Broward County and the City of Fort Lauderdale Examine Economic Impact of the Local Arts and Culture Industry

Broward County and the City of Fort Lauderdale announced a new partnership and commitment to arts and culture with the launch of their participation in Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6), the most comprehensive economic impact study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry ever conducted in the United States.

Administered by Americans for the Arts, AEP6 will examine the economic impact of the arts and culture in Broward County and 386 additional communities representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Locally, AEP6 will be spearheaded by the Broward County Cultural Division, in partnership with the City of Fort Lauderdale’s new Office of Cultural Affairs. The study will provide insights about arts and culture’s impact on local jobs and government revenue along with other analyses including the spending differences between residents and tourists attending events.

The collaboration between Broward County and the City of Fort Lauderdale was officially announced by County Mayor Michael Udine at a brief gathering Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022, in downtown Fort Lauderdale at NSU Art Museum. Cultural Division Director Phil Dunlap, County Commissioner and Broward Cultural Council member Steve Geller and Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Steve Glassman also addressed the crowd of media and arts leaders about the importance of this research and the role of the arts as an economic engine for tourism and jobs in our region. 

The Arts & Economic Prosperity® series is conducted approximately every five years to gauge the economic impact of spending by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and the event-related spending by their audiences. Nationally, in 2017, AEP5 documented that the nonprofit arts and culture industry generated $166.3 billion in economic activity. Locally, data compiled by the Broward County Cultural Division for AEP5, reported an annual $414.2 million in economic impact.

Data for the AEP6 report will be collected through April 2023 by local arts and culture nonprofit organizations via surveys distributed to audiences attending arts and culture events. Additional financial data will be collected from each participating organization. Results from the year-long study will be released in the fall of 2023 and detail the economic impact of both the City’s and County’s nonprofit arts and culture sectors.

New this cycle, is a focus on equity and inclusion by establishing a benchmark of arts and culture organizations that primarily serve communities of color, and the audiences that attend their events. Researchers will use this data to report on the economic impact of the BIPOC/ALAANA (Black, indigenous, people of color/African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American) arts sector in our community.

Nolen V. Bivens, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, commented, “Community is where the arts make a difference, and while the national impact data are impressive, at its core, AEP6 is a local story. I look forward to seeing its results, which will be key in persuading decision-makers that the arts benefit all people in all communities.”