Study shows economic impact of arts

They have a $213M impact on region, nonprofit says.

The arts in Dayton have a $213 million-plus economic impact, a new study finds.

An Arts & Economic Prosperity study conducted by Americans for the Arts, conductedin 2015andpublished in 2016, shows thatnonprofit arts and cultural organizations in the Dayton area had an annual impact of more than $95 million, with audiences adding another $118 million to that, according to a newCultureWorks release on the study results.

“The resulting, combined financial impact of arts organizations and arts audiences is more than $213 million in total expenditures, according to the research project,” Culture Works said.

Thestudy defined theDayton region as Clark, Greene, Miami, and Montgomery counties and the local study was part of a national assessmentof theeconomicimpact of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations.

Americans for the Arts is a national nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education.

Thestudyresultswere providedtogovernmentandeconomic developmentofficials and civic groups last month and announced recently.

“Clearly, arts and cultural organizations provide a significant benefit to our region,” Lisa Hanson, executive director of CultureWorks, said in her organization’s announcement.

“The arts in Dayton, directly and indirectly through expenditures by arts-audiences, generate a very important return on investmenttothecompanies, foundations, donors, and governmententities that support the arts,” Hanson said. “This study confirms that the arts are major contributors to the local economy and, as such, are a vital part of the economic development efforts in the region.”

The organization said the impact support the equivalent of more than 5,000 fulltime jobs by the arts organizations themselves, with another3,750jobssupported by audience spending.

Supported jobs provided household incomes that exceeded $150 million, Culture Works said. State and local governments received more than $23million in revenues from taxes paid by those employed in the arts and by taxes on arts-audiences expenditures.