Arts Participation and Civic and Community Engagement
This spring, the National Endowment for the Arts released a report called “The Great Connector: How Arts Participation Renews Civic and Community Engagement.” The report expands our understanding of the links between arts participation and broader community engagement, such as attending community meetings or events, volunteering, or doing charitable work. The study explores whether and how taking part in arts and cultural events and activities can build social and civic strength.
Two highlights:
- Arts participants experience a nearly fourfold increase in their likelihood of civic and community engagement, relative to non-arts participants. This difference holds even after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic factors.
- Adults who participate in multiple modes of arts activity (e.g., consuming art via attendance, reading, or digital media; creating and performing art; and supporting artists and arts organizations) show the highest levels of civic and community engagement, when compared to adults who do only some of these arts activities, or who do none of them at all.
In Utah, we lead the nation in volunteerism, and the state is consistently ranked among the top states in the nation for both service and charitable giving. Perhaps not coincidentally, Utah also consistently ranks highly for the percentage of adults personally performing or creating art; for attendance at live music, theater, and dance performances; and for visiting cultural sites and reading literature.
Several years ago, our agency conducted the Social Impact Study, which surveyed Utah museum-goers on four questions. The results of the study showed that in Utah, museum visitation is correlated with increases in health and well-being; intercultural competence; strengthened relationships; and continued education and engagement.
Learn more about the Social Impact Study and its nationwide offshoot, Measurement of Museum Social Impact (MOMSI).
Learn more about the economic impact of the cultural sector.
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
