So, some good news for St. Louis: the Regional Arts Commission announced the results of its Arts and Economic Prosperity IV study yesterday, and it found that the arts sector in St. Louis City and County has grown 4 percent since 2007, despite the recession. And no, that's not part of a national trend—nationally, arts groups' economic impact decreased by three percent.
Additionally, RAC found that in 2010, St. Louis' nonprofit arts sector saw a 14 percent increase in employment, plus contributed more than 10,000 jobs and $580 million to the local economy. It also attracted 11.3 million audience members, more than all three local sports teams combined. Note that this study, which was done in tandem with Americans for the Arts, only examined nonprofit arts groups. Which means they weren't looking at the economic impacts of for-profit powerhouses like The Fox or The Pageant, not to mention the hundreds of smaller arts-related businesses like galleries, rock clubs and dance studios. Click here for full text of the study, downloadable as a PDF.
