Arts & Economic Prosperity 6
Change the Conversation About the Arts
Becoming an AEP6 Volunteer with Assembly is a great way to meet new people, show your support for our arts communities and get some great perks!
Volunteers will help with survey prep and on-site survey collection at arts and culture events of all kinds. You’ll also get to:
- Talk with other arts-minded people
- Advocate for the arts
- Help others learn about Assembly for the Arts programs
- Expand your network
Email volunteer@assemblycle.org to sign up and learn more!
What is the study?
Assembly is excited to partner with Americans for the Arts on Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6).
AEP6 is an economic impact study of the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture industry. It’s the largest and most inclusive study of its kind ever conducted, with a specific focus on 387 participating communities from across the country.
For the first time ever, this study includes Cuyahoga County as part of the more than two hundred regions surveyed nationwide. View the Press Release.
Nonprofit Partners
Assembly is working with nonprofit organization partners to survey their audiences at arts and culture events of all kinds across the county. These surveys will provide important information on how much people are spending at arts events, what neighborhoods are participating and their investment in and connection to the arts.
Why is This a big deal for Cuyahoga County?
In short, Economic impact studies like AEP6:
- Can help organizations like Assembly advocate for more resources for arts and culture, including future funding
- Illustrate the major economic impact of the arts in our region
- Influence where tax dollars are invested
- Help change how people view arts and culture
Download 10 Reasons to Support the Arts in Cleveland.
Download 10 Reasons to Support the Arts in Cuyahoga County.
Thank You
To our friends that have partnered with us on this!
Beck Center for the Arts
CAN Journal
Cleveland Institute of Art
Cleveland Institute of Music
Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Play House
Cleveland Public Theatre
Dance Cleveland
Dancing Wheels
Djapo Cultural Arts Institute
Dobama Theatre
Future Ink Graphics (FIG)
Great Lakes African American Writer’s Conference
Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival (GCUFF)
Julia De Burgos Cultural Arts Center
Kaiser Gallery
Karamu House
Les Delices
Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa)
Museum of Creative Human Art
Musical Theatre Project
Near West Theatre
Oh Sew Powerful
RidAll Green Partnership
The Cleveland International Film Festival
The Cleveland Orchestra
The International Women’s Air and Space Museum
The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage
The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame
ThirdSpace Action Lab
Twelve Literary Arts
Western Reserve Historical Society
Get Involved and Become a Partner
AEP6 in Cuyahoga County, can’t be successful without you. Help Assembly reach our goal of 800 surveys for Cuyahoga County and Sign up to become an organizational partner today. This year QR codes make it even easier to distribute. They have also translated the audience survey into 24 languages! Even surveying ONE of your events makes a difference!
Watch the Webinar to learn more about AEP6 and what you need to know as a partner.
Local & State Advocacy
Championing Public Investment in the Creative Sector:
Our first year of work coincided with one of the worst economic periods for the region’s creative sector because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Assembly mobilized community partners to plead the case for American Rescue Plan Act funds with Cuyahoga County and City of Cleveland government.
Thanks to the advocacy of the Assembly board and the partnership of Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC), Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish and Cuyahoga County Council President Pernel Jones jointly committed to $3.3M in ARPA funds for arts and culture. Approved by Council in July 2022, Assembly and CAC will split the $3.3 million equally and will establish processes to equitably distribute the funds to the for-profit and non-profit creative economy and artists.
During 2021’s Cleveland Mayoral Election, Assembly engaged with candidates to ensure arts and culture was represented in public debates. Assembly also partnered with CAN Journal to launch a candidate survey on their policy vision for arts and culture.
When Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb took office in January 2022, Assembly set out to build relationships with the new mayor and his administration to elevate arts and culture in the public agenda. In the Fall of 2021, Assembly held multiple forums with artist coalitions, creative businesses, and nonprofits to develop a set of arts-informed recommendations for the new administration. One of our many recommendations was to establish an arts liaison at City Hall to drive a strategic cultural agenda. The Mayor’s Chief Strategy Officer Bradford Davy confirmed that an appointment of an arts leader/liaison will be forthcoming.
Data are vital to demonstrate the creative sector’s impact when we speak with public officials. We partnered with Ohio Citizens for the Arts (OCA) and Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, along with six other regional arts councils, and Bowling Green State University’s Center for Regional Development on a study about the Cleveland creative industry’s economic contribution.
The results were sobering and clear: the creative sector in Cleveland is an economic powerhouse, which generated more than $6.7 billion in economic output in 2019 – and the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the industry, which has yet to rebound.
Data Brief - Dance in Cleveland
Dance In CLE
Cleveland’s dance industry, including both creative and non-creative jobs increased to 302 jobs in 2015. The industry analysis is made up of dance companies and promoters as well as fine arts schools.
Inside the Margins
A Cleveland Literature Industry Study
Inside the Margins: A Cleveland Literature Industry Study was commissioned by Arts Cleveland—formerly the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture—and is the result of research conducted and analyzed by the Center for Economic Development at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University (CSU). The report on the Cleveland Literature Sector is the fourth in a series of studies that explores the various artistic disciplines in Cuyahoga County.
For the study, the CSU research team acquired the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data for Cuyahoga County from 2005 to 2015, and used the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Standard Occupation Classification definitions. The team also gathered quantitative and qualitative data by conducting an online Survey of Literary Artists, one-on-one interviews and a focus group. The purpose of the data and their analysis is to provide a sense of the local sector’s advantages, challenges and economic impact.
Access the full report by CSU on their website.
Staging Cleveland
Staging Cleveland takes an in-depth look at the role greater Cleveland’s theater industries play in the regional economy. 2017.
The concentration of high-quality theaters and playwrights in the Cleveland region helps to make it a mid-sized city that has a disproportionally high level of national recognition. This is just one of the competitive advantages of Cleveland theater found in “Staging Cleveland: A Theater Industry Study.” The study shares the economic impact and ecosystem of Cuyahoga County’s theater industry.
Forming Cleveland
Forming Cleveland
A Visual Arts, Craft and Design Industry Study
Visual arts, craft and design are a large part of our daily lives, which are inundated with images not only through museums or private collections, but also through product consumption. Art penetrates our environments and can inspire collective action. The creative process inspires us to think about new concepts, applications, and markets for stimulating innovation. In order to position greater Cleveland’s visual arts, craft and design sector for continued growth, the community needs to understand the strengths and challenges facing the sector. Forming Cleveland provides a foundation of research to achieve this aim as well as spur discussions about how to strengthen the sector in its role as an innovator for our region. Arts Cleveland and Cleveland State University partnered to explore the visual arts, craft and design industry in this study. It includes eight case studies on how the visual arts, craft and design industry is impacting our city’s landscape and vision for our future.
Remix Cleveland
A Music Industry Study
Cleveland’s music scene is rooted in a music legacy of groundbreaking performances, local talent, and music innovation. Arts Cleveland (formerly Community Partnership for Arts and Culture) and Cleveland State University partnered to explore the music industry in this study. This report’s objective was to understand the Cleveland Music Sector today and assess the economic impact of music events and venues in Cuyahoga County. The report outlines how the Cleveland Music Sector can be engaged as a partner for shaping the city’s future. It includes six case studies on how the music industry is intersecting with some of Cleveland’s strongest sectors like manufacturing and medicine.
Arts and Cultural Industry Workforce Barometer - 2004
A Survey of Northeast Ohio Nonprofit Arts and Cultural Organizations
This report summarizes Arts Cleveland’s second survey of job loss and growth in the arts and cultural sector. The survey’s goal was to understand the health of Northeast Ohio’s nonprofit arts and cultural assets. This survey was expanded to include Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Summit Counties.
Economic Impact of Non-Local Arts and Culture Consumers
This study examines the economic impact of 9 Cuyahoga County-based arts and culture organizations with different budget sizes and disciplines. The report is intended to improve regional understanding of the economic impact of arts and culture visitors to Cuyahoga County.