Arts and culture have strong economic impact on county

It’s long been known that the arts and culture are important to Cook County. They enhance the quality of life, bring diverse communities together, and make the area a magnet for jobs and businesses. A new study was released yesterday to substantiate that claim.

The report issued by the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, Cook County Chamber of Commerce, Grand Marais Art Colony, North House Folk School, Sivertson Gallery and Minnesota Citizens for the Arts that shows that the nonprofit arts and culture sector is a substantial industry in Cook County, generating over $4.6 million in total economic impact annually.

As the most comprehensive report ever done of the creative sector, Creative Minnesota is a new effort to fill the gaps in available information about Minnesota’s cultural field and to improve understanding of its importance to quality of life and economy.

Creative Minnesota: The Impact and Health of the Nonprofit Arts and Culture Sector found that 17 nonprofit arts and culture organizations in Cook County support the equivalent of 127 full time jobs in the city, and that 78,000 people attend nonprofit arts and cultural events annually.

Although Cook County ranked 16th of the 17 local areas studied in size of population, the county ranked 7th in overall economic impact. Cook County ranked 3rd among the cities studied in this report, behind only Minneapolis and St. Paul, in per capita economic impact from the arts and culture, with a whopping $889 for every one of the county’s 5,176 residents.

Sheila Smith, Executive Director of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, said “the results for Cook County were a real eye-opener. I knew the arts were important to the area but the arts and culture footprint here is vastly out of proportion to the population. The arts are a core part of the county’s economy.”