Fielded since 2003, Culture Track is the largest national tracking study focused exclusively on the ever-changing attitudes and behaviors of U.S. cultural consumers, including trends in attendance and motivators and barriers to participation.
Touring/Presenting
VISAS: The Journey to the U.S.
From Susan Elliot, editor, Musical America Special Reports — We’ve all heard the countless visa “horror stories” about the cancelled performance, the artist left at the airport, the clueless official who hasn’t heard of the venue called the Metropolitan Opera House. It’s as if the process of securing visas for foreign artists to perform on these shores is overseen by Mr. Murphy himself, carefully insuring his famous law that “everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” Seeking a way to defeat him, we have gathered the experts and devoted an entire issue to stories to inform and enlighten about the subject of U.S. visas for visiting artists.
Wallace Studies in Building Arts Audiences
With the perspective that “we are witnessing a dynamic shift in [cultural] participation, both in amount and in form,” this series of case studies was prepared by the Wallace Foundation to help arts organizations attract and engage new audiences, in order to help secure their artistic and financial sustainability. The case studies examine efforts to increase participation in four American arts organizations, including a choir, a theatre company, an opera company and a museum. The reports delve into turning single-ticket purchasers into repeat attendees, generating interest and participation among young adults, creating opportunities for families to attend the opera, and countering stereotypes concerning classical music audiences.
How Dance Audiences Engage: Summary Report from a National Survey of Dance Audiences
This study was commissioned by Dance/USA as part of the “Engaging Dance Audiences” (EDA) initiative, a grant program focused on research and development of audience engagement practices in the dance field; the goal of the study was to assess how dance patrons “engage” with the art form, and specifically what kinds of educational or enrichment program and activities they do, or would like to do more often.
The Art of Engagement: Trends in U.S. Cultural Exchange and International Programming
This survey and analysis examines the U.S. Department of State and its role in cultural diplomacy and international cultural exchange. The results indicate a decrease in U.S. government resources in these fields in the 15 years following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Union. In 2007, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation began to commission on U.S.-based cultural diplomacy and cultural exchange aimed at making the case in reinvestment in these areas, especially in light of the erosion of international sympathy towards the U.S. more recently. SEE REPORT
Also see the Timeline of U.S. Public and Cultural Diplomacy1999-2009.
Assessing the Intrinsic Impact of a Live Performance
This report attempts to define and measure how audiences are transformed by a live performance. The study, commissioned by the Major University Presenters consortium, develops a simple measurement tool to assess impact, provides an analytical framework for considering the results, and suggests how performing arts presenters might begin to use this information to select programs more purposefully and evaluate them on the basis of impact instead of attendance.
