Arts groups in the Greater Cincinnati region contributed toward nearly $1.6 billion in economic impact from 2019 to 2022, according to a study from the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. ArtsWave commissioned the review by the Chamber's Center for Research & Data.
"Today's number helps you understand how much [the arts] matter," said Brendon Cull, Cincinnati Chamber president and CEO, during a Tuesday morning announcement. "It's not an arts scene, it's an arts economy — and if we nurture it, grow it and fund it, we will all benefit."
You can read the full report below.
ArtsWave is a nonprofit that bills itself as "the engine for the arts." It helps arts organizations raise funding. It began in the 1920s with an initial investment from Cincinnati's Taft family.
Cincinnati's art scene by the numbers
The report found the region's arts and culture sector had an economic impact of $1,583,433,24 over the four-year period. On average, the sector generated around $400 million each year, peaking at $488 million in 2022. Based on those numbers, the report projects "the annual economic impact of arts and culture will grow to $586,687,865 in 2027 and the total economic impact from 2023 to 2027 will be $2,773,142,848."
The Chamber notes these figures don't include the art and light festival BLINK, which is reported separately in the study.
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"For every $1 that ArtsWave invests into the arts community, those organizations are then able to leverage that money to make it work for them and eventually the output is about $42 to the regional economy for every $1 initially invested," says Brandon Rudd, director of the Center for Research & Data.
The report finds the arts sector generated nearly $16 million in local, state, and federal taxes and created or supported more than 6,500 jobs with a total earnings of nearly $203 million.
Rudd explained how the data was compiled. "We were provided a list of 70 arts organizations by ArtsWave as well as budgets for those organizations," he says. "We were able to assign the spending of those organizations to different industry codes and then calculate the multiplier effect using Bureau of Economic Analysis multipliers for what the ripple effect into our economy is from the spending from those organizations."
While the Greater Cincinnati region is doing well, Ohio Arts Council Executive Director Donna Collins notes that isn't the same everywhere across the state.
"It's important to remember that even though as the broader economic recovery takes hold, there may still be individual artists and smaller or small, mid-size nonprofits who are struggling even as the broader recovery takes hold," she says.
ArtsWave Board Chair and Altafiber CEO Leigh Fox echoes those sentiments and encourages groups to do more.
"We continue to out-punch our weight class; we continue to do more with less, and look at the impact," he said. "Now, imagine if we kept up. Imagine if we kept up with the pace of inflation; that's what we need to consider."
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Cincinnati in 2023 moved up to 11th — just ahead of Cleveland — for large cities on the Arts Vibrancy Index compiled by SMU DataArts at the National Center for Arts Research. Cincinnati was ranked 20th in 2020.
The release comes as ArtsWave is preparing to launch its annual fundraising campaign Feb. 6.
Cincinnati Public Radio is a participant in the ArtsWave-sponsored employee group health insurance program.
Economic Impact of Arts & Culture in the Cincinnati Region 2024
This story may be updated.
