Minnesota fares well against other states in arts spending

Posted at 11:43 AM on December 7, 2011 by Paul Tosto
Filed under: Arts

It's been tough all over for arts organizations during the Great Recession and the not-so-great recovery. But despite the difficult news lately of struggling Twin Cities arts groups, Minnesota comes out looking very good compared to other states.

Minnesota was the top state last year in arts funding per capita, second only to the District of Columbia, according to Artbistro, which analyzed state art funding budgets for 2009 and 2010.

The site also gave the nod to Minnesota for the largest expansion of arts dollars in the Great Recession.

On a percentage basis, no state came close to Minnesota. No doubt funds from the Minnesota Legacy Amendment passed in 2008 helped drive that expansion.

Happily, Minnesota did not make the top 10 in the arts budget cuts category.