Research Convenings

National gatherings with researchers and arts and community experts.

Audience Impact Study Literature Review

The National Endowment for the Arts announces a new literature review, Audience Impact Study Literature Review.

While there is ample qualitative and anecdotal data on how people and communities are transformed by the arts, there is little research that quantifies the emotional impact of the arts.

It's a challenge to analyze this subtle topic. How do you define the way that art affects people? By the happiness they express? By the rewards they derive? By their physiological response?

Furthermore, how do you measure this emotional impact? This review looks at dozens of existing studies that attempt to answer these elusive questions. Ultimately, this review will help inform the design of a survey that will capture reliable data on this seemingly indefinable subject. The NEA is working with a research team from WolfBrown to develop and pilot survey instruments and protocols for a pilot study of audiences at NEA-funded events. As part of this study, WolfBrown developed this literature review of relevant research.

This literature review is one of the NEA's latest efforts to conduct and commission research that examines evidence of the value and impactof the arts in other domains of American life, such as education, health and well-being, community livability, and economic prosperity.

Download PDF

Our Town Community Indicators Study

The Our Town Community Indicators Study leverages the NEA's involvement in Our Town projects to advance our understanding of the ways such projects affect communities. More specifically, we plan to design a system of indicators that becomes the national standard for defining, measuring, and conveying the dimensions of livability affected by creative placemaking.

Steven Shewfelt from the NEA's Office of Research and Analysis will conduct a one-hour webinar on the study April 12, 2012 at 3:00 pm ET.

 April 12, 2012 Webinar Archive

Improving Arts Learning through Standards & Assessment: A National Endowment for the Arts Research Roundtable

On February 14, 2012, the National Endowment for the Arts hosted a day-long series of panels and presentations to examine the latest trends, current practices, and future directions for arts learning standards and assessment methods. In addition to moderated panels of experts, the roundtable featured a presentation of the NEA's latest research report, Improving the Assessment of Student Learning in the Arts: State of the Field and Recommendations. The archive of the event webcast is now available.

 February 14th webcast archive
 Agenda
 Participant bios
 National study of arts educational assessment tools and strategies (pdf)

Interagency Task Force on the Arts and Human Development

The National Endowment for the Arts is leading a new task force of 13 federal agencies and departments to encourage more and better research on how the arts help people reach their full potential at all stages of life.   

 Interagency Task Force Announcement Webinar
 February 29, 2012 Task Force webinar archive
 The Arts and Human Development White Paper
 Task Force Members
 Quarterly Webinar Schedule

Future of the City: The Role of the Arts in Building Communities

A broad array of arts scholars, cultural leaders and audience members participated in in-depth discussions at the June, 2011, "Future of the City: The Arts Symposium" a gathering that charted the community-building role that the arts can play in Chicago and beyond. Five of the sessions are archived on YouTube.

Session 1: Valuing Culture in the Global City

Session 2: Cities and Their Citizens: Fostering Civic Engagement through the Arts

Lunch: David Simon and Wendell Pierce (The Wire, Treme) Discuss Art and Urban Drama

Session 3: Art Influences Lives: Why Participation Matters

Session 4: Art, Architecture and Design: Transforming Place in Global Cities

Webinar: Time and Money: Using Federal Data to Measure the Value of Performing Arts Activities

On May 15, 2011, NEA Director of Research & Analysis Sunil Iyengar and Research Analyst Bonnie Nichols presented new NEA research "Time and Money: Using Federal Data to Measure the Value of Performing Arts Activities" [Research Note #102]. "Time and Money" looks at the value of the arts in three ways: time spent on arts activities; organizational revenue and expenses; and direct consumer spending. A particular focus on performing arts data provides consistency across these three measurements. The 20-minute presentation was followed by a question and answer period.

Continue >>

Webinar: Preview of Three New SPPA Reports

On February 24, 2011, Sunil Iyengar, Directorof the NEA's Office of Research and Analysis, and the authors of three independent reports analyzing the data from the 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA), presented their findings and answered questions in a public webinar.

The reports explore how factors such as arts education, age and generational characteristics, and personal creativity have affected arts participation patterns in the U.S.

Continue >>

Arts and Livability: The Road to Better Metrics

On June 7, 2010, national experts in the fields of urban planning and community development, design, arts and cultural research, arts administration, sociology, and economics convened in Washington to 1) develop a wish-list of questions that can yield statistically reliable information on how arts, design, and cultural assets contribute to the livability of communities; 2) identify existing or potential data sources for answering those questions; and 3) determine which questions and/or which sources can be adopted most rapidly.  A summary of proceedings from this event—including a series of proposed metrics and associated data sources—are now available.

Download summary >> (pdf)

A Conversation about the 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts

On December 10, 2009, the Arts Endowment hosted a three-hour roundtable discussion about the the 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, the nation's largest and most representative study of adults' arts participation habits. Representatives of national arts service organizations, regional arts organizations, and NEA discipline directors and senior staff participated.

See webcast >>

NEA Cultural Workforce Forum Webcast

On November 20, 2009, academics, foundation professionals, and service organization representatives, along with NEA senior staff and discipline directors, met in Washington to discuss improving the collection and reporting of statistics about arts and cultural workers, and to develop future research agendas and approaches.

See webcast >>

Download summary >>

National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20506