Arts Impact Alberta 2014: Ripple Effects from the Arts Sector

In 2012, the AFA was proud to announce the release of Arts Impact Alberta: Ripple Effects from the Arts Sector , a five-year summary of the impacts and activities of the organizations that receive operational funding from the AFA.

Arts Impact: Ripple Effects from the Arts Sector demonstrated the positive and powerful contributions arts organizations make to Albertans’ quality of life. These contributions are reflected in a variety of important ways: simply put, the arts matter to Albertans; the arts matter to volunteers; and, the arts matter to the economy.

The AFA has now updated Arts Impact Alberta with two more years of data.Arts Impact Alberta 2014: Ripple Effects illustrates how the arts sector impacted Alberta through a seven-year lens and how AFA operational funding is contributing to the health of the sector.  The report reveals that:

"The majority (85%) of adult Albertans attended at least one arts event per year, and just over half participate directly in an art form in their home or community. Nonprofit arts organizations in Alberta present an average of 24,000 events per year throughout the province…Each year about 50,000 Albertans, the equivalent of an entire medium sized city such as Medicine Hat or St. Albert, volunteer for arts organizations that receive operational funding from the AFA. These volunteers give an average of 34 hours of their time and talent to the nonprofit arts organization of their choice, and collectively work the equivalent of an estimated 1,075 full-time jobs…Overall, revenues have remained higher than expenditures for nonprofit arts organizations…The direct GDP contribution of the sector to Alberta’s economy is estimated at $110 million, resulting from approximately $203 million in total economic activity generated by nonprofit arts organizations. Arts organizations receiving AFA operational funding employed more than 3,400 people in 2012-13; approximately 700 full-time staff and 2,700 part-time staff worked for the 450 organizations that received operational funding. The nonprofit arts sector creates around 22 full-time equivalent jobs for every one million dollars of expenditure in the sector. The total employment generated by the sector is estimated at 3,008 full-time equivalent jobs (including jobs generated in other sectors)."

Arts and culture funding is an investment with great dividends that reveals itself not only in a bank statement but in the smiles of your children as they participate in their first theatre show, an exhibition by local artists, or a community concert. The Municipality of Wood Buffalo understands that arts and culture not only creates a powerful sense of belonging and community but it also benefits the local economy. The AFA Arts Impact Alberta 2014: Ripple Effects report gives credible evidence to our long held beliefs and our goal of creating a vibrant culture in Wood Buffalo outlined in our Municipal Development Plan. 

Please download the Arts Impact Alberta 2014: Ripple Effects from the Arts Sector report; share the report with the people in your community and in doing so, tell the story of how important the arts sector is to Alberta's cultural fabric!


Read more at http://affta.ab.ca/Arts-In-Alberta/AFA-News/Arts-Impact-Alberta-2014