[FAC] 10/22/08 Fresno Bee Editorial on the Economic Impact of the Cultural Arts

[Cynthia Cooper]

Arts and cultural events pay off big time for Fresno County Economy gets a
multimillion-dollar boost from local, tourist spending.

The classic figure of the starving artist may be real, but the arts provide
a banquet for the local economy. Fresno County sees almost $120 million
annually in economic activity created by the nonprofit arts and culture
industry. More than 2,700 jobs are generated in the county each year.

Those local numbers are part of a nationwide study called Arts& Economic
Prosperity III, conducted by Americans for the Arts. The study set the
national economic impact at $166.2 billion annually. The Fresno Coalition
for Arts, Science & History (FCASH) helped gather data for the local segment
of the study.

The local economic activity includes $61 million in household income, more
than $3.7 million in local taxes and almost $7.7 million generated for the
state treasury.

Spending by arts organizations is about $55.2 million, while $64.5 million
is spent by those who attend events, paying for everything from tickets to
hotels to souvenirs.

One interesting bit of data: Local people who attend events spend an average
of $28.82, while non-local attendees drop an average of $49.30. That¹s a
strong argument for promoting Fresno County to tourists as a locale for arts
events.

(Imagine the crowds we might draw to Woodward Park for mixed martial arts
fighters performing Shakespeare on BMX bikes as part of Art Hop.)

It¹s long been part of the conventional wisdom that a flourishing arts and
culture scene is a vital component of a vibrant quality of life in any area.
But we¹re never really had such stark quantitative evidence of the economic
impact of the arts as this study contains.

The arts can stir the soul and ignite the passions, but it¹s clear they can
also create a satisfying ³clink² in the cash register ‹ and the more the
better.


Cynthia Cooper
Executive Director
Fresno Coalition for Arts, Science & History
1401 Fulton Street, S-904, Fresno, CA 93721
559 286 8282 cell  
559 485 1100 office
ccooper at fcash.org email
http://www.fcash.org  web

Together we can do great things


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