Montgomery arts leaders say county investments in arts and humanities activities are paying off big for the area’s economy, and they point to a new study that shows that the economic impact of Montgomery’s nonprofit arts and culture industry is second only to Washington’s in the metro area.
The “Arts and Economics Prosperity III” study, conducted by arts-advocacy group Americans for the Arts, says Montgomery’s nonprofit arts and culture industry supports roughly 2,180 full-time jobs, generates $42.3 million in annual household income and $7.6 million in state and local government revenues. In addition, the combined spending of the nonprofit arts and culture organizations and events-related spending by cultural audiences has a total economic impact of $117 million.
“When a person goes to a sporting event, they buy all their food there and pay for parking, but most of that revenue goes to vendors from outside the area, and that money is not coming back home,” said Theresa Cameron, CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “When someone goes to an arts event, they go to a local restaurant, they pay for parking and they pay for baby-sitting, but that money stays at home in the community. I think that is really an important difference.”
According to the study, Montgomery spends about $5 million a year on county arts and humanities activities and, over the past decade, has invested more than $100 million in the creation of new arts facilities or the renovation of old ones, including BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown, the Music Center at Strathmore, the American Film Institute and Imagination Stage. Attendance at county arts events increased 58 percent from 1998 to fiscal 2005, from 1.2 million to 1.9 million.
The report says the $746.76 million economic impact of the District’s nonprofit arts and cultural industry is the largest in the region, Montgomery is second and Virginia’s Arlington County is third, with $85 million.
“The findings of this study illustrate how a robust cultural community such as ours not only enhances the quality of life for its residents, but boosts our economic well-being as well,” County Executive Ike Leggett said in a written statement. “… [A] strong arts presence is vital not only to the quality of life in our community, but for the business sector as well.”
