The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that arts and cultural production accounts for 2.95% of the Hawaiʻi economy ($3,252,734,000) and contributes 19,608 jobs.
“Using inflation-adjusted numbers, the U.S. arts economy grew over 6.6%, while the economy as a whole grew around 2.9%. Research shows that the creative sector can drive broader state economic growth.” – National Assembly of State Arts Agencies April newsletter, “New Data Elevate the Importance of the Arts to State Economies.” View NASAA Creative Economy State Profiles on their website: nasaa-arts.org/nasaa_research/creative-economy-state-profiles.
The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to strengthening the nation’s 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies. The Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA) is Hawaiʻi’s state government arts agency.
Additional resources
- “Arts and Creativity Drive Economies and Build Resilience” 2024 Key Findings, Douglas S. Noonan, Ph.D. commissioned by and produced in collaboration with NASAA. PDF, 6 pages.
- “Return on Investment: National Endowment for the Arts”, April 2025, NASAA. PDF, 1 page.
Updates
This post was updated on May 2, 2025 to add the Resources section.