Author: Office of Arkansas State Arts and Humanities

Publication Year: 1980

Media Type: Report

Summary:

Abstract:

Since the period of the middle 1960s, there has been a growing awareness of the desirability of developing public policies and mechanisms for the support of the arts. In 1964, there were roughly 125 state and community arts agencies. Today, over 1,000 state and local arts agencies sponsor programs and provide services and support for arts and cultural activities.

Arkansas has shared in this explosion of interest in the arts. Attendance at artistic and cultural events is high, and the number of organizations providing arts and cultural services has increased dramatically. The Arts Are for Everyone is a successful first step in documenting the little appreciated impact of the growing arts industry on all phases of Arkansas life. The study gathers together for the first time basic data on the state of the arts, thus allowing government, individuals and business to make more informed decisions.

But the study is of national - not just statewide - interest. Heretofore, arts agencies have often relied on non-agency personnel to conduct institutional resource studies. Some have had to contract with out of state survey research organizations. The Office of Arkansas State Arts and Humanities has demonstrated that arts agencies can, at significantly less cost, successfully conduct research adapted to their needs through the judicious use of agency staff, consultant services, and local expertise. As a result, this study provides an example and impetus for arts agencies throughout the country.

Summary of findings and recommendations: 

Findings - 

1. Cultural organizations have a 7 million dollar impact on the state's economy annually. The 114 organizations surveyed had 862 full and part-time employees in fiscal year 1975 and total expenditures of $4,002,000. These expenditures when followed through the economy, resulted in a total economic impact of $7,113,000.
   
   
2. The total cultural work force, including volunteers, numbers more than 5,000. The total work force includes 255 full-time staff, 607 part-time employees, and 4757 volunteers. Of the total expenditures reported, 52 percent or $2,074,000 was paid to Arkansans in salaries. There were 5.52 volunteers per paid staff member. These volunteers contributed 218,156 hours of time in the survey year. A value of $458,128 for volunteer services was established at the 1975 minimum wage ($2.10 per hour).
   
   
3. Interest in cultural programs is high. Nearly two million attendance was reported - 71 percent free. Over one third (34 percent) of those attending were children. The cultural organizations are providing many services free to the public. Only 29 percent of the overall attendance was paid attendance. Cultural organizations provide enjoyable learning experiences; children accounted for 655,545 of the total attendance of 1,916,000 at arts events in 1975.
   
   
4. Cultural organizations show phenomenal growth. The number of cultural organizations in Arkansas has more than doubled in the last ten years. Of organizations surveyed, more than half were founded after 1965. Seventy percent reported an increase in members or season subscribers in the last four years. In 1975 there were more than 29,500 members and 14,900 season subscribers.
   
   
5. Crafts in Arkansas are a major growth industry. Not included in the above figures is the War Eagle Crafts Fair which alone has a one million dollar annual impact according to a study by the University of Arkansas. Over 100,000 visitors attend this fair every year. In addition to War Eagle, there are 64 other craft fairs in 48 counties throughout Arkansas. Crafts outlets such as ARVAC Rural Industries Inc. of Dardanelle, Arkansas distribute crafts to over 600 outlets in 42 states and Canada.
   
   
6. It is no longer a question of whether government should support the arts, because all levels of government are supporting cultural activities. Those groups reporting their source of income indicate over 1/2 million dollars in federal funds, over 1/3 of a million in state funds, and just under 1/3 of a million from city and county governments. Most of this does not comprise grants to privately incorporated non-profit arts organizations, but rather represents programs and facilities offered directly to the public by government agencies such as parks, museums and recreation centers.
   
   
7. Even though many of their services are offered free to the public, private cultural organizations are heavily supported by those who use their services. Ticket sales, tuition, fees and memberships account for half of the total income for private organizations. Private giving to these non-profit organizations was nearly double government support.
   
   
8. While the arts are used by the Arkansas industrial development commission and chamber of commerce as a factor in attracting business and industry, business itself does not contribute significantly to cultural organizations. The greatest single source of income for the non-profit cultural groups surveyed was local government with $247,100 in funding. State and Federal government granted $210,000 but business and corporate support amounted to only $29,000 in 1974-75.
   
   
9. In spite of sustained interest and demand by the public, lack of assured funding for cultural organizations is rapidly leading to a growth crisis. Although 69 percent of the organizations responding felt there was sufficient public interest to justify an expansion of staff and programs, few anticipated sufficient funds to do so. Three out of ten responding had curtailed activities or cut staff in order to stay within income or minimize a deficit. Although organizations cut staff, length of season, hours open to the public, number of performances, programs, productions and exhibitions, few cut back on quality of presentations in order to avoid a deficit. The fact that less than 16 percent reported a deficit, but over 30 percent cut programming to stay within their income indicates that although most cultural organizations are well-managed, the public is steadily losing cultural services because of the financial crisis, caused primarily by rising costs.

CONTENTS
Foreword.
Preface.
Summary of findings and recommendations.
Arkansas arts - a multi-million dollar service industry.
Impact:
     Varied programming. 
     2,000,000 attendance.
Crisis in growth.
A sound investment for Arkansas: image, environment, and opportunity.
Appendix.
     Case histories.
     Crafts, a growth industry.
     Mountain view.
     Methodology of the study.
     The survey questionnaire.
     Organizations included in the survey.
     Supplemental information.
     Selected bibliography.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Economic Impact