KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The cities of Kalamazoo and Portage have made the list of the nation’s top 40 Most Arts-Vibrant Communities of 2022.
The announcement was made on Friday, December 18 by the National Center for Arts Research, SMU DataArts, which measures the Arts Vibrancy Index of a community.
According to their survey, Kalamazoo and Portage are among other newcomers in 2022 to include Ann Arbor, MI, Brevard, NC, and Salt Lake City, UT.
The Arts Vibrancy Index takes into account how arts and cultural organizations are tied to their communities. From there, the report generated uses data to identify factors affecting the health and sustainability of arts organizations across the nation.
The report also provides insight into which counties across the U.S. have the highest scores on three key measures: Arts Providers, Arts Dollars, and Government Support. The cities of Kalamazoo and Portage for Kalamazoo County scored at 92 for Arts Providers, a 96 for Arts Dollars, and scored a 92 for Government Support.
These factors shift from year to year, as the case in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic with many art venues across the country experiencing widescale closures which saw steep drops in earned revenue from ticket and admissions sales loss, which resulted in no report being compiled for 2021.
To dig a little deeper into the numbers behind the Arts Vibrancy Index those communities making the list, log onto culturaldata.org.
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