OSF Joins Arts and Economic Prosperity Study


Festival partners with Americans for the Arts

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ASHLAND, ORE. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is joining the Arts & Economic Prosperity® 5, a national study measuring the economic impact of nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences. The research study is being conducted by Americans for the Arts, the nation’s nonprofit organization advancing the arts and arts education. It is the fifth study over the past 20 years to measure the impact of arts spending on local jobs, income paid to local residents and revenue generated to local and state governments.

As one of nearly 300 study partners across all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, OSF will collect detailed financial data about local nonprofit arts and culture organizations such as theater and dance companies, museums, festivals and arts education organizations.

“Many people don’t think of nonprofit arts organizations as businesses,” said OSF Executive Director Cynthia Rider, “but this study will make clear that the arts are a formidable industry in our community—employing people locally, purchasing goods and services from local merchants and helping to drive tourism and economic development.”

OSF will also collect surveys from attendees at performances using a short, anonymous questionnaire that asks how much they spent on items such as accommodations, meals, transportation and shopping, specifically as a result of attending the Festival. Previous surveys have shown that the average party spends over $200 a day during their trip to the Festival.

Surveys will be collected throughout 2016. The results of the study will be released in June of 2017.

“This study will show that when we support the arts in the Rogue Valley,” said Rider, “we are making an investment in an industry, one that supports jobs and generates government revenue, and is the cornerstone of tourism.”

According to Americans for the Arts’ most recent national study, the nonprofit arts industry generated $135.2 billion in total economic activity and supported 4.1 million full-time equivalent jobs during 2010, resulting in $22.3 billion in federal, state and local government revenues. The $135.2 billion total included $61.1 billion in spending by arts organizations and $74.1 billion in event-related spending by their audiences on items such as meals, transportation and overnight lodging. Complete details about the 2010 study are available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org/EconomicImpact.

“Our Arts & Economic Prosperity series demonstrates that the arts are an economic and employment powerhouse both locally and across the nation,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “Leaders who care about community and economic vitality can feel good about choosing to invest in the arts. Nationally as well as locally, the arts mean business.”

Americans for the Arts’ Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 study is supported by The Ruth Lilly Fund of Americans for the Arts. In addition, Americans for the Arts’ local and statewide study partners are contributing both time and a cost-sharing fee support to the study. For a full list of the nearly 300 Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 study partners, visit www.AmericansForTheArts.org/AEP5Partners.

Founded by Angus Bowmer in 1935 and winner of a 1983 Tony Award for outstanding achievement in regional theatre, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival presents an eight-month season of 11 plays that include works by Shakespeare as well as a mix of classics, musicals, and new works. The Festival also draws attendance of more than 400,000 to almost 800 performances every year and employs approximately 575 theatre professionals. In 2008, OSF launched American Revolutions: the United States History Cycle, a 10-year cycle of commissioning new plays that has already resulted in several OSF commissions finding success nationwide.

Cynthia Rider photo

Oregon Shakespeare Festival Executive Director Cynthia Rider.