Preserving & Creating Space for Arts & Culture in Seattle
In July 2008, the Cultural Overlay District Advisory Committee (CODAC) was convened by members of the Seattle City Council in response to the rapid loss of arts-related spaces and activities in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. The CODAC was charged with conceiving creative ideas to preserve and foster arts and cultural spaces in Seattle neighborhoods. The citizen committee made its recommendations to the City Council in spring 2009, and the Council adopted a resolution to accept the recommendations in August 2009.
Impact of the Economic Recession on the Puget Sound Region's
Nonprofit Arts Sector
This study of more than two dozen Puget Sound arts and cultural organizations reinforces findings that the current recession is taking a toll on Puget Sound arts and cultural organizations. The 24-page report commissioned by the Mayor's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, 4Culture, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and the Seattle Foundation, compiles the results of interviews with the leaders of 28 cultural organizations conducted in January 2009 by Helicon Collaborative. It also outlines strategies to manage the economic crisis.
Arts & Economic Prosperity III
Economic Impact of the Nonprofit Arts and Culture Industry in the city of Seattle
Arts & Economic Prosperity III provides compelling new evidence that the nonprofit arts and culture are a significant industry in the city of Seattle-one that generates $330.42 million in local economic activity. This spending-$211.45 million by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and an additional $118.97 million in event-related spending by their audiences-supports 7,992 full-time equivalent jobs, generates $177.76 million in household income to local residents, and delivers $26.67 million in local and state government revenue. This economic impact study sends a strong signal that when we support the arts, we not only enhance our quality of life, but we also invest in the city of Seattle's economic well-being.
Released in June 2007, Arts & Economic Propserity III is part of a national survey of more than 156 regions and communities conducted by Americans for the Arts, a national nonprofit group. The Seattle study was funded by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. It is the first to put Seattle in a national comparative context.
Creative Vitality Index
A strong arts and culture sector and a creative workforce help fuel our economy. The Creative Vitality Index is an annual measure of the health of the creative economy in cities, counties and states.
2008 data ranked Seattle's overall creative vitality at 3.57 times the national average. Revenues for nonprofit arts organizations were twice the national average. While revenues in a number of retail areas fell in 2008 due to the economic downturn, creative index values increased in a number of areas. This indicates that the Seattle creative economy proved to be more resilient than the national creative economy. Also, creative jobs-including writers, architects, actors and animators-increased by 2.66% between 2006 and 2008.
In partnership with the Washington State Arts Commission and Western States Arts Federation, the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs created the Creative Vitality Index (CVI) to measure the city's creative edge and chart annual participation in the arts along with arts-related activities and employment.
Creative Industries in Seattle
Compiled annually by Americans for the Arts, the Creative Industries report charts arts-centric businesses that range from non-profit museums, symphonies and theaters to for-profit film, architecture and advertising companies. As of January 2011, Seattle was home to 4,571 arts-related businesses that employ 20,616 people.
Art Space Incentives
Growth in South Lake Union has sparked a conversation about the availability of affordable dedicated cultural space for artists and arts organizations in this and other city neighborhoods. Arts Space Incentives, a study prepared for the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs in early 2007 by commercial real estate firm GVA Kidder Matthews, examines the neighborhood and its potential for redevelopment, its capacity to accommodate art spaces now and in the future and potential incentives for property owners willing to incorporate art spaces in their neighborhood developments. The study also serves as a model of research that can be applied in other parts of the city.
Cultural Vitality in Communities: Interpretations and Indicatiors
(The Urban Institute's Arts & Culture Indicators Project, 2006)
The Seattle area ranks high among 50 major metropolitan areas, according to this comprehensive statistical portrait of cultural vitality issued by The Urban Institute.
Communities Count
This regional study develops a set of social and health indicators for King County. It provides rich information about the status of those indicators of community well-being, which includes the arts.
Artistic Dividend: The Artist's Hidden Contributions to Regional Development
This study asserts that artistic activity is a major and varied contributor to economic vitality. It suggests that the productivity of earnings in a regional economy are rise as the incidence of artists within its boundaries increase, because artists' creativity and specialized skills enhance the design, production and marketing of products and services in other sectors.