Western North Carolina Vitality Index

Economic Impact of Arts-Related Creative Enterprises

In Western North Carolina, the arts provide jobs, attract visitors, create products, influence consumer spending, and build community vitality. One way to assess the health of the region's arts-related "creative economy" is with a diagnostic tool known as the Creative Vitality Index (CVI). In the CVI, an area’s creative economy is defined as including for-profit and nonprofit arts-related creative enterprises and the key support and service activities that sustain them.

In the accompanying table, the CVI scores for Western North Carolina are compared with state and national averages, which are each set to a benchmark index score of 1.00. For example, compared to the state average, the CVI score for Art Gallery and Individual Artist Sales in Western North Carolina is 1.417, meaning that sales in Western North Carolina are 41.7% higher than in the state as a whole (on a per capita basis).

Compared to the state average, Western North Carolina’s strongest indicators were the revenues of arts-related nonprofit organizations and sales by art galleries and individual artists. Compared to the national average, the region’s strongest indicators were jobs in creative occupations, the revenues of arts-related nonprofit organizations, and book and record store sales. In 2011, total jobs in the creative sector of Western North Carolina were 14,233 (see Creative Occupations for breakdown), total industry sales were $126,304,000, and arts nonprofit revenues totaled $71,844,852.

Arts Organizations are those with a primary mission to pursue or support artistic endeavors. Examples include performing groups, art museums, and art studios.

Arts-Active Organizations are non-arts organizations providing arts activity.

Creative Vitality Index Indicators, 2011

* Data are available for 23 counties: Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey.

** The CVI score of Western North Carolina is compared to a score of 1.00, which represents the state or national average.

Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts and Culture Organizations

Another assessment of the economic impact of the arts on the region’s economic prosperity can be found in Arts & Prosperity IV, a national study conducted by Americans for the Arts – a national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the arts and arts education – to document the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry in 182 communities and regions in the United States. The accompanying tables detail findings from the Arts & Prosperity IV study showing the 2010 economic impact of nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences in 23 of the Mountain Resources Commission (MRC) counties (study findings include all MRC counties except Alexander, Cleveland, Surry, and Yadkin).

Spending by Arts and Culture Organizations and Their Audiences Supports Jobs and Generates Government Revenue

Event-Related Spending by Arts and Culture Audiences Totaled $60.7 million (excluding the cost of admission)

Nonprofit Arts and Culture Event Attendees Spend an Average of $29.59 per person (excluding the cost of admission)

* For the purpose of the analysis, residents are attendees who live within the counties of Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey. Non-residents live outside the region.