Study Says Chicago’s Nonprofit Arts and Culture Scene Strengthens Economy

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Arts & Economic Prosperity III: The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts and Culture Organizations and Their Audiences in the City of Chicago, Ill., was sponsored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Collecting budget and attendance data from 115 nonprofit arts and culture groups in Chicago, the report finds that in the 2005 fiscal year, such organizations generated more than $1-billion in economic activity. The study compares that amount to the $626-million generated in Houston, $561-million in the City and County of St. Louis, and amounts created in other similarly populated regions. The report also finds that nonprofit arts and culture organizations support 30,134 full-time-equivalent jobs, and argues that these figures disprove “a common misconception: that communities support the arts and culture at the expense of local economic development.”

Publisher: Americans for the Arts, 1000 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Sixth Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005; (202) 371-2830; fax (202) 371-0424; http://www.artsusa.org; 30 pages; available free for download on the organization’s Web site.