Equity recently put these together, and I couldn’t have come up with a better argument for continued support for the Arts.

10 Facts About the Arts

The arts = popular:

More people in Britain are engaged in the arts than in Premier League football – between April 2014 and March 2015, 77 per cent of adults had attended or participated in the arts at least once in the previous year (Source – DCMS Taking Part Survey)

 

The arts = jobs:

Employment in music, visual and performing arts stands at nearly a quarter of a million people and has grown by 14% between 2011 and 2013 (Source: ONS)

 

The arts = well being

The Arts on Prescription initiative research study found that engagement with the arts resulted in positive outcomes for 78% of participants, through an increase in mental wellbeing and/or a decrease in social isolation, anxiety or depression: http://artsandminds.org.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/a-on-p_executive-summary_sp-1.pdf

 

The arts = soft power

The UK is recognised as one of the world’s most adept soft-power states. In a recent global ranking of soft power by the Institute for Government, the UK came top. (Source: The Soft Power 30 global index) Cultural engagement leads to a higher level of trust in the UK, and this is associated with a greater attraction to visit or do business in the UK. (Source – British Council 2012)

 

The arts = ideas

Subsidised theatre fuels risk taking and talent development. The benefits of these in some cases stay within the subsidised sphere, and in others branch out to the commercial theatre sector and wider creative industries (Source CC Skills Publicly-funded arts as an R&D lab for the creative industries?)

 

The arts = growth

The creative industries are important to our economy – worth £77bn or 5% of the UK’s GDP according to the latest figures from DCMS.

 

The arts = regeneration

Arts and cultural education can lead to higher earning and better job prospects, improved wellbeing and regeneration of places (source – Centre for Economics Business Research (CEBR) 2013)

 

The arts = tourism

In 2011, 10 million inbound visits to the UK involved engagement with the arts and culture, representing 32 per cent of all visits to the UK and 42 per cent of all inbound tourism-related expenditure (CEBR 2013). Visit Britain estimate that Britain’s cultural and heritage attractions generate £4.5 billion worth of spending by inbound visitors annually which is the equivalent to more than one quarter of all spending by international visitors.

 

The arts = education

Students from low income families who take part in arts activities at school are three times more likely to get a degree than children from low income families that do not engage in arts activities at school. Engagement in structured arts and  culture improves the cognitive abilities of children and young people (Source: CASE 2010)

 

The arts = community

Participation in the arts can contribute to community cohesion, reduce social exclusion and isolation, and/or make communities feel safer and stronger (CASE 2015)