NORWICH – Chenango County Council of the Arts announced it has joined Arts & Economic Prosperity IV. The research study, which is being conducted by Americans for the Arts, America’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts, will evaluate the impact spending by nonprofit arts organizations and their audiences have on their local economies.

As one of 200 study partners across all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, the Council of the Arts will facilitate the gathering of detailed economic and event attendance data from nonprofit arts and culture organizations located throughout Chenango County using data from the Cultural Data Project (CDP). In addition, the Council of the Arts will collaborate with the county’s other arts organizations to collect surveys from arts and culture event attendees during 2011. Arts & Economic Prosperity IV will allow us to evaluate the impact of the recession on the employment and government revenues that are generated by the nonprofit arts industry. We expect that the findings will demonstrate that the arts remain a formidable industry in spite of our country’s recent economic challenges.

Customized findings for Chenango County will demonstrate the impact of spending by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences on the economy. Specifically, the study’s results will include:

• The total dollars spent by Chenango County’s nonprofit arts and culture organizations.

• The total dollars spent by audiences as a direct result of their attendance at arts and culture events in Chenango County.