• Read the full Finger Lakes' Creative Spark report here.
• Read the report's policy recommendations here.
• View reports for all 10 New York state regions in the series here.

​​The arts are a catalyst for economic vitality in the Finger Lakes, adding jobs, attracting visitors and tourists, and drawing more resident artists to the area over the past decade. At the same time, artists and the arts sector in the region are fragile and face challenges of financial insecurity, affordability, and cuts in public funding, mirroring challenges felt across the state. Finger Lake's Creative Spark tells this story through data and interviews, and puts forth seven recommendations for state and local policymakers.

Here are some select data points from the report:

• From 2014 to 2024, employment in the arts and culture sector in the Finger Lakes increased 20.1 percent, while total regional employment remained flat.
• From 2014 to 2024, the resident artist population in the Finger Lakes increased by 28 percent, despite the overall population experiencing no growth.
• In 2024, arts and culture workers in the Finger Lakes earned $39,200, far less than the region’s overall private-sector annual average wage of $73,700.
• After adjusting for inflation, New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) operating aid is down 27.1 percent in the Finger Lakes—from $4.1 million in FY 2000 to $3 million in FY 2025.
• National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) funding in the Finger Lakes dropped by 44.9 percent, from $276,602 in FY 2024 to $152,500 in FY 2025. The number of grants fell from 12 grants to eight.

Read the full Finger Lakes' Creative Spark report here.

Finger Lakes' Creative Spark is one of a series of 10 reports from the Center for an Urban Future on the growing power of the arts as a catalyst for economic vitality in each of New York state's economic development regions.