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The City of Albuquerque's Department of Arts & Culture Participating in National Arts & Economic Prosperity Study, AEP6

Volunteers and research partners sought for economic impact study of Albuquerque’s arts and culture.

September 9, 2022 - The City of Albuquerque's Department of Arts & Culture is pleased to announce its participation in Americans for the Arts’ Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) research study. The most comprehensive economic impact study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry ever conducted in the United States, AEP6 will examine the economic impact of the arts and culture in 386 communities representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Department of Arts & Culture is spearheading the collection and reporting of Albuquerque’s arts and culture data. The State of New Mexico will compile all data collected in the state, from Albuquerque and other participating New Mexico jurisdictions.

The AEP® series is conducted every five years to gauge the economic impact of spending by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and event-related spending of their audiences. In 2017, AEP5 documented that nonprofit arts and culture activities generated $166.3 billion in spending, supported 4.6 million jobs, and generated $27.5 billion in government revenue. The City of Albuquerque last participated in the AEP survey in 2012.

For AEP6, the Arts & Culture survey is two-fold: In early 2023, AEP will survey Albuquerque arts and culture nonprofits via email to collect demographic and qualitative data about Albuquerque’s arts and cultural community. Second, the city will partner with Albuquerque agencies to collect 800 audience-intercept surveys from attendees to arts events in Albuquerque through April 2023. 

Audience interview surveys will be part of a national sample of 250,000 surveys. The national and local findings of AEP6 will be made public in September 2023. At that time, the City of Albuquerque will receive a customized report on the unique economic impact results for Albuquerque including the number of jobs that are supported and the amount of government revenue that is generated by our community’s nonprofit arts industry.

Previous AEP surveys have demonstrated that an investment in the arts provides both cultural and economic benefits. For AEP6, Americans for the Arts has also emphasized equity and inclusion by centering BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Native American) identifying communities—in AEP6 methodology, organizational participation, and collection of data. AEP6 seeks to calculate and report on the economic impact of BIPOC/ALAANA arts sector and will require that local and state research partners collect a portion of audience surveys from attendees at events hosted by organizations that primarily serve communities of color. AEP6 will also identify organizations that have a chief executive who identifies as BIPOC/ALAANA.

For more information and a full list of communities participating in AEP6, visit www.americansforthearts.org/AEP6. To learn more about partnering with the Department of Arts & Culture on the AEP6 Survey send an email to [email protected]