(Photo via The Phoenix Symphony)
By RaeAnne Marsh | InBusiness Phoenix
“Arts and culture is a significant industry in Arizona,” says Chris Camacho, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, citing numbers that support the statement: The sector represents 3% of the state’s total GDP, employs more than 84,000 individuals and in 2022 added $14.2 billion to the economy. That last figure, he notes, is “nearly as much as agriculture, mining and education combined.”
Peter Kjome, president and CEO of The Phoenix Symphony, observing that numerous studies have reinforced the importance of the arts and culture sector, points to a recently released Arts & Economic Prosperity study conducted by Americans for the Arts indicates that the arts and culture sector at the national level generated more than $150 billion of economic activity in 2022. Bridging it to the local level, he says, “In Arizona, the impact was measured as over $1.1 billion, including over $500 million in spending by arts and culture organizations and nearly $600 million in event-related expenditures by audiences.”
In addition to arts and culture being what she calls “a massive economic engine on its own,” Children’s Museum of Phoenix director Kate Wells notes that, in Arizona alone, the arts economy provides hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, and tens-of-thousands of jobs. “Vibrant arts communities attract and retain workers; drive tourism; and create livable, desirable communities with high qualities of life. All the benefits that the arts bring to business they also bring to each and every one of our lives,” she says. “And don’t we all want to live in a place that has an amazing quality of life?”
Camacho points to a multiplier effect of investment in this sector. “Arts and culture in the City of Phoenix during fiscal year 2023 generated $92.5 million in total tax revenue, on top of more than $323 million in household income and 7,686 jobs supported,” he says, adding, “There is significant opportunity to amplify visibility on our creative economy, not only locally, but at the national and global level. This benefits industry growth beyond the sector itself.”
Affirming this view from one of the state’s leading economic development organizations, Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of the Phoenix Art Museum, says, “Arts and culture are equally important to every other sector in the state and have been a driving force behind why people move to the Valley – just as equal to the landscape, outdoor opportunities, and weather. Regardless of how you put it, we are a large economic driver and economy within the state. We support the richness of a place and, as we consider more and more diverse individuals coming to the region from other parts of the country and world, we provide those new employees and residents with the opportunity to feel represented and build community.”
