2018 marks one of the most promising years yet for arts and culture in the Brazos Valley, as a significant increase in grant funding received will be invested directly to support the arts affiliates and at-risk youth programs of the Arts Council.
The organizations that have provided a large portion of these grant funds to The Arts Council include Texas Commission on the Arts, Mays Strategic Philanthropy, the cities of College Station, Bryan, and Navasota, and Brazos County.
In the coming fiscal year, The Arts Council will invest approximately $460,000 directly into affiliate arts, culture, and heritage organizations doing amazing work throughout the Brazos Valley. With the 2018 fiscal year only beginning, The Arts Council has also been awarded $15,000 from TCA to support programs for at-risk and underserved youth in our area. This steady growth in arts funding continues to open doors for many exciting opportunities in the arts community within the Brazos Valley.
The economic impact of the arts not only affects the Brazos Valley, but Texas and the United States at large as well. In July, Americans for the Arts released a study of the financial benefits of the arts. Nationwide, nonprofit arts and cultural organizations and their audiences generated $166.3 billion in economic activity, supported 4.6 million full-time equivalent jobs, and generated $27.5 billion in governmental revenue.
Findings from the Texas Cultural Trust’s 2017 study reveal that arts and culture industries generated $5.5 billion for Texas’ economy in 2016, up from $5.1 billion from 2015. The arts contribute nearly $343.7 million in state sales tax revenue annually and our state's creative sector employs one in 15 Texans – nearly 800,000 innovation workers. Texas creative sector employment is projected to increase by 20 percent or 160,000 net new jobs by 2024.
For more information about the impact of arts funding in our community and how you can get involved, visit The Arts Council’s website at acbv.org.
