U.P. Arts and Culture Alliance doing Economic Impact Study
By Victoria LaFave
ESCANABA—The Upper Peninsula Arts and Culture Alliance (the Alliance) is pleased to announce its participation in Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6), the most comprehensive economic impact study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry ever conducted in the United States.
Administered by Americans for the Arts, AEP6 will examine the economic impact of the arts and culture in the Alliance and 386 additional communities representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The Alliance encompasses all 15 counties of the Upper Peninsula, with a goal of making arts and culture more visible, more connected, and more celebrated, as part of the broader fabric of regional U.P. Development.
The Arts & Economic Prosperity® series is conducted approximately every five years to gauge the economic impact of spending by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and the event-related spending by their audiences.
In 2017, AEP5 documented that the nonprofit arts and culture industry generated $166.3 billion in economic activity (spending by organizations plus the event-related spending by their audiences) which supported 4.6 million jobs and generated $27.5 billion in government revenue. The AEP series demonstrates that an investment in the arts provides both cultural and economic benefits.
Over 1,200 audience-intercept surveys will be collected from attendees at arts and cultural events in the U.P. now through April 2023—in total, the national sample is anticipated to surpass 250,000 surveys. A survey of nonprofit arts and culture organizations will occur from January through April 2023. The national and local findings will be made public in September 2023.
At that time, the U.P. Alliance will receive a customized report on the unique economic impact results for the U.P., including the number of jobs that are supported and the amount of government revenue that is generated by our community’s nonprofit arts industry.
The U.P. Alliance looking for volunteers
President of the Alliance Sue Roll said they are trying to grow to include every county in the U.P. She says the Alliance is currently in need of volunteers in helping to reach their goals, along with Board representatives from Menominee, Baraga, Luce, Schoolcraft, Chippewa, Ontonagon and Keweenaw Counties.
“We need more representation from these areas of the U.P. to continue the goal of the Alliance to foster creativity, connections and collaborations between artists, historians, performers, organizations and audiences in the Upper Peninsula, all while encouraging the adoption of arts and culture-sustaining initiatives and policies to enhance the quality of life in the U.P.”
Roll noted that these groups closely align with the economic development, recreation and tourism industries, ultimately creating a thriving future for our region.
She summed up the goals of the Alliance in the U.P.: “We want to connect with arts and cultural organizations, artists, historians, and curators,” she said. “We want to help the Upper Peninsula grow as an arts and culture destination, which will ultimately help us retain young people in the U.P. and help it to continue being a place they want to visit and stay.”
For more information and a list of the communities participating in the AEP6 study, visit www.americansforthe arts.org/AEP6. For technical assistance or to volunteer for the U.P. Alliance as a board member or to give an hour or two of your time, please contact Sue Roll at (906) 280-2746 or sue@upacalliance.com or visit www.upacalliance.com.
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