In tandem with its 50th anniversary, Americans for the Arts has published a ten year study (1998 — 2008) evaluating the health of the arts industry in the United States called the National Arts Index. The first of its kind, this study was designed to measure 76 national-level research indicators which were broken into nine measurement categories: Capacity & Infrastructure, Participation, Contributed Support, Employment, Nonprofit, Creativity, Arts Education Demand, Arts Business, and Competitiveness.

Some key findings of the National Arts Index include:

• The index hit its all time low in 2008, with a score of 98.4, dropping 4.2% points from 102.6 in 2007.
• The U.S. arts industry is composed of 100,000 nonprofit arts organizations, 600,000 art businesses, and employs 2.24 million artists in the workforce. However, economic difficulties have decreased consumer spending on the arts.
• Consumption patterns are changing; personal arts creation is on the rise, but charitable donations to the arts have declined.

The good news? Demand for arts in education is growing. In the past ten years, the numbers of students graduating with college arts degrees has increased from 75,000 to 120,000. Furthermore, based on past patterns Americans for the Arts estimates the arts to make a comeback by 2011. Said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, “For our part, we will dedicate 2010, which is our 50th anniversary, to strengthening the arts field by developing new business models for arts delivery that better suit an evolving industry as well as strengthening audience demand.”

To read the full report, click here.