Attendees of Long Island arts and culture events spend $37 per person beyond ticket purchase

People who attend concerts, plays, museum exhibits and other cultural events that are staged by nonprofit groups on Long Island spend $37.31 per outing after the ticket price, on average, according to a new study. 

Those expenditures pumped at least $152 million into the regional economy last year as audience members bought restaurant meals and drinks before and after the show. Some also purchased souvenirs at a nearby shop, paid for parking and for someone to look after a young child or pet while they were on the town, the study found.

The spending data is based on surveys of nearly 900 people who went to events between May 2022 and June at nonprofits such as the Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts in Sag Harbor, Old Westbury Gardens in Old Westbury, Long Island Children's Museum in Uniondale, Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill and Tilles Performing Arts Center in Brookville.

The audience expenditures, together with spending by 304 arts groups, totaled $330 million last year and supported nearly 5,000 local jobs.

Among audience members, tourists spend $63.83, on average, after buying their admission ticket. That compares with $33.96 for Long Islanders, the study shows.

“The number that out-of-towners are spending when they come here for art is staggering — my jaw hit the floor,” said Lauren Wagner, executive director of the trade group Long Island Arts Alliance.

The 100-member alliance unveiled the local results of the Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 study at events this week in Southampton, Brookville and Patchogue. Wagner said this is the first time that the nationwide study by the Washington-based lobbying group Americans for the Arts has included information from Nassau and Suffolk counties. The collection of local data was funded by a grant from the Long Island Community Foundation.

Tourists represented 11% of the audience members polled. Six percent of them spent at least one night in a hotel, bringing their total expenditure to $311, on average, excluding the cost of tickets and food purchased at the event, according to the study.

The biggest expenditure, regardless of where the audience members come from, is for food and beverages: $18.27 per person per event, on average.

Randy Cohen, the study’s author and research vice president at Americans for the Arts, said audience expenditures for Long Island events are in line with national data.

“Bring in more out-of-town attendees if you want to increase audience spending,” he told Newsday. “Run an advertising campaign that says, ‘Come for the beaches and add a day for the arts.’ ”

Besides audience spending, the Long Island economy benefits from more than $178 million in annual expenditures by the 300-plus nonprofits that participated in the study.

“Bottom line: the arts aren’t just food for the soul, they’re putting food on the table for [employee] households on Long Island,” Cohen said.

Christina Mossaides Strassfield, executive director of the Southampton Arts Center, agreed, adding that the center's visitors often patronize local restaurants and bars before and after viewing an exhibit. Others make purchases at the surrounding gift shops.

“We are an integral part of the downtown village community and an economic driver,” she said.

Recognizing the importance of the arts to the economy of Southampton, officials in April adopted a zoning change aimed at fostering the sector’s development, said Village Mayor William Manger Jr.

“We do understand how much the arts bring to the village, not only culturally, but also economically,” he said. “It brings people here."

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.