THE ECONOMIC & SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE NONPROFIT ARTS AND CULTURE INDUSTRY in the City of Santa Cruz

From coast to coast—and in the City of Santa Cruz—America’s nonprofit arts and culture organizations are providing inspiration and joy to residents, beautifying public spaces, and strengthening community pride and identity. Arts and culture organizations are also businesses. They employ people locally, purchase goods and services from nearby businesses, and produce the authentic cultural experiences that are magnets for visitors, tourists, and new residents. Event-related spending by their audiences generates valuable revenue for local merchants—dining in a nearby restaurant, paying to park or for a rideshare, shopping at local retail stores, and enjoying dessert after a show—a value-add few industries can compete with. These actions, in turn, support jobs, generate household income, and generate tax revenues to the government that more than offset the public’s arts and culture sector investment. The economic activity by arts and culture organizations and their audiences is both measurable and a story that must be told.

Arts and Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) provides compelling evidence that the nonprofit arts and culture sector is a significant industry in the City of Santa Cruz—one that generated $38.1 million in total economic activity during 2022. This spending—$30.0 million by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and an additional $8.1 million in event- related spending by their audiences—supports 981 jobs, generates $40.5 million in household income for local residents, and delivers $14.2 million in tax revenues to local, state, and federal governments. This study sends a strong signal that, even in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting recession, the nonprofit arts and culture is a formidable industry. AEP6 demonstrates that when we support the arts, we are investing in Santa Cruz’s economic and community well-being.

AEP6 is the largest and most inclusive study of its kind. It documents the economic and social contributions of arts and culture in 373 diverse communities and regions representing all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The study areas range in population from 4,000 to 4 million and represent rural, suburban, and urban communities (130 cities and 126 counties, 78 multi-city or multi-county regions, 18 individual arts districts, and 21 entire states/territories).

To measure industry spending, local and statewide research partners representing the 373 study regions collected expenditure and attendance data from 16,399 arts and culture organizations and the event-related spending information from 224,667 of their attendees. Using the IMPLAN economic modeling platform, input-output analysis models were customized for each study region to provide specific and reliable economic impact data for each.

This unique report has been prepared for the City of Santa Cruz in collaboration with our community research partner, Arts Council Santa Cruz County.