Creative State Michigan, an annual report by ArtServe, showed every dollar spent in Michigan on arts and culture repays the state back 50-fold. According to Michigan Radio, the purpose of the report was to demonstrate to lawmakers how profitable arts funding can be. Here are details about cultural-to-business connections in Michigan.
* Information was collected from the Michigan Cultural Data Project, state community foundations, charitable trust groups, area arts councils, public broadcasting, employment agencies and tourism bureau reports.
* Michigan has 2,000 nonprofit arts groups. The report examined 2009 fiscal year statistics gathered from 211 organizations and venues, including 32 of the state's top 50 earners, says ArtServe.
* In 2009, the state funding level was slightly less than $10 million. Michigan's arts budget has been cut by about 80 percent, Michigan Radio says.
* Arts venues generated more than $450 million in economic activity. Tourists spent more than $2 billion in Michigan on cultural attractions. That's more than tourism dollars earned from golf, skiing, hunting, fishing and boating combined, Michigan Radio says.
* Visitors attended 12,667,492 performances and cultural events. More than half of those were free visits, funded by government grants, state tax dollars and patron contributions.
* Nearly 2 million children in more than 25,000 school groups visited a cultural event. 797 programs come to schools through community outreach programs, ArtServe says. The average ticket cost was $6 for children and $18 for adults. Most venues also give teachers follow-up activities for classroom use for free.
* More than 31,000 people volunteer at arts events and exhibits and more than 330,000 support them with financial contributions.
* Arts venues also provide employment, ArtServe says. In 2009, unemployment hit record highs of 14 percent in Michigan, but employment at arts-related exhibits was up from 2006 to 2010. The 211 organizations that participated in the survey reported more than 15,000 jobs. Those jobs earned Michigan residents $152 million in 2009.
* Since 2006 arts-related businesses in Michigan have increased almost 33 percent. There are 24,306 establishments state-wide.
Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben writes about people, places, events and issues in her home state of "Pure Michigan."
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