The intrinsic benefits of art making may be implicated in how and why people with mental illness turn to art therapy to aid their recovery. In this longitudinal multiple case study adult participants (N = 12) with severe and ongoing mental illness were recruited through their involvement in diverse community mental health art therapy programs. An interpretive phenomenological data analysis revealed that participants utilized art making as a change mechanism and coping tool that encouraged development of flexible and adaptable approaches toward overcoming barriers in their recovery process.
Foundation Funding for Arts Education: An Update on Foundation Trends
This new report updates the analysis of foundation arts education funding through 2012 and illustrates how support for arts education has evolved during a period of pronounced economic volatility and dramatic political and technological change.
We Teach Who We Are: Creativity in the Lives and Practices of Accomplished Teachers
How do exemplary teachers incorporate creativity in their teaching? Through in-depth interviews with National Teacher of the Year award winners, this research aims to better understand their beliefs, interests, and practices involving creative teaching. Results identify key themes of how these teachers approach the creative process, as well as the connection between their personal interests and professional creativity.
Why don’t they come?
People with lower incomes and less education (low-SES) participate at lower rates in a huge range of activities, including not just classical music concerts and plays, but also less “elitist” forms of engagement like going to the movies, dancing socially, and even attending sporting events.
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.
When Going Gets Tough: Barriers and Motivations Affecting Arts Attendance
This report examines demographic and socio-economic characteristics of adults who attended visual and performing arts activities in 2012, but unlike prior NEA research it offers in-depth perspectives on attitudes, motivations, and barriers concerning arts attendance.
