Fresno Bee Editorial on the Economic Impact of the Cultural Arts

Arts and cultural events pay off big time for Fresno County Economy gets a multimillion-dollar boost from local, tourist spending.

The classic figure of the starving artist may be real, but the arts provide a banquet for the local economy. Fresno County sees almost $120 million annually in economic activity created by the nonprofit arts and culture industry. More than 2,700 jobs are generated in the county each year.

Those local numbers are part of a nationwide study called Arts& Economic Prosperity III, conducted by Americans for the Arts. The study set the national economic impact at $166.2 billion annually. The Fresno Coalition for Arts, Science & History (FCASH) helped gather data for the local segment of the study.

The local economic activity includes $61 million in household income, more than $3.7 million in local taxes and almost $7.7 million generated for the state treasury.

Spending by arts organizations is about $55.2 million, while $64.5 million is spent by those who attend events, paying for everything from tickets to hotels to souvenirs.

One interesting bit of data: Local people who attend events spend an average of $28.82, while nonlocal attendees drop an average of $49.30. That's a strong argument for promoting Fresno County to tourists asa locale for arts events.

(Imagine the crowds we might draw to Woodward Park for mixed martial arts fighters performing Shakespeare on BMX bikes as part of Art Hop.)

It's long been part of the conventional wisdom that a f lourishing arts and culture scene is a vital component of a vibrant quality of life in any area. But we're never really had such stark quantitative evidence of the economic impact of the arts as this study contains.

The arts can stir the soul and ignite the passions, but it's clear they can also create a satisfying "clink" in the cash register - and the more the better.