Residents of Wichita, Kansas have bragging rights: their city has the most lucrative nonprofit arts industry in the state. According to Americans for the Arts’ Arts and Economic Prosperity 5 study, arts and culture nonprofits contributed $94.7 million to Wichita’s economy in 2015. This ranks Wichita’s arts sector #1 in the state of Kansas and places it firmly above the median for similarly-sized cities nationwide.

To collect local data for the study, Americans for the Arts partnered with the City of Wichita Division of Arts of Cultural Services, one of 250 study partners nationwide. The director of the division, John D’Angelo, hopes that the study can be used as a tool to advocate for the arts.

“It’s important to make sure that the conversations about art don’t just simply focus on the intrinsic value of it, but that it also focuses on the true business side of what the arts brings to communities,” D’Angelo said.