This is the first in a series of posts that will examine data surrounding the current state of racial diversity in leadership, staff, and boards across organizations in the nonprofit sector.
Civic Engagement/Community Development
We Are In This Together: A Survey of Community Arts Partners in LA County Public Schools
This survey found 139 arts organizations and 46 teaching artists providing arts education during the school day in 98 percent of all school districts and 53 percent of all schools in Los Angeles County.
Creating Connection: Building Public Will for Arts and Culture
Our work is rooted in a growing concern about the state of the arts and cultural sector in our country. Namely, we believe–and numerous studies reinforce—that the arts are essential to strong communities, bright and enriching lives, deeper understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures, and competitive industries. Yet, despite these proven benefits, the arts are often considered a “nicety rather than a necessity,” repeatedly expected to prove relevancy during budget and policy negotiations, and often perceived as a low priority for busy lives or tight household budgets. In an effort to reverse this course, we are drawing on research, advocacy, and engagement initiatives to craft a strategy to build public will for arts and culture.
The Cultural Lives of Californians
For many years, arts nonprofits have been tracking a downward trend in arts attendance. By looking beyond the typical events used as benchmarks to reflect traditional measures of participation, the NORC study reveals a seemingly contradictory takeaway: The new narrative is not entirely about decline! Californians actually have a deep interest in the arts and lead active cultural lives. People want to engage, in art-making and arts-learning in particular. Emerging technologies, expectations and cultural norms mean art is happening in new places and ways. At the same time, this updated narrative comes with elements of urgency for the nonprofit arts sector — for example, California’s largest and growing demographic groups do report lower overall arts participation and they are less likely to attend benchmark arts events.
Beyond the Building: Performing Arts and Transforming Place
On November 3, 2014, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), with support from ArtPlace America, convened 26 representatives from performing arts organizations, industry associations, and funders around the country. The convening focused on developing a better understanding of how performance-based organizations, and the artists they engage, transform places through their artistic practices.
Minding the gap: Elucidating the disconnect between arts participation metrics and arts engagement within immigrant communities
A growing gap between national metrics of arts participation and the many, evolving ways in which people participate in artistic and aesthetic activities limits the degree to which such data can usefully inform policy decisions. The National Endowment for the Arts’ Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) is the primary source of arts participation data in the USA, but this instrument inadequately evaluates how members of minority and immigrant communities participate in the arts.
