Advocacy
Connect2Culture (C2C), Joplin’s community arts agency, participated in Americans for the Arts‘ national study Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) on behalf of the City of Joplin to shed light on the economic and social impact of our community’s nonprofit arts and culture sector. For more than a year, C2C collected 800+ audience-intercept surveys from a variety of arts and cultural events. Now, we are excited to share the results with YOU! Keep scrolling to see new insights on the growth of the arts and culture sector in Joplin, Missouri and beyond.
ABOUT AEP6
The newly released Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) is an economic and social impact study of the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture industry. Building on its 30-year legacy as the largest and most inclusive study of its kind, AEP6 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.
With its largest cohort ever, AEP6 uses a rigorous methodology to document the economic contributions of the arts and culture industry, demonstrating locally as well as nationally, nonprofit arts and culture are a critical economic driver of vibrant communities. The arts and culture industry supports jobs, generates government tax revenue, strengthens the visitor economy and community vibrancy, and helps to preserve authentic cultural experiences.
For the first time, AEP6 expands beyond the economic and financial data to learn about the nonprofit arts and culture sector’s social impact on the overall well-being of communities and the importance of affirming spaces in BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and ALAANA (African, Latine, Asian, Arab, Native American) identifying communities.
By measuring the industry’s wide-ranging impact, public and private sector leaders can work together to secure arts and culture funding and arts-friendly policies that shape more vibrant and equitable communities.
By every measure, the results are impressive. 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.
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. To those leaders, Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 brings a welcome message: when you invest in the arts and culture, you are investing in an industry that strengthens your economy and builds more livable communities.
RESULTS FOR JOPLIN, MO
$25.42
Spent on Average by Arts & Culture Audiences Per Person, Per Event
Local Attendees: $21.74
Non-Local Attendees: $40.74
82.4%
of audience members agree that:
"This venue or facility is an important pillar for me within my community."
85.7%
of audience members agree that:
"I would feel a great sense of loss if this activity or venue were no longer available."
90.4%
of audience members agree that:
"This activity or venue is inspiring a sense of pride in this neighborhood or community."
86.5%
of audience members agree that:
"My attendance is my way of ensuring that this activity or venue is preserved for future generations."
Kudos to the resilience of Joplin, Missouri’s arts and culture community and their counterparts nationwide! Despite the profound challenges brought on by the pandemic, this study underscores how our industry perseveres, inspiring our communities and fortifying our economies. It reaffirms that the arts now more than ever require our unwavering support, as we patiently await the return of fully engaged audiences.
DEFINING ECONOMIC IMPACT
Americans for the Arts’ researchers, in collaboration with local and statewide partners, collected surveys from 16,399 organizations and 224,677 attendees to provide a measure of total industry spending. Using the IMPLAN economic modeling platform, input-output analysis models were customized for all 373 study regions. These quantitative models measure the economic relationships between hundreds of different industries in each geographic area. Reports were prepared for each of the 373 study regions, and national estimates were made for the nation as a whole.
For this study, economic impact is defined as the following measures:
-
- Jobs is a total figure of people employed (full-time, part-time, and seasonal employment jobs).
- Resident household income includes salaries, wages, and entrepreneurial income paid to residents. It is the money individuals earn personally and then use to pay for food, mortgages, and other living expenses.
- Tax revenue to local, state, and federal governments includes revenue from taxes (e.g., income, property, or sales), as well as funds from licenses, filing fees, and other similar sources.
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Curious about the results from AEP5? See below!
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