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The National Resource for Measuring Arts in Your Community

Arts and culture are a deep and intrinsic part of every community. Across the United States there are over 113,000 organizations dedicated to many aspects of cultural life. This activity encompasses a broad range of disciplines that ranges from performing arts production and presentation, to visual arts exhibition, to arts education and arts in healthcare, to preservation and interpretation of our collective heritage. Consumers spend nearly $150 billion annually on entertainment and the arts. How do we better understand the breadth, depth and character of this industry?

Visit the Arts Index website to view the National Arts Index or pinpoint data for your county using the Local Arts Index.

The 2012 National Arts Index delivers a 2010 score of the health and vitality of the arts nationwide. This year’s report bears witness to how the arts sector fared during the Great Recession.	The Local Arts Index was launched in 2012 as a tool to better understand the characteristics of the cultural life of individual communities as measured at the county level.