County to examine economic impact of arts and culture

Goshen — County Executive Edward A. Diana has announced that his government will undertake a year-long look at the economic impact of non-profit arts and cultural groups in the county. The study will be spearheaded by Americans for the Arts, the country’s largest non-profit arts organization. The group published the first, national, groundbreaking study on the topic in 1994 and again in 2000, which revealed that the nonprofit arts industry generates $134 billion nationally in total economic activity by arts organizations and their audiences. Orange County is one of six counties in New York State that is participating in the study. The others are Monroe, Westchester, Suffolk, Erie, and Niagara. “Orange County’s cultural and artistic activities contribute to both our quality of life and our local economy,” said Diana. “As part of our continued development, we’re looking for an economic baseline in order to know where to direct resources. This study will have implications for our main street planning, education, tourism, and private business,” he added. “Let’s not forget that the benefits of the arts can be personally significant, and should be enjoyed for their own sake.” The study will look at three issues: arts-related full-time equivalent jobs, resident household income, and government revenue. It will also document event-related spending by arts audiences in 2006. All non-profit arts and cultural organizations in the county, especially those with 501-C3 status, can register for free with Orange Arts, the county’s arts program. Representative organizations in all fields will be selected to participate. Susan Cayea, director of tourism, remarked, “We know from research in the past ten years that communities with active arts and cultural programs are better off economically than those without such activities. In addition, the availability of facilities like galleries, art centers, and theatres is often a draw for tourism, new businesses and their prospective employees.” “We strongly encourage arts organizations to work with us on this county-wide project,” said county arts coordinator Kathryn Kimiecik. “We especially need the public’s assistance to volunteer to take on-site surveys during selected cultural events. If individuals complete a survey, they’d be doing a great service for our community by doing so.” For more information, or to receive a registration form, call Kimiecik at 291-2136.