Title
Authorizing City Council's Committee on Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs to Hold Public Hearings Regarding the Impact of Arts and Culture on Philadelphia's Regional Economy.
Body
WHEREAS, The arts are comprised of diverse, innovative organizations that produce creative exhibits for the public, including musical performance, theatre, literature, and fine art; and
WHEREAS, Arts and culture have often been overlooked as a source of employment and economic benefit to the Philadelphia region; and
WHEREAS, The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance released a report this week showing that the Philadelphia region's arts and cultural sector has a $3.3 billion yearly impact on the local economy, generating nearly $170 million in state and local taxes annually and producing $490 million in household income in the City of Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, The Cultural Alliance found that our cultural sector supports nearly 44,000 full-time jobs each year, which is nearly eleven jobs per thousand residents, double the national average, and putting Philadelphia as first in the nation for arts-related job creation; and
WHEREAS, Last year's Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, produced by the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, attracted 404,600 visitors in just one month, including approximately 170,000 visitors from outside the City of Philadelphia, generating a total economic impact of $55.7 million, nearly six times the cost of the Festival, and producing $2.10 million in total tax revenue for the City; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Museum of Art has reported a cumulative economic impact of more than $1 billion for the City in the past five years, attracting approximately one million visitors annually and helping to support over 2,500 full-time jobs in addition to generating $6.1 million in tax revenue, and their recent exhibition, the Late Renoir, attracted more than 111,500 visitors from all over the country in three months, generating $12 million total economic activity for the City in conjunction with $1 million in tax revenues; and
WHEREAS, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts conducted a study examining the Center's economic impact and reported an annual City economic benefit of $350 million while supporting 4,200 jobs and receiving over 1 million visitors last year; and
WHEREAS, These examples demonstrate that the arts and culture sector is a vital regional asset that supports thousands of jobs, benefits businesses in every industry, and helps grow our economy, and there is a great need for further exploration as to how the City can help foster and encourage the growth of our arts organizations; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby authorize the Committee on Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs to hold public hearings regarding the impact of Arts and Culture on Philadelphia's regional economy.
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