USA
Name: ‘Beyond the Culture Wars: A Conversation: why should the arts be publicly funded?’
by J.T. Rogers and Eric Helland
Year: November 2013
Description: Playwright J.T. Rogers and economist Eric Helland have been friends since childhood. Rogers, the author of Blood and Gifts, The Overwhelming and other plays, and Helland, a professor of economics at Claremont McKenna College in Los Angeles and a former adviser to the White House under President George W. Bush, found themselves, as they grew to adulthood, engaged in raging political disagreements. One ongoing argument concerns the propriety and the efficacy of public funding for the arts. This is a brief selection from their conversation.
Weblink: http://www.tcg.org/publications/at/issue/featuredstory.cfm?story=7&indexID=37
--
Name: 10 compelling reasons to support the arts
Year: March 2013
Description: On Artsblog, Randy Cohen, the Vice President of Research and Policy at Americans for the Arts, the USA’s advocacy organization for the arts, outlines his compelling reasons to support the arts. A member of the staff of Americans for the Arts since 1991, Randy is among the most noted experts in the field of arts funding, research, policy, and using the arts to address community development issues. The following is his updated Top 10 Reasons to Support the Arts:
Weblink: http://blog.artsusa.org/2013/04/08/10-reasons-to-support-the-arts-in-2013/
--
Name: ‘Who Counts? Grappling with Attendance as a Proxy for Impact’
Year: 16 October 2013
Description: When you count attendance to your museum, do you include:
- people who eat in the cafe?
- people who rent the facility for private events?
- people who engage with your content online?
- participants in offsite outreach programs?
- volunteers?
- Summertime concerts at the history museum? Those count.
- Outdoor movies at the art museum? Nope.
At the St. Louis Science Center, the focus of the article, there was a particularly creative perspective on attendance, including numbers for offsite board meetings, parades where staff made a showing, and attendance at a school next door. The only form of engagement lacking in the article is online participation--which for many museums, could yield the highest numbers of all.
Weblink: http://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/arts-education/arts-classroom-instruction/Documents/Understanding-Excellence-in-Arts-Education.pdf--
Name: ‘Learning, the Arts and the Brain’ by the Dana Arts and Cognition ConsortiumYear: 2008
Description: In 2004, the Dana Arts and Cognition Consortium brought together cognitive neuroscientists from seven universities across the United States to grapple with the question of why arts training has been associated with higher academic performance. Is it simply that smart people are drawn to “do” art—to study and perform music, dance, drama—or does early arts training cause changes in the brain that enhance other important aspects of cognition? The consortium can now report findings that allow for a deeper understanding of how to define and evaluate the possible causal relationships between arts training and the ability of the brain to learn in other cognitive domains.
The research includes new data about the effects of arts training that should stimulate future investigation. The preliminary conclusions we have reached may soon lead to trustworthy assumptions about the impact of arts study on the brain; this should be helpful to parents, students, educators, neuroscientists, and policymakers in making personal, institutional, and policy decisions.
Name: Counting New Beans: Intrinsic Impact and the Value of Art
Year: 2012
Description: Edited by Clayton Lord, with a foreword by Ben Cameron and introduction by Brad Erickson, including the final report ‘Measuring the Intrinsic Impact of Live Theatre,’ by Alan Brown and Rebecca Ratzkin of WolfBrown.
Weblink: http://theatrebayarea.org/Programs/Intrinsic-Impact.cfm
--
Name: Age and Arts Participation: A Case against Demographic Destiny
Year: 2011
Description: Mark Stern, University of Pennsylvania, analyzes the relationship between age and arts participation in the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts data for 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2008. The report concludes that age and year of birth are poor predictors of arts participation and that the age distribution of art-goers now generally mirrors that of the U.S. adult population.
Weblink: http://www.nea.gov/research/2008-SPPA-Age.pdf
--
Name: Beyond Attendance: A Multi-Modal Understanding of Arts Participation
Year: 2011
Description: Report authors Jennifer Novak-Leonard and Alan Brown of WolfBrown explore patterns of arts engagement across three modes: arts creation or performance, arts engagement through media, and attendance at arts activities. The report highlights the overlap in participation across modes, and examines factors that drive participation within and between modes. February 2011. Published by National Endowment for the Arts by Jennifer L. Novak‐Leonard and Alan S. Brown, WolfBrown.
Weblink: http://www.nea.gov/research/2008-SPPA-BeyondAttendance.pdf
--
Name: Assessing the intrinsic impacts of a live performance
Year: 2007
Description: Commissioned by 14 Major University Presenters. The MUP Value & Impact Study was a two-‐year study of the values and motivations driving performing arts attendance and donation. The study was commissioned by 14 leading university performing arts presenters. To download an overview of the study, including a list of the study partners and a list of deliverables. Wolf Brown.
Weblink: http://wolfbrown.com/index.php?page=mups
--
Name: Creating Public Value through State Art Agencies
Year: 2005
Description: This report by Harvard professor Mark Moore, a leading authority on public administration, offers state arts agencies practical guidance on setting realistic goals, measuring and communicating the public value of their work, and cultivating the support of policymakers. Wallace Foundation. By Mark Moore.
Weblink: http://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge‐center/audience-development-for-the-arts/state-arts-policy/Pages/Creating-Public-Value-Through-State-Arts-Agencies.aspx
--
Name: Motivations Matter: Findings and Practical Implications of a National Survey of Cultural Participation
Year: By Francie Ostrower, 2005
Description: Published by the Urban Institute as part of the series Building Arts Participation: New Findings from the Field and funded by The Wallace Foundation.
Weblink: http://www.southarts.org/atf/cf/%7B15E1E84E‐C906‐4F67-9851‐A195A9BAAF79%7D/Motivations%20Matter.pdf
--
Name: Gifts of the Muse Reframing the Debate About the Benefits of the Arts
Year: By Kevin F. McCarthy, Elizabeth H. Ondaatje, Laura Zakaras, 2004.
Description: Understanding the benefits of the arts is central to the discussion and design of poli-‐ cies affecting the arts. This study addresses the widely perceived need to articulate the private and public benefits of involvement in the arts. The findings are intended to engage the arts community and the public in a new dialogue about the value of the arts, to stimulate further research, and to help public and private policymakers reach informed decisions.
Weblink: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG218.pdf
--
Name: Effects of Arts Education on Participation in the Arts
Year: 1996
Description: This study examines the effects of arts education in determining subsequent arts participation. The report provides evidence that arts education is an even greater predictor of arts participation than general education. Louis Bergonzi and Julia Smith.
Weblink: http://www.nea.gov/research/Researcharts/Summary36.html