Downtown Asheville bustled with activity Thursday evening as vendors and staff prepared for Bele Chere, setting up tents and tables and giving directions. Though the festival officially starts tomorrow, enthusiastic sightseers already roamed the closed streets, dodging the occasional Bele Chere staffer in a golf cart or local commuter on a bicycle.
Art for art’s sake? According to the 2010 Arts and Economic Prosperity IV study, the benefits to the city and county are much greater — $43.7 million greater.
Conducted by Americans for the Arts, Asheville’s Cultural Affairs department and 38 area arts nonprofits, the study provides numerical evidence of the impact of nonprofit cultural organizations on the local, state and national levels. (Image from the Arts and Economic Prosperity IV brochure.)
