Art Stimulates More Than Just Imaginations In New York City

Friday 17th December 2010

New York City was very much at the forefront of the global economic collapse in 2008, with eyes around the world watching what was happening to the likes of Lehman Brothers and wondering what would be in store for us financially in coming years. The same was true of the art world; people looked to New York for signs of how the global economic crisis would affect the art market and culture on a whole.

Two years later we are looking back at New York, and in particular the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA), to see how art and culture are helping to stimulate the economy for everyone.

In a survey and report by the MMA, it has been announced that, over the Summer period, the MMA's trio of exhibitions - Picasso in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Doug + Mike Starn on the Roof: Big Bambú, and American Woman: Fashion a National Identity - stimulated a staggering $784 million in economic activity. That activity came from local, national and international tourists making the journey to New York to feast their eyes on some of the best art that the world has to offer.

Statistics from the Museum show that the three exhibitions drew in crowds of 703,256, 631,064 and 335,759 visitors respectively. Of those visitors, the report stated that 72% of visitors travelled from outside of the five boroughs of NYC, 20% were from the Tri-state area, 34% were from other US states and 46% were international visitors.

Each person that visited the museum is thought to have spent around $1,050 on accommodation, sightseeing, entertainment, admission to museums, food and shopping.

Overall, the report which was conducted by the Office of Market Research in the Visitor Services Department, calculated that the City and State of New York would receive a direct tax benefit of $78.4 million as a result of the Museums activities over the summer period.

While New York and the MMA have proven to be a great example of how art and culture can benefit cities and economies on a whole, there is no doubt that other institutions around the world are having the same effect by continuing to put on quality exhibitions and running programs that continue to innovate and bring world class art to the masses.

Posted on December 17th 2010 on 02:19pm

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