Regarding John Kohler’s letter to the editor on May 5 suggesting cuts to the Arts Commission, perhaps a few facts would help. For the greater part of the last 50 years, governmental agencies have indeed been engaged in arts funding at the federal, state, and local levels because elected officials realize the arts are essential to the health and vitality of our communities and our nation.
The arts improve the quality of life in our cities and towns. They enhance community development; spur urban renewal; attract new businesses; draw tourism dollars; and create an environment that attracts the skilled, educated workers that build our third millennium workforce. Nationally nonprofit arts groups and their audiences generate $166 billion in economic impact and create 5.7 million jobs.
Nationally, support for the nonprofit arts in the United States is a mosaic of funding sources—an ever-changing mix of earned revenue, government support, and private-sector contributions. Nonprofit arts organizations generally earn half of the money it takes to sustain their operations. The other half must be raised through contributions and grants, with less than 10 percent coming from government sources, only 3 percent of which is local.
When we cut the arts, we are not cutting frills. Rather, we’re undercutting a job-creating industry that is a cornerstone of tourism and economic development.
Robert L. Lynch
President and CEO, Americans for the Arts
Washington, D.C.
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