For those who need numbers to measure what the arts mean to Portsmouth, a recent study called “Arts & Economic Prosperity III” supplies the latest facts.

Thirty-six arts organizations surveyed in Portsmouth, Kittery and Rye report that they spend $12.66 million annually. More than 500 surveys among their audience members and visitors revealed an additional $25.52 million in event-related spending, for a total of $38 million.

That spending supports 1,161 full-time equivalent jobs and generates $4.38 million in local and state government revenue, according to economic analysis provided by the Georg Institute of Technology.

“The arts are not a luxury,” said Americans for the Arts vice president Randy Cohen, announcing the results of the study to an audience of 70 people at Seacoast Repertory Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 20. “Arts are an industry that supports jobs and creates government revenue … Arts are a business, and that’s news to a lot of people.”

Art-Speak hosted the event. Van McLeod, commissioner of the state Division of Cultural Resources, offered opening remarks, and U.S. Poet Laureate Charles Simic, a faculty member at the University of New Hampshire, shared several poems with local resonance, including one he wrote in the mid-1970s about visiting the infamous six-legged dog at the Deerfield Fair.

The national survey tallied results from 156 urban and rural communities across the nation and calculated that the national economic impact of nonprofit arts organizations and their audiences is $166.2 billion.

This is the third survey of its kind conducted since 1992 by Americans for the Arts, based in Washington, D.C. Full details are online at www.Americansforthearts.org.