Aware of mounting evidence that community-based arts may positively impact health and well-being, ACTA commissioned studies by UC Davis’s Center for Reducing Health Disparities and the Asian American Center on Disparities Research to formally investigate health effects and other outcomes experienced by participants in two representative programs. ACTA’s Living Cultures Grants Program funds nonprofit organizations to support exemplary projects in traditional arts in California; the Apprenticeship Program encourages the continuation of the state’s traditional arts and cultures by contracting master artists to offer intensive, one-on-one training to qualified apprentices. Weaving Traditional Arts into the Fabric of Community Health presents the UC Davis findings with an overview of selected research in the emerging field of arts-for-health, as well as scholarly references and a selection of global resources in the fields of traditional and folk arts and arts-for-health.
Civic Engagement/Community Development
Transforming City Schools Through Art
Art and art education can make a significant different in urban environments, and a new book co-authored by University of Cincinnati art educator Flavia Bastos provides a blueprint for catalyzing the power of art.
In the book Transforming City Schools Through Art Bastos and her co-authors suggest ways that artists and art educators can work in urban environments and in urban schools in order to benefit students, schools and cities.
Beyond attendance: A multi-modal understanding of arts participation
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.
Arts Education in America : What the Declines Mean for Arts Participation
This report, commissioned from the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, investigates the relationship between arts education and arts participation, based on data from the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts for 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2008. The report also examines long-term declines in Americans’ reported rates of arts learning — in creative writing, music, and the visual arts, among other disciplines. Authors Nick Rabkin and E.C. Hedberg find that the declines are not distributed evenly across all racial and ethnic groups.
The Cultural Museum 2.0: Engaging Diverse Audiences in America
How does a culturally specific arts organization adapt to changing demographics in order to more effectively engage and serve contemporary audiences that are increasingly multiethnic? Witnessing dramatic shifts in its audience demographics over the past 25 years, the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) has grappled with this question. One out of every three Japanese Americans is now multiracial, and increasingly audiences are no longer identifying themselves simply by ethnic or racial categories as they had in the past.
At a time when self-identity is playing a significant role not only in how people see themselves but also in how they view their relationship with museums and cultural centers, there are no simple solutions for how organizations — regardless of institution size, focus, budget, or geographic location — can ensure the relevancy of their programming and their long-term sustainability.
Vibrant Culture, Vibrant City
Investment in our creative economy is a building force for [the San Diego] region. The nonprofit arts and culture organizations funded through the Commission’s organizational Support Program (oSP) have an important and vital impact on San Diego’s economy. These organizations stimulate the economy with over $173 million in direct expenditures, including $98.8 million in salaries. In fact, the 70 oSP organizations funded by the Commission constitute an important employment sector, supporting a workforce of more than 7,000. The arts not only create jobs, they provide a competitive advantage in attracting new businesses and a skilled workforce. In addition, 12,144 volunteers contribute time, talent and resources to arts and culture locally. REPORT
