Picasso show: Economic boon for area as well as Seattle Art Museum

Picasso was very, very good for the Seattle Art Museum and King County.

The museum says a study it commissioned has concluded the Picasso show, which ran from Oct. 8, 2010, to Jan. 17, had an economic impact of $66 million, including $58 million in King County.

The show, Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris, was the most successful in the history of the museum. It drew 405,000 visitors and pushed SAM membership to a record of more than 48,000 households.

The show came at a critical time for the museum, whose finances were in fragile shape and hoped that Picasso would change that.

The study, by William Beyers, a geography professor at the University of Washington, estimated that people who saw the Picasso show spent $22.7 million in King County on lodging, food, transportation and other items.

About $16.1 million of that amount would not have been spent had the show not been at SAM, the study says.

Beyers estimated that the show helped to support 936 jobs , $29.1 million in labor income and $3.1 million in tax revenue.

The art museum said it has studied the economic impact of other shows. An impressionism show in 1999 generated $24 million in economic impact in 1999, the Van Gogh to Mondrian show in 2004 had an impact of $22.4 million and the Leonardo da Vinci show in 1997 and 1998 had an impact of $15,5 milion.