Welcome to the New & Improved Arts Impact Explorer

The Arts Impact Explorer wheel, set to the category 'Livability', with the category slice 'Immigration' hovering

As a local arts leader, the Arts Impact Explorer is your case making tool. Explore the intersection of the Arts with 30 sectors to gather resources to educate decision-makers about the impact of the arts and encourage more arts-supportive policy action at the local level.

  • Spin the Explorer wheel and review a snapshot of Arts + your selected sector’s impact through sample projects, impact points, and selected publications.
  • Search for projects that are having significant impact at the local level and add your own projects and stories to the Local Project database.
  • Make your case and Build a Fact Sheet to present to decision makers that includes your own organization’s projects and pulls from resources in the Explorer.
  • Find publications and studies in the National Arts Publication Database, your one stop publications bibliography of arts administration, policy, and practice for Arts Administrators.

Local Projects Database

A number of people sharing food together at a long table

The Local Projects Database highlights arts-based impact projects that are happening across the country. Search the database for examples and inspiration of socially impactful projects or include your organization’s project in the database to highlight your community’s work. Once you upload your organization’s project, you can also select it for inclusion in your own Fact Sheet. Search for projects based on geographic location, sectors, and other descriptors of interest.

Browse Local Projects

Build A Fact Sheet

A notebook page with sketches of squares drawn on it, with a pen resting on top of the page

Build A Fact Sheet is your personalized case making tool. Walk through a series of steps, selecting a sector, data points, projects and publications that make the case for how the Arts + topic has impacted your community. The fact sheet can be printed and presented to local leaders and decision makers to help make the case for resources, funding, and continued support to grow your community initiatives.

Create Your Fact Sheet

National Arts Publication Database

A library shelf with different book divided by numerical cards

The National Arts Publication Database (NAPD) is a bibliographic tool through which you can access current and historical information on a multitude of topics related to arts administration, advocacy, and policy. The publications and studies captured within the NAPD illustrate the changing patterns of interest within academic research and policymakers’ circles. In addition to the bibliographic data, more recent entries to the database may also include the actual publication for download. You can upload a publication, report, or infographic from your organization to be shared in the database or to be included in your own personalized Fact Sheet.

View Arts Publications

The Arts Impact Explorer was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.