For Immediate Release: March 9, 2013

Nonprofit Arts & Culture Organizations Generate $70.7 Million in Economic Impact for City of Alexandria
City Recognized as one of 44 Top ArtPlaces in the U.S

The City of Alexandria Office of the Arts and the Alexandria Convention & Visitors Association announced a $70.7 million in economic impact for the arts at an event on March 5, 2013. During the program, the city was recognized as one of 44 Top ArtPlaces in the U.S.

The city’s arts economic impact figures are from the Arts and Economic Prosperity IV national study conducted by Americans for the Arts, the country’s leading nonprofit arts advocacy organization. Using data from 2010, the study shows that the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $70.7 million in annual economic activity in Alexandria.

• $70.7 million in spending includes:
• $26.1 million by nonprofit arts and culture organizations
• 44.6 million in event-related spending by their audiences
• Generating:
• $4.8 million in local and state government revenue
• Almost $38 million in household income to local residents
• Supporting:
• 1,774 full-time equivalent jobs

$44.6 million in event-related spending by audiences of Alexandria’s nonprofit arts and culture industry directly supports the city’s non-arts businesses. As a result of attending a cultural event, attendees often eat dinner in local restaurants, pay for parking, buy gifts and souvenirs, and pay a babysitter. What’s more, attendees from out of town often stay overnight in a local hotel. Audiences in Alexandria surveyed as part of the study report spending an average of $19 above the admission price when attending a cultural event in Alexandria.

Randy Cohen, Americans for the Arts’ Vice President of Research and Policy, presented the study’s findings to Alexandria leaders, stakeholders, and arts organizations at the March 5 event, and provided strategies for the local community to leverage the impact figures to gain support for arts programs.

“This study shines a much-needed light on the vital role the arts play in stimulating and sustaining economic development,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, in a statement. “Contrary to popular belief, the arts are a bustling industry that supports a plethora of diverse jobs, generates significant revenues for local businesses and to federal, state and local governments and provides quality of life that positions communities to compete in our 21st century creative economy.”

The Arts and Economic Prosperity IV study is part of the most comprehensive economic impact study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry ever conducted in the United States and shows that the arts industry also helps to support other local businesses. For more information about the study, visit www.AmericansForTheArts.org/EconomicImpact

For the Alexandria study, visit https://www.alexandriava.gov/Arts

Alexandria was recognized as one of America’s Top ArtPlaces, among 44 communities named in 2013. America’s Top ArtPlaces are neighborhoods where the arts are central to creating the kinds of places where people want to live, work and visit. The accolade heralds Alexandria as a community with a "backbone of creative culture . . . exceptionally successful at combining art, artists and venues for creativity and expression with independent businesses, retail shops and restaurants, and a walkable lifestyle to make vibrant neighborhoods." Lyz Crane, Director of Partnerships and Special Projects for ArtPlace, presented a certificate to the City.

For more information about America’s Top ArtPlaces 2013, visit http://www.artplaceamerica.org/articles/americas-top-artplaces-2013-2/

For more information, contact Diane Ruggiero, Deputy Director, City of Alexandria Department Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities at 703.746.5590 or diane.ruggiero@alexandriava.gov, and Claire Mouledoux, Communications Manager, City of Alexandria Convention & Visitors Association at 703.652.5367 or cmouledoux@visitalexva.com.