Economic Impact of the Arts

The Department of Cultural Affairs study, "On Fertile Ground": New Mexico Counts on Culture", documents the economic and social impacts of cultural activities throughout New Mexico. Including economic data as wll as selected case studies, the study shows that cultural activities in New Mexico generated more than $2.5 billion in direct economic impact in 2003, employed 32,347, and paid $528 million in payroll. http://www.nmoca.com
pdf of the report (17 pages)

The Western States Arts Federation study, "New Mexico Arts: Nurturing the State's Economy, combines 2003 and 2004 results. They found that the 200 nonprofit arts organizations in New Mexico spend more that $63 million in the New Mexico economy, employ 852 full time and 1,484 part time persons, underwrite more than 2,500 part time contracted positions, and attract more than $6 million in contrbuted goods and services www.nmarts.org

The University of New Mexico's Bureau of Business and Economic Research study, "The Economic Importance of the Arts & Cultural Industries in Santa Fe County", shows that in 2002, Santa Fe's arts and cultural industries and cultural tourism generated over $1 billion in receipts, employed 12,567, and paid $231.5 million in wages and salaries. http://www.unm.edu/~bber/pubs/pubs-sip3.htm#yr04

Americans for the Arts published in 2002: "Arts & Economic Prosperity: The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts Organizations and Their Audiences". This revealed that America's nonprofit arts industry generates $134 billion in economic activity every year. This activity generates 4.85 million full time equivalent jobs; $89.4 billion in household income; and $24.4 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenues. http://ww3.artsusa.org/information_resources/economic_impact/