Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-1978

Abstract

The value of a community's theatre and dance groups, art galleries, symphony and other performing and visual arts is usually assessed from the perspective of the community's cultural life. The organizations which promote and facilitate artistic development are usually perceived in relation to their value only to the artists and their audiences. However, the artists and their organizations also contribute to the economy of their communities through salaries to employees, consumption of supplies, rent and purchase of facilities, and use of trans­ portation, maintenance, advertising and other service industries. To a great extent, the position of the arts in a community's economic structure is obscured because most arts organizations are public service, non-profit organizations, and because few studies have been conducted . To ascertain the number and size of Nebraska non-profit arts organizations and their direct and indirect effects on the state's economy, the Nebraska Arts Council and the UNO College of Fine Arts contracted with the Center for Applied Urban Research to conduct a survey of all known Nebraska arts organizations. The survey was the first attempt to locate and systematically study Nebraska arts organizations. The survey population was the list of non-profit organi­ zations which had applied for grants from the Nebraska Arts Council within the two years previous to 1977.1 The Arts Council list was considered the most complete source for arts organizations known to be operating in Nebr aska. It represents an estimated 85% of the state's non-profit arts groups and includes all non-profit Nebraska arts organizations with annual budgets over $10,000. The list includes 72 arts organizations in Omaha, 37 in Lincoln, and 102 in non-metropolitan portions of the state. Forty-five of these were arts programs in educational institutions.2 In late 1977 CAUR surveyed these 211 arts organizations

via mailed quest io nnaires. The questions related to activities, personnel, income and expenses for the fiscal year most recently completed, designated 1976-1977. Follow-up on the question­ naires included telephone calls to all non-respondents one month after mailing the quest io nna ire, and identification of alternative addresses for smaller organizations with no permanent mailing addresses. The survey results identify the basic characteristics of Nebraska arts organizations and their finances for the fiscal year ending nearest July, 1977.

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