Photo: Maggie Donahue (By Kevin Beaty, Denverite) | By Maggie Donahue, Denverite | The pandemic was a major setback for the arts economy in metro Denver. Now, thanks to a new study, we know just how devastating it was.
The Colorado Business Committee for the Arts (CBCA) has released its 2021 Economic Activity Study of Metro Denver Culture. For the last 28 years, the CBCA has been releasing annual reports on the arts’ economic impact within Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties, but this year was different. The group opted to present data from both 2019 and 2020 in one joint report, demonstrating the dramatic rise and fall between the years.
“Arts, culture and scientific organizations are the backbone of a vibrant, resilient and inclusive society,” Christin Crampton Day, executive director of CBCA, said in a press release. “CBCA’s 2021 Economic Activity Study of Metro Denver Culture illustrates years of record-breaking cultural growth, which hit an all-time high in 2019, and conversely in 2020, how a community responds to drastic and disruptive circumstances.”
Over the last two years, CBCA tracked the arts economy from 2019 to 2020 using self-reported data from the almost 300 Colorado arts and culture organizations publicly funded by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).
They opted to remove data from virtual attendance, saying the challenges of monetizing virtual programs and encouraging economic activity online made it impossible for CBCA to use the same economic multipliers used for in-person events.
The report examines metrics in six categories:
● Economic activity, which includes audience spending, operating costs like rent and supplies, and capitol spending on renovations and facilities
● Economic impact, or new money entering the region via federal grants, capital expenditure and cultural tourism
● Jobs
● Attendance
● Giving to the Arts
● Education Outreach, such as classes, school activities and field trips
Data showed that in 2019, the arts and culture sector saw growth in all six categories from 2017. It broke records for economic activity ($2.3 billion) as well as number of jobs in the arts and culture sector. Economic impact ($860 million) increased 272 percent from 2017, and arts attendance was the second highest on record (the highest was in 2007, right before the Great Recession). The data for 2019 was consistent with a pattern of growth that began after the 2008 recession.
In 2020, the pandemic forced closures, layoffs, furloughs, reduced capacity and other measures to mitigate cost and prevent the spread of the pandemic. The report shows that in that year, the arts economy lost a decade of growth, with jobs and attendance returning to levels from the 2008 Recession or lower.
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Read the whole story here:
https://denverite.com/2021/11/05/denvers-arts-economy-lost-a-decade-of-growth-in-2020-due-to-the-pandemic/
November 11, 2021| Music-Related Business| Barb Dye