Arts and culture are among Long Beach’s most valued assets. The vibrant arts community increases Long Beach’s livability, making it a better place in which to reside, work, raise children, and spend discretionary time. A thriving arts environment strengthens the economy, providing jobs and opportunities to artists and other creative workers. The arts and cultural sector offers enriching experiences to the entire citizenry and to cultural tourists. They inspire children to live imaginative lives and realize their artistic potential. One looks to the arts and to artists to help us understand historical and contemporary ideas, explore life’s profound mysteries, and express shared human emotions. The arts provide authentic experiences that identify and elucidate the unique Long Beach community.

Long Beach Art Facts

• Educational partnerships with community arts providers in our city augment limited arts education resources.

• Long Beach arts providers offer over 1,000 different programs free of charge.

• In spite of diminished formal arts education opportunities for this generation's youth, approximately 1,200 students graduated from the College of the Arts at CSULB in 2006.

• The thirteen large cultural organizations and the Long Beach arts audiences provided over $33.2 million in economic impact in FY 2003. This fact alone expresses how the arts play a unique role in strengthening not only Long Beach culture, but our broad community and its economy.

• In 2001, there were 1,300 active gangs in LA County. Afternoon is the most dangerous time for young people. Long Beach arts providers host arts-based, after-school programs tolower the incidence of crime and provide an alternative for youth.

• In Long Beach, non-profit arts groups offer over 700 different after-school and outreach arts and cultural programs.

• Over 20,000 children are served annually by after-school arts providers.

• There are over 125 small- to medium-sized nonprofit arts organizations in Long Beach and over 1,000 professional visual and performing artists.

• Arts audiences leverage large amounts of event-related spending by their audiences. This spending generated an estimated $13,917,595 of valuable revenue for Long Beach merchants in FY 2003.

• The number of full-time equivalent jobs that are generated by Long Beach's 13 large-budget arts organizations is over 1,000.

• Our local arts and arts organizations produce a positive and lasting impact on the entire Long Beach community, including its economic well-being. When we, as a community support the arts, we enhance not only the quality of life, but we invest in our city's economic progress