The Arts Help Minnesota Businesses Thrive

As of January 2005, Minnesota was home to 10,427 arts-related businesses that employed 80,704 people. According to a 2004 report by Americans for the Arts, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Duluth, and Rochester have among the top ratios of arts businesses per capita:

• Minneapolis-St.Paul has 6,791 Arts Businesses, or 2.29 per 1,000 residents
• Duluth-Superior has 437 Arts Businesses, or 1.79 per 1,000 residents
• Rochester has 211 Arts Businesses, or 1.70 per 1,000 residents

Between 1984 and 2002, the estimated direct spending by Minnesota arts organizations grew from $105 million to $358 million. The estimated economic impact of Minnesota nonprofit arts organizations is over 1.3 billion dollars a year (McKnight Foundation’s State of the Arts, 2002)

• $358,477,764 Million estimated direct spending by Minnesota’s nonprofit arts organizations in 2000
• $234 Million estimated direct spending in the metro area.
• $471.3 Million estimated combined goal of capital or endowment campaigns by cultural and humanities organizations in Minnesota in 2002.
• $228 Million estimated impact of craft artists on the Minnesota economy in 2002.
  Tidbits on Minnesota Arts and Business

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development projects that, between 2000 and 2010, employment in the art, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupational groups is expected to grow by 18.1 percent-or over 7,200 jobs, compared to a projected 13.1 percent employment increase in overall jobs statewide.

According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Minnesota State Arts Board, almost 9 million people attended nonprofit arts events in Minnesota, outnumbering the people who attended sports events in Minnesota in 1998.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported on January 17, 1999 that, in fiscal year 1998, Minnesota’s five biggest museums alone (the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota History Center, Children’s Museum and Science Museum) had a higher combined attendance than the three local professional sports teams combined (Vikings, Twins and Timberwolves). Using sports attendance figures from this same article, it is easy to find that the combined attendance of the three professional sports teams in FY1998 (2.6 million) was only a third of the attendance at nonprofit arts events in the same year, 8.8 million. (Arts figures reported by the Minnesota State Arts Board)

Arts, culture and entertainment activity – the “ACE sector”- attracts more than 5.6 million people to St. Paul each year and adds over $623 million to St Paul’s economy. The downtown ACE sector groups attract 85 to 90 percent of their audiences from outside of St. Paul, meaning that most of this activity would not otherwise occur.

(Sources: “ACE: A Vision for St. Paul,” a report to Mayor Randy Kelly and the St Paul City Council & The Americans for the Arts’ Creative Industries Report 2005)