Page 34 - Toolkit

MEASURING: THE KC METRO ARTS ECOSYSTEM’S ECONOMY
The arts ecosystem in the bi-state, 5-county Kansas City Metropolitan Area is as varied as the histories, neighborhoods and Creatives who have lived and worked here.
A rich body of national and local research studies have explored many features of the ever-changing variety of Kansas City metro area’s arts and culture; its impact, needs and potential.
1. KC Artists Voices Summit 2019 ()
2. Mid-America Regional Council’s Regional Vision 2018
3. National/Local Arts Index Study 2016
4. Kansas City Arts in the 21st Century KC (*2015 Frisch, et al, Unpublished)
5. Arts and Economic Prosperity Study V 2015
6. KCMO Convergence Plan 2013
7. KC, MO Mayor’s Task Force for the Arts 2013
8. KC, MO Status of the Arts 2008
9. Creative Industries: Business & Employment in the Arts Report 2015
10. ArtSpace Projects Preliminary Feasibility Study 2015
11. Regional Prosperity/KC Rising 2015
12. Suburban Arts Business Plan 2005-2015 (Johnson County, KS)
It is a documented fact that the arts contribute enormously to our local economy, with an impact of over $276.1 million dollars a year in spending by audiences and arts/cultural organizations and 24.6 million in local/state government revenue, as the region’s 3rd largest private employment sector. (See Table 1 *Arts and Economic Prosperity Study).
Even with these remarkable impact numbers, many artists are not employed full-time. Many artists
are “gig-workers” whose patchwork entrepreneurialism does not equal what the IRS considers a “full-time-equivalent” job that they document and measure. Therefore, the true economic impact of the arts are not accurately captured by the Federal reports on workforce industries. (*Frisch 2015).
KC, MO
KC Met- ro
Total Spending
by Nonprofit
Arts and Cultural
ORGANIZATIONS
$161,706,593
$179,536,915
Estimated
Total Spend- ing
Arts and Cultural
AUDIENCES
$82,505,241
$96,561,206
Total Spending
Nonprofit
Arts and Culture
INDUSTRY
$244,211,834
$276,098,121
Full- Time
Equivalent Jobs
7,515
8,970
Resident Household Income
$220,798,000
$253,634,000
Local Government Revenue
$7,918,000
$10,097,000
State Government Revenue
$10,856,000
$14,473,000
(https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/reports-and-data/research-studies-publications/arts-economic-prosperity-5)
34