Presentation

City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
Arts, Culture and Mesa's Economic Future
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
ARTS, CULTURE AND MESA'S
ECONOMIC FUTURE
Downtown Activity. Visitor Impact. Business Attraction.
Arts and culture helps make Mesa a place where people want to 
live, visit, work, and invest.
Luis Ruiz, Director
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Economic Development Committee
June 6, 2026

City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
Arts, Culture and Mesa's Economic Future
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
PUBLIC PURPOSE
Arts and culture serves Mesa residents while strengthening Mesa's economic vitality.
Public purpose and economic vitality are connected.
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
Arts, Culture and Mesa's Economic Future
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
SHARED KPIs
A quick view of how we are measuring impact.
KPI 1
Participation & Experience
Who is participating, when they come, 
and what experiences bring them 
downtown.
KPI 2
Access & Community Reach
Who is being reached, where barriers 
are reduced, and how access 
expands.
KPI 3
Economic Vitality
How arts and culture connects to 
visitation, downtown activity, business 
activity, and local economic 
indicators.
For this economic development conversation, KPI 3 becomes especially important.
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
Arts, Culture and Mesa's Economic Future
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
ARTS AND CULTURE
ATTRACT BUSINESS.
Companies choose cities where people want to be.
•
Businesses choose places, not just parcels
•
Active downtowns help attract employees, clients, 
visitors, and investment
•
Arts and culture brings foot traffic, identity, and repeat 
visitation
•
Cultural destinations support nearby restaurants, hotels, 
retail, events, and public spaces
•
Mesa’s cultural assets make the city more distinctive, 
memorable, and competitive
BUSINESSES 
INVEST WHERE 
PEOPLE 
WANT TO BE.
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
Arts, Culture and Mesa's Economic Future
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
DOWNTOWN CULTURAL ANCHORS AND LOCAL VISITATION
Mesa already has a cultural district in practice.
337,403
Mesa Arts Center
Visitors in 2025
175,000
AZMNH
visitors in 2025
150,000
idea Museum
visitors in 2025
Mesa Arts Center: performances, festivals, exhibitions, studios, classes, and community 
events
AZMNH: science, natural history, school groups, family visitation, tourism, and future 
redevelopment momentum
idea Museum: family visitation, hands-on learning, camps, access programs, and peak 
seasonal activity
Together, these institutions create repeated reasons to visit Downtown Mesa
Hundreds of thousands of annual cultural visits support downtown activity and strengthen Mesa’s destination value.
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
Arts, Culture and Mesa's Economic Future
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
WHY VISITATION MATTERS TO BUSINESS
The value is not only the ticket or admission.
• Cultural visits often extend into restaurants, parking, retail, hotels, 
events, and nearby businesses
• Families, school groups, performance audiences, festival attendees, 
and museum visitors create different downtown activity patterns
• Evening and weekend events support restaurants, hospitality, and 
nightlife
• Daytime and family visits support retail, parking, public spaces, and 
downtown visibility
• The stronger the connection between cultural institutions and 
businesses, the greater the downtown economic opportunity
A CULTURAL VISIT
IS OFTEN A
DOWNTOWN TRIP.
Meals • Parking • Shopping
Events • Return visits
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
Arts, Culture and Mesa's Economic Future
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
AEP6: NATIONAL CONTEXT, MESA LENS
Arts and culture creates measurable economic activity.
NATIONAL AEP6
$151.7B
national nonprofit arts and culture economic 
activity
2.6M
jobs supported nationally
$29.1B
tax revenue generated nationally
MESA AEP6
$38.46
average audience spending beyond admission, per 
person
30.1%
attendees who travel from outside the county
77%
nonlocal attendees who say the cultural event was the 
primary reason for their visit
QUESTIONS TO 
ASK
Where are visitors 
coming from?
What else are they 
spending on?
Did arts and culture 
bring them here?
• Audiences spend beyond admission on restaurants, parking, retail, transportation, hotels, and other local services
• For Mesa, the opportunity is to better connect cultural attendance with downtown business activity, tourism, and visitor spending
• Economic value grows when cultural destinations are linked to nearby businesses, hospitality partners, wayfinding, and shared promotion
Source: 2022 Americans for the Arts, Arts & Economic Prosperity 6.
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
Arts, Culture and Mesa's Economic Future
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
VISITOR ORIGINATION
Visitor origin helps show how arts and culture brings people into Downtown Mesa from across the region and beyond.
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Mesa Arts Center
AZMNH
idea Museum

City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
Arts, Culture and Mesa's Economic Future
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
DOWNTOWN ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES
Connect cultural activity more intentionally to downtown businesses.
• Shared promotion with downtown restaurants, shops, 
hotels, and events
• Visitor referrals from cultural institutions to nearby 
businesses
• Dining and event packages tied to performances, 
exhibitions, festivals, and museum visits
• Better wayfinding between Mesa Arts Center, 
AZMNH, idea Museum, Main Street, light rail, parking, 
ASU, and downtown businesses
• Stronger coordination with Visit Mesa and downtown 
business partners
• More visible connections between cultural 
destinations and the broader downtown experience
PACKAGE THE VISIT
CONNECT THE DISTRICT
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
Arts, Culture and Mesa's Economic Future
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
MEASURING DOWNTOWN ECONOMIC VITALITY – KPI 3
KPI 3 helps us understand how cultural activity connects to downtown economic impact.
Are arts and culture offerings contributing to increased participation and economic activity during key downtown activation 
periods?
What we hope the data will tell us
• Whether local sales tax revenue increases during defined arts and 
culture peak periods
• Which peak periods show the strongest relationship between 
cultural activity and economic activity
• Whether visitors are eating, shopping, parking, attending events, or 
visiting nearby businesses
• Where better promotion, wayfinding, partnerships, or packages 
could increase benefit
Measurement approach
• Year 1: all downtown arts and culture offerings during 
defined peak periods
• Target: established using baseline sales tax data for 
those 
periods
• Measure: associated economic activity, not direct 
causation from one event
BETTER DATA CONNECTS CULTURE TO DOWNTOWN SALES, BUSINESS 
ACTIVITY, AND FUTURE INVESTMENT.
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
Arts, Culture and Mesa's Economic Future
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
2025 REVENUE MIX BY INSTITUTION
Public investment, earned revenue, and contributed revenue work together.
Mesa Arts Center
$19.27M
total revenue
Earned: $9.59M / 49.75%
Contributed: $1.29M / 6.71%
General Fund: $8.39M / 43.54%
AZMNH
$4.45M
total revenue
Earned: $1.28M / 28.86%
Contributed: $0.69M / 15.51%
General Fund: $2.47M / 55.64%
idea Museum
$3.55M
total revenue
Earned: $0.60M / 16.78%
Contributed: $0.21M / 5.82%
General Fund: $2.75M / 77.39%
Public investment provides the foundation, earned revenue shows audience demand, and contributed revenue expands programs and access.
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
Arts, Culture and Mesa's Economic Future
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City of Mesa Arts and Culture Department
THANK YOU
Mesa’s cultural institutions help bring people downtown, strengthen the visitor experience, 
and support the conditions that make Mesa attractive for business and investment.
Connect what we already have into a stronger downtown economic development strategy.
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