THE IMPACT OF NONPROFIT ARTS AND CULTURE ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR AUDIENCES
The nonprofit arts and culture industry generates over $1.3 billion in annual economic activity in the greater Houston region—supporting 21,378 full-time equivalent jobs and generating $251.7 million in tax revenue to local, state, and federal governments, according to the Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 national economic impact study. The most comprehensive economic impact study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry ever conducted in the United States, Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 was conducted by Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education.
Arts and culture organizations contribute to community pride in the Greater Houston Region.
86.7% of arts and culture attendees agree that the activity or venue where they were surveyed “is inspiring a sense of pride in this neighborhood or community.”
86.6% agree that “I would feel a great sense of loss if this activity or venue were no longer available.”
83.7% agree that the venue or facility where they were surveyed is “an important pillar for me within my community.”
Nationally, the sector generated $151.7 billion of economic activity in 2022—$73.3 billion in spending by arts and culture organizations and an additional $78.4 billion in event-related expenditures by their audiences. What was the impact of this economic activity? It supported 2.6 million jobs, provided $101 billion in personal income to residents, and generated $29.1 billion in tax revenue to local, state, and federal governments.
30 YEARS OF ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDIES
AEP6 represents a total reset, establishing a new benchmark in the AEP study series.
We changed our approach. We expanded the study inclusion criteria from “arts” to “arts and culture,” implemented a new data collection methodology, asked our partners to utilize new community engagement tools, added social impact questions to the survey instruments, and moved our economic impact modeling to the IMPLAN platform.
The world around us changed. The COVID-19 pandemic occurred, a recession followed, audiences decreased, attendance habits changed, the arts and hospitality industries suffered profound job losses, and billions of dollars were distributed to the arts and culture sector from federal pandemic relief funding such as the CARES Act.
What has not changed is the community-based focus of our work. When Americans for the Arts published its first economic impact study in 1994, we partnered with local arts agencies representing 33 communities. AEP6 has grown tenfold since then. It provides detailed findings on 373 regions from across all 50 states and Puerto Rico—ranging in population from 4,000 to 4 million—and representing rural, suburban, and large urban communities. Local and statewide research partners collected surveys from 16,399 nonprofit arts and culture organizations and 224,677 of their attendees and customized economic input-output models were built for every region to ensure reliable data and actionable results.
*Please note, the AEP study focuses on the contributions of nonprofit arts organizations and spending around them. It omits the economic impact of individual artists and other forms of creators and contributors. It also does not assess non-economic, positive impact of the arts. To complete this study, for efficiency and affordability, HAA participates in a larger national one, but can offer input to those who, every five years, execute this study, including the need to include individual artists. Do you have input you would like us to share? We invite you to join us in broadening this perspective with the national organizers of the study, by sharing your input with us, so we can pass it on. Email Karen, our Director of Communications, at karen@haatx.com. Together, let's work towards a more inclusive representation of the arts, ensuring that both organizations and individual artists receive the recognition they deserve in shaping the cultural and economic landscape of our communities.
Greater Houston Study Results
Greater Houston Summary
Harris County Study Results
Harris County Summary
National Study Results
National Study Brochure
SEE HOUSTON IN THE MAP OF STUDY REGIONS
Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 demonstrates that the nonprofit arts and culture industry is an economic driver in communities—a growth industry that supports jobs, generates government revenue, and builds community vibrancy. The map in the link below displays the 373 study regions who participated in this research effort. Forty-one research partners represented multiple communities such as both a city and a county.
FAQs
To view more Frequently Asked Questions, please click here.
What is the significance of the AEP6 study?
Americans for the Arts provides the trusted knowledge and information tools that leaders need to advocate for increased funding for arts and culture, inclusive equitable policies and programs, and a thriving local arts agency field. Building on its 30-year legacy as the largest and most inclusive study of its kind, Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) is an economic and social impact study of the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture industry. The study provides detailed findings on 373 regions from across all 50 states and Puerto Rico—ranging in population from 4,000 to 4 million—and represents rural, suburban, and large urban communities. AEP6 uses a rigorous methodology to document the economic contributions of the arts and culture industry, demonstrating locally as well as nationally that arts and culture is a critical economic driver of vibrant communities. Americans for the Arts partnered with 297 local, regional, and statewide organizations that represent the 373 study regions in AEP6. This study absolutely could not have been completed without them. This collective effort across the country fosters diverse and inclusive collaborations that can influence sustainable policy change and more arts funding. AEP6 is released with important national partners—organizations of public and private sector leaders that steer billions of dollars into arts and culture funding and create arts-friendly policies. These include:
Actors’ Equity Association
African Diaspora Consortium
Arts & Planning Division (American Planning Association)
Black Legislative Leaders Network
Department for Professional Employees, AFL- CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations)
Destinations International
International City/County Management Association
Independent Sector
National Association of Counties
National Conference of State Legislatures
National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations
National Independent Venue Association
National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women
Race Forward
Recording Industry Association of America
The Conference Board
U.S. Conference of Mayors
What are the key findings from AEP6?
AEP6 uses a highly regarded, conservative approach to analyze the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry, which generates a significant amount of economic activity by its organizations and event-related spending by its audiences.
The message is clear: a vibrant nonprofit arts and culture community not only keeps residents and their discretionary spending close to home, but it also attracts visitors who spend money and help local businesses thrive.
Local Impact
What continues to set AEP6 apart from other national studies is exactly why it is so useful. It is local. Every study region uses the same rigorous methodology, and each receives its own customized report. Surveys from 16,399 nonprofit arts and culture organizations and 224,677 of their attendees were collected by local and statewide research partners, and a customized input-output economic model was built for each region.
Arts and Culture Audience Impact
AEP6 is the only national study that incorporates the event-related spending by arts and culture audiences. When attendees go to an arts and culture event, they may also pay for parking, eat dinner at a restaurant, enjoy dessert after the show, and return home to pay child or pet care. The typical attendee spends $38.46 per person, not including the cost of admission.
Visitor Impact
Vibrant arts and culture communities attract visitors who spend money and help local businesses thrive. The study found that one-third of attendees (30.1%) were from outside the county in which the arts event took place. They spent an average of $60.57, twice that of their local counterparts ($29.77)—all vital income for local merchants. For 77% of respondents, the primary purpose of their visit was to attend that cultural event. When we asked arts and culture event attendees what they would have done if the event where they were surveyed had not been available, 51% of local attendees said they would have “traveled to a different community to attend a similar arts or cultural activity,” and 64% of nonlocal visitors would have selected another community as well.
Social Impact
For the first time, AEP6 asked audiences social impact questions. Beyond its economic and financial impacts, arts and culture provides social contributions that benefit the wider community, such as neighborhood pride and cultural identity. Surveys completed by attendees demonstrate a deep appreciation for how arts and culture impacts the development and well-being of communities and their residents.
▪ 89% of respondents agreed the activity or venue they were attending was “a source of neighborhood pride for the community.”
▪ 86% said they would “feel a sense of loss if that activity or venue was no longer available.”
▪ 86% felt it important that future generations also be able to have that cultural experience. This high level of appreciation is found across all socioeconomic groupings.
Americans for the Arts | Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 P a g e | 49
Equity and Inclusion
AEP6 included an expectation—for the first time—that our research partners would collect a portion of audience surveys from attendees to events that were presented, produced, or hosted by BIPOC and ALAANA organizations. The study found:
▪ Spending by attendees at BIPOC and ALAANA organizations was nearly identical to the overall national average ($38.29 and $38.46 per person, respectively).
▪ Social impact survey results were also nearly identical. For example, 81.2% of attendees at BIPOC and ALAANA organizations agreed, “This venue or facility is an important pillar for me within my community.” The figure for all attendees was 81.4%.
▪ These findings should initiate critical funding conversations about BIPOC and ALAANA organizations receiving fair and proportional financial support.
▪ A 2019 report by Americans for the Arts, for example, found that among local arts agency grantmaking organizations, the largest 16% of grant recipients (by budget) received 73% of the dollars awarded.
▪ The 2022 survey found that the pandemic’s impact was not felt equally. Organizations serving and representing BIPOC communities were more likely to report lacking the financial resources needed to return to in-person programming than non-BIPOC organizations (55% vs. 38%).
▪ Ensuring equitable funding for arts and culture organizations is a vital step in creating an inclusive, balanced, and vibrant cultural landscape.
What are the problems or challenges that AEP6 helps to address?
Like all nonprofits, arts and culture organizations have a public purpose: to make their cultural product broadly accessible so everyone can share in its benefits. And, like all nonprofits, they depend on financial support from the government and the private sector to deliver on that promise. We are in a time, however, when many leaders feel challenged to fund the arts. Shrinking budgets, mandates to prioritize jobs and economic growth, and pressing community development issues make for difficult decision making. AEP6 brings a welcome message: when we invest in the arts, we are investing in an industry that strengthens the economy and builds more livable communities.
Past AEP studies have focused primarily on the financial, economic, and tourism contributions of the nonprofit arts and culture industry. A result of this has been an underrepresentation and underrecognition of arts and culture organizations that primarily serve communities of color and their audiences. For the first time, AEP6 expands beyond the economic and financial data to learn about the arts’ social impact on the overall well-being of communities and the importance of affirming spaces in BIPOC- and ALAANA-identifying communities. With the goal of making AEP6 more inclusive and reducing systemic bias, Americans for the Arts transformed its approach and expanded the inclusion and participation of organizations serving or representing communities of color by:
▪ Hiring an AEP6 community engagement and equity research director
▪ Adding an equity consultant to the research team
▪ Establishing an AEP6 Equity Task Force composed of leaders from all segments of the industry
▪ Completing a full review and restructure of the methodology
▪ Ensuring publishing accessibility guidelines were met and providing inclusive language offerings (e.g., the audience survey was available in 25 languages)
▪ Creating a series of community engagement tools to help our research partners identify, approach, and establish new and strengthen existing relationships with organizations representing BIPOC- and ALAANA-identifying communities