A new report examines public arts funding models from across the U.S. to help inform the future of arts funding in Cuyahoga County.

A new report from Assembly for the Arts and SMU DataArts examines how communities across the country support arts and culture—and whether those models might provide new and additional opportunities for public arts funding in Cuyahoga County.

Research on Public Funding of the Arts to Inform Cuyahoga County comes as local leaders begin looking ahead to the eventual renewal of the cigarette tax that funds Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC). Rather than recommending a specific additional funding source, the report is intended to spark a community conversation about how to build a more resilient funding model for the future.

The report highlights Cuyahoga County as one of the nation’s most arts-vibrant communities, consistently ranking among the top 25 nationally for per-capita contributed funding. Individual donors account for 26% of contributed revenue—more than any of the peer communities studied.

Public funding also plays a critical role. For the past 20 years, the county’s cigarette tax has allowed CAC—an independent political subdivision of the state of Ohio—to distribute nearly $13 million annually to more than 300 nonprofit organizations, supporting more than 6.5 million arts and cultural experiences each year.

At the same time, the report notes that rising operating costs for arts organizations are outpacing revenue growth, while declining smoking rates make the cigarette tax a challenging long-term funding source as a stand-alone funding mechanism

To identify possible approaches for the future, researchers examined arts funding models in Denver, Pittsburgh, Portland, Minneapolis and Columbus, including the Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC).

Key Takeaways

• Cuyahoga County’s arts ecosystem is among the strongest in the nation, supported by both robust private philanthropy and dedicated public funding.
• The cigarette tax has provided a stable source of arts funding for two decades, but long-term revenue is expected to decline.
• Communities across the country use a variety of public funding mechanisms, including hotel taxes, general fund appropriations, dedicated arts taxes and hybrid funding models.
• The most resilient systems rely on multiple revenue sources rather than a single funding stream.
• Regional collaboration, transparent governance and equity-focused funding practices are common characteristics of successful models.
• Rather than recommending one solution, the report encourages community leaders to begin exploring diversified, regional approaches that can strengthen public investment in the arts over the long term.

Assembly for the Arts will continue the conversation about public and private support for the arts ecosystem in Cleveland during a City Club forum on July 30, where arts leaders from four communities (including ArtsNow’s Nicole Mullet) will discuss the role that cultural plans have played in their respective cities.