Report: Indianapolis’ nonprofit arts and culture sector generates $524M economic impact

A new study has found that Indianapolis’ nonprofit arts and culture sector has generated almost $524 million in economic activity in the past year.

Between May 2022 and June 2023, Americans for the Arts and the Indy Arts Council measured the arts’ impact on organizational and audience spending, household income and tax revenue to produce the Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 economic and social impact study, released late last week.

The $524 million breaks down into two major categories. The study surveys almost 100 nonprofit arts and culture organizations in the city, which reported $286.1 million in spending. Audiences — measured at 6.5 million over the period of time of the study — spent $237.7 million on dining out, parking and other activities directly related to the events. That number does not include the cost of admission or on-site food and drink costs, according to the report.

Nationally, the arts and culture sector created $151.7 billion in economic activity, which included $73.3 billion in spending by organizations and $78.4 billion in event-related spending by audiences.

Americans for the Arts and partner organizations gather information about every five years from communities across the U.S. The 2023 report was postponed for 16 months because of the pandemic. Organizations are still recovering from its effects, so the report’s authors don’t recommend comparing the newest study to its previous counterpart, which was released in 2017.

For the first time, Americans for the Arts required that its partners gather surveys from events by organizations serving Black, Indigenous, African, Latine, Asian, Arab and other communities of color.

Here are more Indianapolis highlights from the report:

• Local residents received $342.7 million in personal income from the Indianapolis sector’s economic activity, which also generated $108 million in tax revenue to local, state and federal governments.
• The economic impact of organizations’ and audience spending supported almost 7,500 jobs.
• On average, a person spent $36.72 per event on related dining, transportation, parking and other expenses — not including the cost of admission or food and drinks purchased on site. Patrons who traveled from outside Marion County spent $47.24 on average. Those who live in the county spent an average of $31.38 each.
• Just more than 90% of those who attended events said the activity or venue inspired a sense of pride in the neighborhood or community. More than 80% said that the venues are important pillars for the community and that they’d feel a sense of loss if the activity or venue wasn’t available.

The city of Carmel, which was measured for its own report, generated almost $42.7 million in economic activity. That supported almost 1,000 jobs and generated $10 million in local, state and federal tax revenue.

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Almost $17 million was in spending from arts and culture organizations. An additional $25.7 million came from event-related audience spending. On average, each patron spent $31.77 per event, which doesn’t include the admission cost.

Find the full report at aep6.americansforthearts.org.

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Contact IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339 or d.bongiovanni@indystar.com. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @domenicareports.