The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs announced Thursday that New Mexico’s nonprofit arts and culture industry generated over $740 million in economic activity over the last year.
According to the new study by Americans for the Arts, nearly $267 million in spending was due to the nonprofit arts and culture organizations alone. Around the state, nonprofit art and culture sectors have supported over nine thousand jobs.
Debra Garcia y Griego, New Mexico State Cultural Affairs Cabinet Secretary, said the sector of nonprofit arts and culture is a source of pride for New Mexicans because it employs local merchants and the dollars stay in the state.
But it also brings in outside dollars as visitors flock to places like Santa Fe. Chelsey Johnson, director of Santa Fe’s Arts and Culture Department, said the results of the survey confirm what she already knows.
“The arts are truly a life source for our city and for our communities and for our people,” she said. “Not just spiritually and culturally, but also truly economically.”
The arts and culture sector generated nearly $354 million in economic activity in Santa Fe and $270 million in Albuquerque.
Greta Brunschwyler, executive director for the Millicent Rogers Museum, was pleasantly surprised that the Taos arts and cultural sector generated over $70 million in economic activity in 2022.
“We didn't know what this number would be, we knew it would be big. But this surpassed everything that we thought,” she said. “So for every $1 invested in the local arts and culture nonprofits, Taos county got an economic impact return of $4 in spending on food and drink and lodging, etc, that's really big for us. That really matters here.”
Brunschwyler said these funds will help build a coalition and camaraderie that Taos has never seen before.
