A、It generates over 166 billion dollars in economic activity. B、It offers 12.6 million job opportunities to unemployed people. C

The U.S. Census Bureau states that only 10 percent of art school graduates end up working as full-time artists. The other 90 percent, they change careers, they work in marketing, sales, education and other fields.
    But this is not news, right? We almost expect the artist to be a struggling artist. But why should we expect that?
    I read an article in the Huffington Post saying that four years ago, the European Union began the world’s largest ever arts funding initiative. “Creative Europe” gave 2.4 billion dollars to over 300,000 artists.
    In contrast, the U.S. budget for our National Endowment for the Arts, the largest single funder for the arts across the United States, is merely 146 million dollars. To put things into perspective, the U.S. budget for the military marching bands alone is almost twice as much as the entire NEA.
    Another striking image comes from Brendan McMahon for the Huffington Post, saying that out of the one-trillion-dollar budget for military and defense-related spending, if only 0.05 percent were allocated to the arts, we would be able to pay for 20 full-time symphony orchestras at 20 million dollars apiece, and give over 80,000 artists an annual salary of 50,000 dollars each.
    Now, I know we live in a capitalist society, and profits matter a lot. So let’s look at it from a financial angle, shall we? The U.S. nonprofit arts industry generates more than 166 billion dollars in economic activity. It employs 5.7 million people and it returns 12.6 billion dollars in tax revenue.
    But this is only a financial angle, right? We all know that the arts is way more than just an economic value. The arts brings meaning to life. It’s the spirit of our culture. It brings people together and it supports creativity and social cohesion.
    But if the arts contributes this much to our economy, why then do we still invest so little in arts and artists? I want to help change that. This is why I am very excited to share “GrantPA,” an online platform that uses technology to match artists with grants and funding opportunities in a way that is easy, fast and less intimidating. GrantPA is only one step towards solving an existing problem of funding inequality, but we need to work collectively on multiple fronts to reevaluate how we view the artists in our society.
    Question 22. What do we learn from the article in the Huffington Post?
    Question 23. What does Brendan McMahon want to show?
    Question 24. What contribution does the U.S. nonprofit arts industry make to the economy?
    Question 25. What can we learn about GrantPA?