Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Study: Arts and Economic Prosperity in Austin, Americans by the Arts, 2012

Arts and Economic Prosperity in Austin Texas Americans for the Arts
(cover: Americans for the Arts)

This fourth updated edition of the study bolsters the justification for the City of Austin to continue providing grants to cultural arts organizations from the revenue generated by the tax on hotel occupancy. Most of those funds from the tax go to the Austin Convention and Visitors Center and to undertakings associated with the hotel industry. Certain of their representatives have argued that Texas law mandates that all the revenue for promotion of tourism should go to those non-arts entities.

Excerpts from the authors' conclusions after analyzing data from 95 arts and cultural organizations in Austinfor City of Austin fiscal year 2010 :


The Economic Impact of the Nonprofit Arts and Culture Industry in the City of Austin, TX
Arts & Economic Prosperity IV provides compelling new evidence that the nonprofit arts and culture are a significant industry in the City of Austin—one that generates $236.1 million in total economic activity. This spending—$137.2 million bynonprofit arts and culture organizations and an additional $99 million in event-relatedspending by their audiences—supports 7,315 full-time equivalent jobs, generates $164.9 million in household income to local residents, and delivers $23.0 million in local and state government revenue. This economic impact study sends a strong signal that when we support the arts, we not only enhance our quality of life, but we also invest in the City of Austin’s economic well-being.


Economic Impact of Spending by Nonprofit Arts and Culture Organizations in the City of Austin

Nonprofit arts and culture organizations are active contributors to their business community. They are employers, producers, and consumers. They are members of the Chamber of Commerce as well as key partners in the marketing and promotion of their cities, regions, and states. Spending by nonprofit arts and culture organizations totaled $137.2 million in the City of Austin during fiscal year 2010. This spending is far-reaching: organizations pay employees, purchase supplies, contract for services, and acquire assets within their community. These actions, in turn, support jobs, create household income, and generate revenue to the local and state governments.

The City of Austin’s nonprofit arts and culture organizations provide rewarding employment for more than just administrators, artists, curators, choreographers, and musicians. They also employ financial staff, facility managers, and salespeople. In addition, the spending by these organizations directly supports a wide array of other occupations spanning many industries (e.g., printing, event planning, legal, construction, and accounting).

Data were collected from 95 eligible nonprofit arts and culture organizations in the City of Austin. Each provided detailed budget information about more than 40 expenditure categories for fiscal year 2010 (e.g., labor, payments to local and nonlocal artists, operations, administration, programming, facilities, and capital expenditures/asset acquisition).

No comments:

Post a Comment