Nonprofit arts and culture sector has $100M impact on Ann Arbor economy | MLive.com Nonprofit arts and culture sector has $100M impact on Ann Arbor economy Bassist James Simonson of Detroit-based band ‘The Brothers Groove’ belts out a lyric during the last day of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival in downtown Ann Arbor. The Summer Festival is one of a number of nonprofit arts and culture organizations that have a major impact on the region’s economy. That doesn’t mean they can’t have an effect on the economy.

Neel HajraPhoto courtesy of the Ann Arbor Community Foundation

Preliminary results from a new study by the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation show a direct impact of more than $100 million from the region’s arts and culture nonprofits alone.

To help direct its investments, the foundation commissioned the study from Americans for the Arts in conjunction with the Arts Alliance in Washtenaw County that could help show the sector’s impact in a measurable way. More than 700 audience surveys have been gathered along with information from 87 nonprofit arts and culture organizations in the region and data collection will be ongoing through the month of May.

“We learned that there is an annual audience of more than 1.78 million people attending nonprofit arts and culture events in the Ann Arbor area,” he said.

The study found that two-thirds of that audience is local, and Hajra said he has people from young professionals to senior citizens telling him personally that the area’s arts and culture are among the primary reasons they call Ann Arbor home.