The Local Arts Index was launched in April 2012 as a tool to better understand the characteristics of the cultural life of individual communities as measured at the county level. It is composed of a series of arts indicators, measured on the county level, and drawn from secondary sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, Claritas Research, Scarborough Research, National Center for Charitable Statistics, Institute of Museum and Library Studies, and many other sources.
In April 2015, AFTA revised