Arts & The Bottom Line The Arts have a positive impact not only on a community's quality of life, but also on its bottom line.A study by the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies (NALAA) documented the economic importance of the nonprofit arts on communities. The three-year study surveying nearly 800 nonprofit arts organizations in 33 communities in 22 states, concluded that the arts are a thriving industry and "an economically sound investment for communities of sizes." The NALAA report estimated that nonprofit arts organizations generate: 1.3 million jobs annually $25.2 billion in personal income $790 million in local government revenues $1.2 billion in state government revenues $3.4 billion in federal income tax revenues In terms of national impact, the nonprofit arts were found to compose a $36.8 billion industry in the United States. That number jumps to $314 billion when the commercial arts sector is added. How Arts Education Builds the Skills that Businesses Value: An education in the arts encourages high achievement. Study of the arts encourages a suppleness of the mind, toleration for ambiguity, a taste for nuance, and the ability to make trade-offs among alternative courses of action. Study of the arts helps students to think and work across traditional disciplines. They learn both to integrate knowledge and to "think outside the box". An education in the arts teaches student how to work together cooperatively. An education in the arts builds an understanding of diversity and the multi-cultural dimensions of our world. An arts education insists on the value of content, which helps students understand "quality" as a key value. An arts education contributes to technological competence. Sources: Business Week, October 28, 1996. National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies. Arts in the Local Economy Final Report, Washington D.C., 1994.