The ARTS mean business… and we aren’t kidding.

Nationally, the industry generated $135.2 billion of economic activity—$61.1 billion by the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture organizations in addition to $74.1 billion in event-related expenditures by their audiences. This economic activity supports 4.13 million full-time jobs and generates $86.68 billion in resident household income. Our industry also generates$22.3 billion in revenue to local, state, and federal governments every year—a yield well beyond their collective $4 billion in arts allocations. Despite the economic headwinds that our country faced in 2010, the results are impressive.

AND now here comes AEP5…

and we’re a part of of it. And so is Indian River County, St Lucie County, and just about every other county in the State of Florida. So we’ll be able to look were we stand as compared to our neighbors and also see how we rate as a Treasure Coast region. All this is due June 2017, but not without your help. Help… we need survey takers and volunteers to visit venues & events to invite people to take our surveys. We’ve got a long way to go to collect a minimum of 800 surveys. So do you like talking to people? Do you want to help us quantify the what the arts means in terms of the investment back in to our local economy? Then let us know today… and we’ll get you set up with a schedule, a clipboard and plenty of copies!

And so you know… we last participated in AEP3 which told us that in little ol’ Martin County we had a $16.5 million impact. Remember we’re only talking about the nonprofit arts sector. So that doesn’t include the sale of art by artists, sales in galleries, movie tickets, or other activities in private arts-related businesses.

So just remember your charitable contribution, your ticket purchases, your dinners out, your babysitter’s fees, your hotel nights, your bar tab… all these things add up to make a positive impact and at the end of the day… all supports a vibrant arts community. Thanks for all you do, we couldn’t do it without you!!!