Art performances and activities as well as the presence of living artists in a community have significant, positive impact on quality of life. Research proves the value of the arts on individual well-being, student achievement, diversity, tax revenues, civic participation and revitalization of depressed neighborhoods, social capital and tourism. The arts are crucial to a world-class city, benchmarking civic achievement. Atlanta’s art community contributes more than $700 million to the annual local economy.
Skip below to see grants toward arts and culture in the Atlanta region.
Skip below to learn about investment approaches for the arts.
For many people around the United States, Atlanta’s most recognizable cultural icons are the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Hip Hop recording industry. For people from the Atlanta metro area the cultural landscape is much more complex, with a dizzying array of activities spread over a large geographic area. Atlanta has a major arts center that is home to an art museum, several theatre companies and the symphony. In addition, the city is home to opera and ballet companies, a puppetry center, multiple regional theatre companies, chamber orchestras, modern dance companies, choral ensembles, nonprofit art galleries and community centers. Experiences for participation are available to persons regardless of age, gender, ethnicity and physical ability. There are venues that provide affordable tickets making the arts available to lower income members of the community. Cuts to the state education budget for arts programs have made providing art instruction in public schools extremely difficult. Community centers, after-school programs and faith-based organizations often collaborate with arts organizations and artists to fill this void.
More people attend the arts than attend professional sports, and the cultural consumer is very valuable to Atlanta’s tourism industry. Cultural tourists spend twice as much as their local counterparts -- $40.19 vs. $19.53. In metro Atlanta, the nonprofit arts industry is the 7th largest nongovernmental employer supporting 8,211 full-time jobs, generating $27.07 million in local and state government revenue. A 2007 Economic Impact study of the arts by Americans for the Arts showed that nonprofit arts and culture in the city of Atlanta is a $274.8 million industry with an aggregate attendance of 5.2 million people.
Large Arts Organizations. In addition to the Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta has four large arts organizations with budgets of more than $5 million – the Fox Theatre, the Atlanta Ballet, Theatre of the Stars and the Atlanta Opera. Atlanta has seven arts organizations with budgets between $1.5 million and $5 million – the Center for Puppetry Arts, National Black Arts Festival, Imagine It! The Children’s Museum, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center and Theatre in the Square in Marietta. In Chicago or Seattle these would be considered mid-sized organizations, but in Atlanta, these are the big organizations.
Mid-sized Arts Organizations. There are approximately 50 mid-sized arts organizations with budgets of $250,000 to $2 million in metropolitan Atlanta. These include theaters such as True Colors, 7 Stages, Dad’s Garage, Actor’s Express, Atlanta Shakespeare Company, Aurora Theatre (Duluth) and Theatre in the Square (Marietta); dance companies such as Ballethnic, and the Georgia Ballet; and visual arts organizations such as the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Hammonds House in West End, and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia.
Small Arts Organizations. Small arts organizations, with budgets under $250,000, number over 200, and include up-and-coming theater companies such as Synchronicity and Out Of Hand, as well as established dance companies such as Several Dancers Core. MODA the Museum of Design Atlanta, is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution provides exhibitions in contributed facilities in downtown Atlanta, and Eyedrum, an artist-run visual and performing arts organization in Grant Park, is a key a hub for activity.
Colleges and Universities. Colleges and universities are a significant part of the arts community, with graduate and/or undergraduate arts programs, venues and presenting series at Clayton State University, Emory University, Georgia Perimeter College, Georgia State University, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State University, Morehouse College and Spelman College. Georgia State’s Rialto Center for the Performing Arts, Georgia Tech’s Ferst Center for the Arts and Clayton State College’s Spivey Hall are among metro Atlanta’s finest venues, and balance programming for the public and for students. Emory houses the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts and the Michael C. Carlos Museum. The Spelman College Museum of Art has significant stature, and the Morehouse Glee Club is world-class.
Multi-disciplinary Community Arts Centers. Metro Atlanta area has a number of multi-disciplinary community arts centers that offer classes, performances and gallery space. These include DeKalb’s Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, the Spruill Center in Dunwoody, A.R.T. Station in Stone Mountain, Fulton’s West End Performing Arts Center and Ocee Arts Center. Smaller communities within the metro area have independent arts councils and arts centers, including the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center, the Conyers-Rockdale Council for the Arts and the Cultural Arts Center in Douglasville.
Investment Approaches
There are areas in which philanthropists can make valuable financial, human and intellectual investments:
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Leadership: board, volunteer and fund development for arts organizations
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Funding: fostering private-public partnerships, increasing earned revenue and charitable fund opportunities and exploring the possibility of a tax district for the arts within the city
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Arts Education and Advocacy: infusing the arts in the traditional curricula, building arts appreciation and new audiences, advocating for the renewed inclusion of the arts into public education
The metropolitan area is replete with artistic talent creating in a multitude of media and genres. Philanthropists can foster the creation, presentation and business of the arts. Artistic success is a collaborative effort between the creative process, the artistic creation and the audience.
Grants & Support
- A $20,000 grant was given to Dad’s Garage from our Common Good Funds to support its high school outreach program. The mission of Dad’s Garage Theatre Company is to “elevate the awareness of the arts through ensemble-driven comedy improvisation and original theatrical works.” In addition to its original productions, improvisation shows, classes and workshops, Dad’s Garage trains new and inspiring improvisers in its High School Outreach Program, with performances each semester.
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Artadia: the Fund for Art and Dialogue
is a national arts foundation that supports art making in local communities. In 2008, Atlanta was added as only the fifth target city supported by Artadia. A $25,000 grant was given to Artadia from our Common Good Funds to support vocational services for artists. As a lead sponsor and supporter of Artadia, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta is helping to connect emerging local artists to a national network of partners and supporters.
- An $11,000 donor-advised grant was given to the Arts Association of Newton County to sponsor the Vienna Boys Choir performances. The mission of the Arts Association is to “encourage youth and adults in the community to participate in the arts both as audience and as artists and to present world-class artists to all the citizens of the metro Atlanta area.” The organization offers a youth artist program as well as various community programs throughout the year.