According to a new regional website, Rhode Island’s 1,750 “creative economy” organizations pay over $350 million to their employees each year, and annually contribute over $750 million to the Rhode Island economy. This is according to CultureCount.org, a new cultural database launched by the New England Foundation for the Arts on behalf of the six New England states.
Randall Rosenbaum, Executive Director of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, applauds the launch of culturecount.org. “We constantly make the argument that the arts are an incredibly important part of the Rhode Island economy,” says Rosenbaum. “This website, and the information in the CultureCount database, helps us show the economic impact of the arts, at both the state and local level, using credible data from federal, state and regional sources.”
The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) announced the public launch of CultureCount, New England’s Cultural Database, located at www.culturecount.org. NEFA describes this website as the only comprehensive and consistent data collection resource for New England's cultural nonprofits, businesses, and professionals.
Constantly updated and expanded, CultureCount’s local data supplements the federal data analyzed by NEFA in research reports on the creative sector.
CultureCount is provided as a free public service to New England. The database currently houses 22,856 active records and offers a variety of search features and research tools.
“CultureCount is an outgrowth of NEFA's New England Cultural Database, which was useful as a data warehouse for the small group of researchers and state arts agency staff that knew to use it. CultureCount is geared toward a more public audience,” says Dee Schneidman, NEFA Research Manager.
The searchable online database - the only regional cultural database in the country - provides New England state arts agencies, researchers, cultural organizations, funders, artists, policy makers, economists, and the general public with a wealth of research information to support analysis, advocacy, and policy development.
For more information about CultureCount visit www.culturecount.org.
ABOUT THE NEW ENGLAND FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS NEFA creatively supports the movement of people, ideas, and resources in the arts within New England and beyond, makes vital connections between artists and audiences, and builds strength, knowledge, and leadership of the region’s creative sector. NEFA is a 501 (c) 3 that operates with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England state arts agencies, and from corporations, foundations, and individuals.
NEFA administers nine grant-making programs that support the performing arts, public art, and Native arts. NEFA is also actively involved in over ten projects and initiatives, ranging from the research and analysis of the impact of the creative economy to the creation and administration of resources and online tools, which link and advance the regional, national, and international cultural community.
ABOUT THE RHODE ISLAND STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts is a state agency, supported by appropriations from the Rhode Island General Assembly and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. RISCA provides grants, technical assistance and staff support to arts organizations and artists, schools, community centers, social service organizations and local governments to bring the arts into the lives of Rhode Islanders. For more information on RISCA and its programs, please visit www.arts.ri.gov.