Arts Council of York County 2021 - 2022 Annual Report

2019-2021 EVENT ATTENDANCE

PEOPLE 2019: 128,144 2020: 12,866 2021: 40,465

COUNTRIES 2019: 5 2020: 1 2021: 6

STATES 2019: 34 2020: 4 2021: 27

CITIES 2019:176 2020: 35 2021: 110

Events produced or funded by ACYC in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

A NATIONAL ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY OF NONPROFIT ARTS AND CULTURE ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR AUDIENCES

NATIONAL IMPACT: This coming year, the Arts Council of York County will participate in Arts and Economic Prosperity 6, the next national economic impact study conducted in partnership with Washington, DC-based Americans for the Arts, which manages this project every five years (this sixth study has been delayed by two years due to the pandemic). Working with economists at Georgia Tech, this study—the largest and most comprehensive of its kind—measures direct spending by arts and cultural organizations and their audiences. Results from past studies, including the most recent which showed the entire sector generated $166 billion of economic activity throughout the country, have moved the U.S. Congress to increase annual funding of the federal cultural agencies such as the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

LOCAL IMPACT: The most recent study we participated in, released in 2017, showed that arts organizations throughout York County and their audiences contributed to a $27 million economic impact. The study was done in partnership with the Arts Council and 15 other arts organizations where 800 surveys were collected, and financial reports of 12 arts organizations were examined. Some 26% of all attendees were from outside York County, demonstrating the tourism draw of our community’s arts and cultural sector.

This study illustrates the economic value of the arts and can help build the case for increased public funding at the city, county, and state level.