The NEA recently reported that 75 percent of Americans participate in the arts, according to a recent survey. The survey took into consideration the use of electronic media, and what is interesting is that 53 percent of all American adults pinpointed electronic media as their delivery system. In addition, 75 percent of all adults interacted with the arts, not only through electronic media, but also by attending arts events or creating art. In the 2008 Public Participation in the Arts Survey (2008), only 34.6% of adults attended a live performance (opera, ballet, jazz, plays) or visited a museum.
The survey results also mention that 18 percent of adults used mobile devices and the internet to access classical music, while 15% of adults accessed Latin music through these avenues. It is worth noting how new media has expanded people’s access and reach to the arts. Arts organizations need to leverage social and upcoming media to reach out to their audiences and spread their art.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/24/AR2011022407296.html
I think it's great that the NEA is expanding how they view arts participation. Certainly attendance at arts events is an obvious way to participate in the arts. But because of advances in technology, there are other ways people can engage in the arts even if it's from their own living room. In the NEA's report "Beyond Attendance: A Multi-Modal Understanding of Arts Participation," researchers analyze arts participation in terms of arts creation or performance, arts engagement through media, and attendance at arts activities. Like Ahlam said, it's great to see how media has increased the public's access to the arts. It's also important to acknowledge performing and creating art as a valid form of participation. In my opinion, it is the most engaged way to participate.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nea.gov/research/2008-SPPA-BeyondAttendance.pdf
This is a much better way of saying what I attempted to say in an earlier blog about how we measure demand.
ReplyDeleteI think a small issue I have with expanding the criteria is that it devalues all of the past studies, and makes comparables impossible. Another issue is "Are they just expanding the criteria to make the impact look larger?"
ReplyDeleteWith how quickly technology changes, I think it is inevitable that the NEA's arts participation studies will continue to change and ask new questions in the future that better measure how people access the arts (possibly in some ways that we haven't even thought of yet). So I don't think that it completely devalues previous studies, but rather reflects changes happening today.
ReplyDelete