In 1885, some artists from Toulouse gathered together and decided to pursue a "cultural policy" ahead of its time, by organizing an annual exhibition in their city: the Union artistique de Toulouse. In 1905, other painters, sculptors, furniture makers and architects went even further in this regionalist and southern affirmation: they organized a second exhibition in Toulouse, the Salon des artistes méridionaux, which is still active today. Based on a comprehensive dataset of 24,646 artworks exhibited in Toulouse at the Union artistique and the Salon des artistes méridionaux, and using hedonic regression analysis, this paper aims at measuring the effectiveness and scope of this local cultural policy, from 1885 through 1939.