The Values Study was a participatory qualitative study of arts participation in Connecticut involving teams of board and staff members representing 20 Connecticut arts organizations. The study develops a new framework for understanding arts participation (i.e., five modes of arts participation) and the many layers of benefits and value that consumers seek. The third section provides extensive guidelines for arts groups that may wish to conduct qualitative research on their audiences and visitors.
Civic Engagement/Community Development
California Polyphony: Ethnic Voices, Musical Crossroads by Mina Yang (book)
What does it mean to be “Californian?” California Polyphony: Ethnic Voices, Musical Crossroads suggests an answer that lies at the intersection of musicology, cultural history, and politics. Consisting of a series of musical case studies of major ethnic groups in California, this book approaches the notion of Californian identity from diverse perspectives, each nuanced by class, gender, and sexuality.
Entering Cultural Communities: Diversity and Change in the Nonprofit Arts
From the publisher: The chapters in this book draw on interviews with leaders, staff, volunteers, and audience members from eighty-five nonprofit cultural organizations to explore how they are trying to increase participation and the extent to which they have been successful. The insiders’ accounts point to the opportunities and challenges involved in such efforts, from the reinvention of programs and creation of new activities, to the addition of new departments and staff dynamics, to partnerships with new groups. The authors differentiate between “relational” and “transactional” practices, the former term describing efforts to build connections with local communities and the latter describing efforts to create new consumer markets for cultural products. In both cases, arts leaders report that, although positive results are difficult to measure conclusively, long-term efforts bring better outcomes than short-term activities.
Embracing Diversity: Foundation Giving Benefiting California’s Communities of Color
A report the Foundation Center just released, commissioned by the California Regional Associations of Grantmakers (Northern California Grantmakers, Southern California Grantmakers, and San Diego Grantmakers), provides a comprehensive estimate of the extent to which communities of color are being served by foundation giving in California. The analysis of grantmaking by 50 of the state’s largest independent foundations finds that at least 39 percent of California-focused grants benefited populations of color.
According to the report, Embracing Diversity: Foundation Giving Benefiting California’s Communities of Color, in 2005 alone, these 50 California-based foundations awarded a minimum of 2,700 grants totaling nearly $300 million to support health, education, social services, and other programs that serve ethnically or racially diverse populations. In addition, 10-year trends show that giving benefiting these populations grew nearly twice as fast as overall giving between 1996 and 2005.
Cultivating Demand for the Arts: Arts Learning, Arts Engagement, and State Arts Policy
Recent reports and commentaries point to a growing gap between the quantity of artworks produced by American artists and arts organizations and the desire and ability of many Americans to experience those artworks. This report offers a framework for thinking about supply and demand in the arts and suggests that too little attention has been paid to cultivating demand. It identifies the roles of different factors, particularly arts learning, in stimulating interest in the arts and enriching individuals’ experiences of artworks. It also describes the institutional infrastructure that provides arts learning
for Americans of all ages.
Making Meaningful Connections: Characteristics of arts groups that engage new and diverse participants
We’re pleased to share new research about the qualities of arts organizations that are successfully engaging new and diverse participants. These characteristics, transferable and applicable to a wide variety of organizations, reflect the different facets of an organization that can build, strengthen and deepen connections to California’s communities.
