IMPACT POINTS
The arts provide meaning in our lives. In a 2016 public opinion poll, 73% of Americans said that the arts provided meaning in their lives and were a positive experience in a troubled world.
Arts participation crosses barriers of social class and ethnicity. A Philadelphia study showed that 80% of participants traveled to another neighborhood to take part in arts activities.
Participation in arts activities increases tolerance. 12th graders who participate in the arts are 40% more likely to have friends from different racial groups and 29% less likely to feel that it is ok to make a racist remark.
Participatory arts projects celebrate local culture and heritage, making marginalized groups more visible and promoting positive community connections. In the UK, 40% of participants felt more positive about where they lived after participating in an arts activity.
New friends and connections are a primary positive outcome of arts participation and help to reduce social isolation. In the UK, 91% of participants reported making new friends by participating in arts activities.
Research into how different formations of people in associations work reveals that cultural groups scored highest on trust and second-highest on optimism and tolerance.
Americans for the Arts. (2016). What Americans Believe About the Arts. Retrieved 16 May 2023 from https://www.americansforthearts.org/sites/default/files/images/2016/res…
Stern et al., 2001.
Catterall, J., Dumais, S., & Hampden-Thompson, G. (2012). The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth: Findings from Four Longitudinal Studies. (Research Report #55). National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved 20 January 2018 from https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/Arts-At-Risk-Youth.pdf
Stern et al., 2001.
Stern et al., 2001.
Stolle, D. and Rochon, T. (1998) “Are all associations alike? Member diversity, associational type and the creation of social capital”, American Behavioral Scientist 42(1), 47–65. Retrieved 16 May 2023 from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002764298042001005
EXAMPLES OF PRACTICE
What Color Are You? allows people the opportunity to paint a 3x3in square in a color that their feel best represents themselves. The squares are pinned to a giant board to create a mosaic of colors representing diversity and personal expression.
The Virtual Love Letter Tour commissioned by Mural Arts Philadelphia is a virtual exhibition with a tour guide featuring 15 murals along the Market-FrankFord train line. Each mural is an open-ended love letter from the artists to their hometown.
Jenny Holzer's For the City was a series of moving projections, installed at the Rockefeller Center and The New York Public Library, where poems by Wis_awa Szymborska, Yehuda Amichai, Henri Cole, Mahmoud Darwish, and other writers moved across the
Urban ArtWorks is a program that provides arts-based employment for teens who face barriers to the arts, education, employment, or who are in the juvenile justice system. Their values include connection, expression, belonging, integrity, and anti-
Guerilla Girls is an anonymous group of radical feminist female artists devoted to fighting sexism and racism within the art world. It has used everything from posters, direct actions, convenings, and art installations to critique society’s oppressive
Austin Arts Fair is a celebratory event that invites the local public and visitors from the Central Texas area and beyond to experience Austin’s local arts and music scene in a truly memorable way.
READING LIST
ORGANIZATIONS
Americans for the Arts is a nonprofit organization that advances the arts and arts education advocacy in America.
Organization that builds communities with refugees and immigrants that foster compassion, creativity and human connection.
City As Living Laboratory (CALL) makes complex issues of sustainability tangible through artist-initiated projects. CALL's mission is to raise environmental awareness and promote the sustainable development of urban communities through the arts.
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.
of the Arts + Social Impact Explorer
