The Great Recession undeniably changed the nonprofit arts community. We responded to this seismic shift in three ways: launching the pARTnership Movement, which brings arts & businesses together for mutually beneficial partnerships, releasing our Arts & Economic Prosperity IV study, which quantifies the national economic impact of nonprofit arts organizations, and introducing our Local Arts Index and our National Arts Index, both of which offer critical data to illustrate the ROI of the arts to policymakers.
The pARTnership Movement
Since the launch of the pARTnership Movement in January 2012, we have educated more than 13,000 people on how to make and support connections between arts and business. Arts organizations can download tool kits and customizable ads. Businesses can use a ZIP-code directory to find compatible arts groups in their communities. And everyone can share and post their success stories.
72 percent of companies that participate or partner with the arts agree that it stimulates creative thinking, problem solving, and team building.
One-on-one with President and CEO Robert L. Lynch about the importance of arts & business partnerships
Arts & Economic Prosperity IV
Ask the arts community in San Diego what research can do. One month after we released our most comprehensive Arts & Economic Prosperity report, the San Diego City Council approved Mayor Jerry Sanders’ request to increase arts funding by 5 percent and cited AEP IV as a catalyst behind the decision.
Working in collaboration with local partners, the Americans for the Arts’ research staff used our local network to gather and compile data from around the country to create a national tool capable of presenting an industry-wide picture of the role of the nonprofit arts and culture sector. AEP IV provides legislators and arts advocates with the knowledge and tools to understand how the arts benefit their local economy and where their city or region stands in comparison to others in the U.S.
Nonprofit arts groups generate $135.2 billion of economic activity—$61.1 billion by the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture organizations in addition to $74.1 billion in event-related expenditures by their audiences.
Learn more about the research, the findings and the tools available on the AEP IV website.
The Arts Index
While some research can pinpoint with great accuracy the economic impact of the arts, the Arts Index is a yearly check-in about the health and vitality of the arts nationally.
The National Arts Index quantifies key issues, such as the growing number of artists and arts organizations, changing audience demand, the impact of technology, and personal participation. The Local Arts Index provides details on breadth, depth, and character of cultural life in their individual communities. It provides a framework for relating arts and culture to community priorities and aspirations, such as economic development and revitalization through jobs or infrastructure, youth, education, and health concerns.
According to the National Arts Index, about one-third (32 percent) of the adult population attended a performing arts event in 2010, up from 28 percent in 2009, and 13 percent visited an art museum, up slightly from 12 percent in 2009.
Randy Cohen, Vice President of Research and Policy at Americans for the Arts, introduces the new Arts Index website.