It seems culture and the arts are big business in Leon County. Tom Flanigan reports that’s the conclusion of a national arts advocacy group that studied the impact of the area’s non-profit arts groups and their audiences on the local economy.
The study was done by the Washington, DC-based Americans for the Arts where Randy Cohen is vice president of research.
“Tallahassee/Leon County was one of 373 study regions across the country, all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Communities as small as 4,000 and as large as 4 million. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a small rural community or large urban city, if the arts are happening there, there’s an economic impact.”
With two major universities, a large community college and lots of white collar employment, Cohen says it’s no surprise the Capital City area has more artistic activity than many places its size.
“You’re going to see more cultural opportunities and arts opportunities in this region. Performing, visual arts, open air events, festivals, than you will see in a lot of cities.”
And Cohen’s numbers seem to bear that out.
“Arts and culture, just here in the Tallahassee/Leon County area, is a $204 million industry. And that’s got a great impact on the local economy, supporting 2,930 jobs in the local community.”
Jobs that Cohen says go well beyond the artists and performers themselves.
“They also employ accountants, auditors, electricians, plumbers, security and marketing departments. So those jobs are supported across the community.”
And Cohen says local governments also benefit from the arts in the form of increased tax revenues from all this economic activity.
“The research shows that governments are receiving, just right here based on economic activity in the county, $33.2 million in revenue. Small investments, big returns!”
Boosting government investment in the arts, says Cohen, is really what his Americans for the Arts group is all about.
“We just try to come up with the research and casemaking tools to help people advocate for more funding for the arts, to integrate the arts across our communities.”
In Tallahassee/Leon County, one of the people who’ll be making use of the study results to lobby city and county governments for more support for the arts is Kathleen Spehar, the executive director of COCA, Council of Culture and the Arts.
“The study can show us different pathways to get to more impact, particularly in the priorities the city and the county have.”
The study also found that more than 80% of citizens surveyed locally said that art and culture was either “important” or “very important” to them and the community as a whole.