This one pager features data from Americans for the Arts 2017 Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 report providing key figures of the overall economic impact the arts industry provides.

The arts are fundamental to our humanity. They ennoble and inspire us—fostering creativity, goodness, and beauty. The arts bring us joy, help us express our values, and build bridges between cultures. The arts are also a fundamental component of a healthy community—strengthening them socially, educationally, and economically—benefits that persist even in difficult social and economic times.

Want to know the best ways to disseminate Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 data to businesses in your community? This tool-kit has hard data on the best ways to reach them, along with information on how the arts sector has used the report.

A Pew Research Center survey released in June 2017 found a decline in international tourism and of respondents only 49 percent of from 37 countries held a favorable view of the U.S., as compared to a favorable view of 64 percent when Obama left office.

This report builds upon our prior studies (The Creative Economy Initiative: The Role of the Arts and Culture in New England’s Economic Competitiveness in 2000 and The Creative Economy: A New Definition in 2007) as well as the real-time online community, CreativeGround, which we launched in 2014 to reflect the creative people and places at work in New England. CreativeGround serves as a tool to promote and connect creatives to each other and those who know that vibrant neighborhoods go hand-in-hand with a vibrant creative sector.

The report released by the New York City Comptroller, “Culture Shock: The Importance of National Arts Funding to New York City’s Cultural Landscape,” highlights how the NEA supports arts and educational programs across the five boroughs of New York City and profiles four neighborhood-based arts groups that would be impacted.

This report presents the current findings of a study of culture and social wellbeing in New York City conducted by the University of Pennsylvania Social Impact of the Arts Project (SIAP) in collaboration with Reinvestment Fund. The project began in the fall of 2014 when SIAP accepted an invitation from Tom Finkelpearl, Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for the City, to conduct a study of the social value of the arts. The study builds on SIAP’s over twenty years of research and writing on the non-­‐ economic impact of the arts on urban communities. During that time, SIAP has

"In March 2017, the Trump Administration formally proposed the abolition of the two federal agencies that support arts and culture in the U.S., the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Elimination of federal support is not about the money, which only comes to 45 cents per capita for the NEA or .003 percent of the federal budget. The decimation of federal support is the coup de grâce of a long campaign carefully crafted to mislead the public into believing that the arts are irrelevant to most Americans." [Introduction p.1]

Ten Reasons to Support the Arts - 2017 update

The arts and culture sector is a $730 billion industry, which represents 4.2 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—a larger share of the economy than transportation, tourism, or construction—according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.