In 2010 Virginia invested $4.85 million in grants supporting the arts, distributed by the Virginia Commission for the Arts statewide. The investment netted a strong return as it supported more than 37,000 public arts events attended by 7.7 million people, as well as Virginia tourism. Every arts organization funded by the Commission offered youth outreach as part of its programming. In addition, 124 localities received matching funds from the Commission and used the funding for local performances, exhibitions, and festivals. Each year 30% of the Commission grant funds are directed to rural, underserved areas.
The funding also served as seed money that leveraged an additional $40 million last year in Virginia, including:
$13 million in individual giving
$17 million in corporate giving
$1.7 in gifts from private foundations
$7 million from local governments
$1 million from the National Endowment for the Arts
The arts and culture segment, which is a billion-dollar industry, generates economic strength through:
Job creation
Tax revenue
Cultural tourism
Economic development
Community building
Regional revitalization
The arts are vital to Virginia, for each additional million dollars invested in the arts through the Virginia Commission for the Arts will restore hundreds of jobs and generate $12 million in economic activity. In countless ways, the arts support the wellbeing of Virginians, now and in the future.
For more information, visit www.VaForArts.org.
________
Contact:
Trish Poupore, Executive Director
Virginians for the Arts | Virginians for the Arts Foundation
[email protected] | (804) 644-2787
In 2010 Virginia invested $4.85 million in grants supporting the arts, distributed by the Virginia Commission for the Arts statewide. The investment netted a strong return as it supported more than 37,000 public arts events attended by 7.7 million people, as well as Virginia tourism. Every arts organization funded by the Commission offered youth outreach as part of its programming. In addition, 124 localities received matching funds from the Commission and used the funding for local performances, exhibitions, and festivals. Each year 30% of the Commission grant funds are directed to rural, underserved areas.
The funding also served as seed money that leveraged an additional $40 million last year in Virginia, including:
$13 million in individual giving
$17 million in corporate giving
$1.7 in gifts from private foundations
$7 million from local governments
$1 million from the National Endowment for the Arts
The arts and culture segment, which is a billion-dollar industry, generates economic strength through:
Job creation
Tax revenue
Cultural tourism
Economic development
Community building
Regional revitalization
The arts are vital to Virginia, for each additional million dollars invested in the arts through the Virginia Commission for the Arts will restore hundreds of jobs and generate $12 million in economic activity. In countless ways, the arts support the wellbeing of Virginians, now and in the future.
For more information, visit www.VaForArts.org.
________
Contact:
Trish Poupore, Executive Director
Virginians for the Arts | Virginians for the Arts Foundation
[email protected] | (804) 644-2787
When the government takes money from taxpayers to hand out to a particular entity it favors, that’s not an “investment”. Charitably, you could call it “spending”. “Welfare” is probably more accurate.