.1 million full-time equivalent jobs during 2010, resulting in $22.3 billion in federal, state and local government revenues.
The $135.2 billion total included $61.1 billion in spending by arts organizations and $74.1 billion in event-related spending by their audiences on items such as meals, local transportation, and overnight lodging. The previous report from fiscal year 2010 is available at this link.