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• According to Americans for the Arts and Dun and Bradstreet, there are currently 8,892 creative for-profit and not-for-profit businesses in Wisconsin, encompassing 43,559 full-time jobs. Click here for the "creative industry" maps of Wisconsin.

• Wisconsin’s nonprofit arts industry generatedover $418 million annually in economic activity, over 15,000 full time jobs and $61,840,000 in state and local government revenue, according to Arts and Economic Prosperity III, the latest study of the economic power of the arts.

• The arts industry attracts tourism dollars--today's fastest growing economic market in the country.

• Cultural tourism is the leading reason cited by travelers for visiting a community. In 1994, international visitors spent $78 billion in the United States. Approximately 40% of these tourists visited museums or art galleries and attended concerts or plays.

• The not-for-profit arts industry supports 1.3 million jobs annually, representing nearly 1% of the entire U.S. workforce.

   

• The arts industry, with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts and many other state, local, and federal public and private partners, stimulates local economies and improves the quality of civic life throughout the country.

• The support given by the NEA, state agencies, and local arts councils to the arts supports programs that enhance community development, promote cultural planning, stimulate business development, spur urban renewal, attract new businesses, and improve the overall quality of life in our cities and towns.

• The NEA and state agencies such as the Wisconsin Arts Board make the arts accessible to all Americans.

• The NEA supports projects in all states; including isolated, rural areas and inner cities. Programs are spread across racial, geographic, and socio-economic lines, thus helping to keep the arts from becoming an activity for only the "well-to-do".

• Arts education is a critical component in preparing America's children for the future.

• Our country's high-tech industry leaders indicate that they seek employees possessing the skills provided by a comprehensive education in the arts. Arts education has been proven over and over to help students increase cognitive development, inspire motivation and discipline, develop confidence and inventiveness, and hone communication and problem-solving skills. In addition, children who study the arts continue to outperform non-arts students on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs). According to a study conducted by the College Entrance Examination Board in 1995, students who studied the arts more than 4 yearsscored 59 points higher on the verbal and 44 points higher on the math portions of the SATs than students with no coursework or experience in the arts.

• The National Endowment for the Arts costs each American .38 cents per year. The federal funding for the NEA consists of .02% of the total federal budget. Symphonies & Chamber Music, Children's Festivals, Operas, Book Festivals & Poetry Readings, Concerts in the Park, Jazz Festivals, Puppetry Theaters, Local Shakespeare Festivals, Community Planning, Folk Festivals, Artists in the Schools, Museum & Gallery Exhibitions, Dance on Tour, Literacy Programs, Mobile Art Galleries, Children's Museums, Fourth of July Festivals, At-risk Youth Projects, Historic Renovation, and Downtown Revitalization are all made possible by this wise investment by the American people.

• The NEA and state agencies encourage and leverage private contributions to the arts industry.

• Recipients of NEA grants are required to match federal money – in some cases four to one. This national recognition serves as a fundraising catalyst.

• Private support cannot replace the role of government cultural funding.

• Government cutbacks in many social service areas, organizations have to turn to the private sector (individual, corporations, and foundations) for additional support. The private funding sources are responding to multiple requests from all sectors of the nonprofit community. In order to contribute to all these requests, giving to the arts is decreasing dramatically. Individual giving and volunteering have declined sharply since 1989. Corporate contributions have been up slightly according to the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. However, corporations only represent 4.7% of total giving to nonprofits. Arts organizations cannot rely principally on corporate funding since it fluctuates greatly depending on current economic conditions. In recent years, foundations grants have increased their giving to human service organizations. This has lowered the arts' share of the foundation dollars down from 14% to 12.7%. In addition, for the first time since 1986, total private giving has fallen below 2% of the GNP.

• Scientific research validates the benefits of the arts.

• A study done by University of California, Irvine proved that a link exists between music and human intelligence. The authors state, "music trains the brain for higher forms of thinking."

• Most importantly, the American people support public funding for the arts--the latest public opinion poll on the arts, researched by Louis Harris concludes that:
  -- 79% of the American public support the government's role in funding the arts
  -- 61% would pay $5 more in taxes to support the arts
  -- 56% would pay $10 more in taxes to support the arts
  -- 86% of adult Americans participated in the arts in the last year.