Arts and cultural economic activity rose 4.9% nationwide between 2014 and 2015, reaching $763.6 billion and accounting for 4.2% of the GDP, according to a report published Tuesday (March 6) by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The numbers are adjusted for inflation, according to the bureau. That compares with a 0.4% increase in 2014, the first year in which the BEA released data.

In Arkansas, arts and culture economic activity accounted for $2.8 billion and 2.3% of the GDP, and it showed a 2.1% year-over-year increase. Arkansas Arts Center Executive Director Todd Herman said boosts to the economy from arts and cultural business are “ancillary,” never a focus for the Little Rock-based arts center.    MORE