Media Contacts
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Art buy the Numbers
Art Consumers
- 132.3 million U.S. adults (53.8 percent) attended a visual or performing arts activity at least once in 2017 the past 12 months. Source: U.S. Trends in Arts Attendance and Literary Reading: 2017 (pdf)
- 106.8 million U.S. adults attended a least one live art event. Source: U.S. Trends in Arts Attendance and Literary Reading: 2017 (pdf)
- 57.6 million U.S. adults attended craft fairs or visual arts festivals in 2017. Source: U.S. Trends in Arts Attendance and Literary Reading: 2017 (pdf)
- 87% of Americans believe arts & culture are important to quality of life. Source: Americans for the Arts ARTS & ECONOMIC PROSPERITY 5 pdf
- 82% of Americans believe arts & culture are important to local businesses and the economy. Source: Americans for the Arts ARTS & ECONOMIC PROSPERITY 5 pdf
Commercial Art Businesses
- 673,656 businesses are involved in the creation or distribution of the arts.
- These businesses employ 3.48 million people.
- They represent 4.01% of all U.S. businesses and 2.04% of all U.S. employees.
Source: Creative Industries: Business & Employment in the Arts 2017
Local Art Agencies
Local Art Agencies (LAAs) work tirelessly to ensure that the arts and culture have a vital presence in America’s communities from coast to coast.
- 4,500 nonprofit organizations and municipal agencies
- 87% Interact with the Business Community
- 84% Program Events in their Community
- 92% Provide Services to Other Arts Organizations
- 91% Partner with Other Community Organizations
Source: Americans for the Arts 2019 Profile of Local Arts Agencies
Individual Artists
- There are nearly 2.5 million artists in the U.S. labor force. Source: National Endowment for the Arts Artists and Other Cultural Workers: A Statistical Portrait (2019) PDF
- Artists were 1.55 percent of the U.S. labor force in 2017. Source: National Endowment for the Arts Artists and Other Cultural Workers: A Statistical Portrait (2019) PDF
- Additionally, approximately 333,000 workers hold secondary jobs as artists. Source: National Endowment for the Arts Artists and Other Cultural Workers: A Statistical Portrait (2019) PDF
- Performing arts companies and independent artists, writers, and entertainers added a combined total of $52.2 billion to the U.S. economy in 2017 – Source: Facts & Figures on the Creative Economy
- Artists 3.6 times more likely than the total U.S. workforce to be self-employed. Artists are highly entrepreneurial. Source: National Endowment for the Arts Artists and Other Cultural Workers: A Statistical Portrait (2019) PDF
Nonprofit Art Organizations
- 95,000 nonprofit arts organizations in the U.S. in 2015.
Source: Americans for the Arts 2016 National Arts Index - 39,292 nonprofit arts and cultural organizations with an annual budget of more than $50,000 in the U.S. in 2015.
Source: NCAR Paper on National Arts and Cultural Field (pdf) - America’s nonprofit arts industry generates $166.3 billion in economic activity every year, resulting in $27.5 billion in federal, state and local tax revenues.
Source: Americans for the Arts, Arts & Economic Prosperity 5: The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts & Culture Organizations & Their Audiences
Economic Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- 96 percent – Percent of organizations that have had to cancel events due to Covid-19
- 113 million people – Number of lost in-person art-event attendance canceled due to Covid-19
Source: Americans for the Arts Economic Impact of the Coronavirus
Live Arts Events
- 43.4 percent of U.S. adults or 106.8 million people, attended at least one of the activities listed directly below. Source: U.S. Trends in Arts Attendance and Literary Reading: 2017 (pdf)
U.S. Art Organizations with budgets larger than $50,000
There were 39,292 nonprofit arts and cultural organizations with an annual budget of more than $50,000 in the U.S. in 2015. See Table and Figure 1 below.
– Source: NCAR Paper on National Arts and Cultural Field (pdf)
