A study from Vanderbilt’s Curb Center makes a case for the benefits of active arts participation.
Taking Art into Their Own Hands
Audiences who won’t visit your museum may be enthusiastic amateur artists in their spare time.
Learning from “The Cultural Lives of Californians”
A new survey of Golden State residents has a few things to teach us about arts participation and how we measure it.
Notes to “Why Don’t They Come?”
The following end notes accompany our article, “Why Don’t They Come?” published on May 6, 2015: (1) On opportunity cost: Another way to look at this issue is through the lens of opportunity cost. In basic microeconomics, an individual’s wellbeing is a function of consumption (or how much stuff you can buy, which depends onRead More
Why Don’t They Come?
It’s not just the price of admission that’s keeping poor and less-educated adults away from arts events.
Let Your Folk Flag Fly: Folklore Research and the Informal Arts
Over the last decade, you’ve probably known someone who took up dance or music classes, or maybe someone who joined a knitting or craft group, or started a novel. According to a 2008 NEA study, 74 percent of Americans participate in the arts through attendance, art creation, or media. Whether you call it the Pro-AmRead More
Informal Arts: the informal version
This is a short overview of my full article for the Arts Policy Library. Informal Arts is a series of case studies on the little-researched topic of adult participation in informal arts. By following twelve groups ranging from a quilting guild to a hip-hop collective, this 431-page report delves into the social and artistic valueRead More
Arts Policy Library: Informal Arts
Informal Arts: Finding Cohesion, Capacity and Other Cultural Benefits in Unexpected Places (Chicago Center for Arts Policy at Columbia College, 2002) sheds light on the little-studied topic of adult participation in informal arts. The report was commissioned by the CAP in response to “The Arts & The Public Purpose” (American Assembly Consensus Report, 1997), theRead More
Fictional Foundation Fun, part IV
This week, I’ve been writing about the Ortiz Foundation for the Arts, a mock $800 million foundation based in New York, for which I designed a strategic plan along with four of my business school colleagues. Yesterday, I wrote about two of OFA’s programs, Building Infrastructure and Supporting Start-Ups. In this final segment, we’ll exploreRead More
Fictional Foundation Fun, part II
So, yesterday we took a look at the $800 million Ortiz Foundation for the Arts (OFA), a hypothetical new organization focusing on promoting cultural vitality in New York City. After some discussion, we settled on a mission statement as follows: The Ortiz Foundation for the Arts (OFA) works to foster the visual, musical, theatrical, andRead More