(Corresponding Author)

Problem Commitment to creative placemaking is deepening, thanks to research on how arts and culture are wedded to place and to growing disappointment with export-base-led economic development. Working across public sector bureaus and encouraged by new funding streams, planners and politicians are investing in arts and cultural activities embedded in neighborhoods and joined to revitalization efforts. Yet most offerings and spaces are run by nonprofits, an often baffling ecology to decision makers. Research strategy To help planners understand cultural potential, we examine spatial variation in participation rates and in size, disciplinary foci and location of arts nonprofits using large data sets on California. Findings We find that at the metropolitan scale, arts participation rates are not dictated by demographics, though they are strongly correlated with presence of arts organizations