Author: Walker, Chris and Sherwood, Kay

Publication Year:

Media Type: Periodical (article)

Summary:

Abstract:

"Many arts organizations are discovering that where people choose to attend arts and cultural events can be crucial to developing effective strategies for reaching broaders and more diverse audiences. New research on the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds' Community Partnerships for Cultural Participation (CPCP) initiative finds that more people attend arts and cultural events in community venues ﾝsuch as open air spaces, schools, and places of worship ﾝthan in conventional arts venues, such as concert halls, theaters, museums, and art galleries. Although audiences for events held in both types of venues overlap, about one-fourth of the people who participate in arts and culture do so only in community venues. These findings confirm the wisdom of one strategy employed by many arts organizations: presenting arts and cultural activities in places normally used for other purposes. The findings also have deep relevance for policy-makers and funders, as well as those who are interested in cultural planning or facilitieds development, or are otherwise engaged in creating opportunities for participation in the arts."

Conclusion: New Support for Strategies to Use Community Venues. "The strategy of increasing participation in arts and culture by taking arts and culture to the places where people go for other reasons has become well established in much of the arts world. The findings from the CPCP initiative provide solid validation for such a strategy. Beyond that, however, the CPCP survey data demonstrate the potential for reaching out to participants who do not attend arts and cultural events in conventional arts venues. The survey findings also suggest that by reaching out, arts organizations may attract and engage active citizens in the community, who are the people most likely to support the organizations' work. Community venues for the arts have demonstrated that they can connect diverse segments of society to cultural experiences. They provide opportunities for people who are active in social and civic life to experience arts and culture ﾝand they allow those interested in arts and cultural experiences to encounter the diverse institutions that make up the fabric in society. Investments by public agencies and private foundations in arts and cultural activities at community venues can strengthen both the community institutions that host the events and the arts and cultural organizations that produce them."

CONTENTS

Where People Attend Arts and Cultural Events.
Exhibit 1: Three of the Top Four Venues Where People Attend Cultural Programs and Events are Community Venues. Cultural Participation Survey. Survey of Arts and Cultural Organizations. CPCP Survey Communities.
Exhibit 2: Most People Who Attend Cultural Performances and Events Do So at Both Conventional Arts and Community Venues. How Venues Influence Participation. Exhibit 3: People Who Attend Programs Only at Community Venues are Less Motivated by Issues of Artistic Quality and Cultural Learning. Using Community Venues to Increase Arts and Cultural Participation.
Exhibit 4: Most Visual and Performing Arts Organizations Present in Community Venues. Conclusion: New Support for Strategies to Use Community Venues. Evaluation of the CPCP Initiative. Community Foundations Participating in CPCP.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Participation