It's all about art... and it's having a big impact on the QCA, especially when it comes to generating money and supporting jobs.
According to a survey by the Quad Cities Chamber - in 2013, arts organizations generated $71.3 million in economic activity and supported 1,906 full-time equivalent jobs.
"The Quad Cities offers a strong array of arts destinations and programs for a region of its size," the study reported.
One of those destinations is the Quad City Arts Festival of Trees, taking place November 19-29th, 2015. Now in its 30th year, the event has a $2.5 million economic impact and on top of that, has raised more than $4 million for Quad City Arts.
"[Festival of Trees] is a combination of 157 different designers who have created something for people to appreciate and for us to sell," explained Carmen Darland, CEO of Quad City Arts. "Festival of Trees is a really good example of the economic impact in the Quad Cities of the arts."
"It does bring people in from out of town from all over - Chicago, Des Moines - so the RiverCenter/Adler Theatre has a lot of great shows which draws people here and this event [Festival of Trees] too draws a lot of people from out of town," added Jennifer McKee, Sales Manager of the RiverCenter/Adler Theatre.
The study supports McKee's statement. It reported: "Along with the economic impact, arts organizations in the Quad Cities region attracted 1.8 million people to their institutions and events during the year, with one out of every four patrons coming from outside of the region."
The study also reported that museums, live music, and music festivals also help push spending past both the national average and other regions similar to our size.
For more information on the Festival of Trees, click here.
For more information on the Quad City Arts, click here.