Your arts engagement is partly shaped by where you live

This research was conducted by Hei Wan Mak, Rory Coulter and Daisy Fancourt at University College LondonSummaryThis paper looked at the relationship between people’s arts engagement and the characteristics of where they live. The study uncovered geographical differences in the levels and types of arts engagement. For example, active arts participation was lower in the North of England (and not just because people there tended to be poorer than average). When it came to arts attendance, the

People can develop a taste for classical music and opera throughout their lives

and duration of that exposure made a difference. The results show that exposure to music at any time in life increases the likelihood of developing a taste for classical music and opera. The likelihood of acquiring that taste increases with the duration of exposure someone has had in life, even if the exposure is interrupted at some point. Importantly, early childhood exposure to music ‘does not have an outsized influence’ relative to exposure in other periods of life.The data for the study

The potential dangers of corporate sponsorship

fared in the Golden Mask competition. 2004 follows a key turning point in Russian cultural policy: with corporations responding to calls by the President that they should do more to support culture.
Corporate sponsorship buys access and influence among local politicians
The corporate donors were able to lever personal relationships and local legitimacy by association with local theatres. The paper shows how theatres need to be especially careful in their management of relationships with corporations
By | 20 February 2017 |

Mobile technology will not widen the audience for live classical music

. Focus groups held with concert-goers who used the app suggested it wasn’t an appropriate way to deepen the live experience or expand the audience, although it was an efficient way of selling tickets.The research was based on seven focus groupsAll but one of the groups took place immediately after the concerts. In total 81 students took part in the research. Short questionnaires were also completed by 68 of the focus group participants. The profile of the students was generally more affluent and
By | 5 May 2015 |

Engagement with contemporary visual art can improve the lives of older people

This research was conducted by Anna Goulding at Newcastle University, UK
Summary
Over a period of 21 months, 43 participants aged 60-92 visited three contemporary art galleries in the northeast of England. They listened to a talk before taking part in facilitated discussions in which personal responses to the artworks were encouraged. The study responds to the idea that developing effective lifelong learning opportunities for post-retirement people can have positive implications for the
By | 5 May 2015 |

Men tend to be perceived as creative more often than women

This research was conducted by Devon Proudfoot, Aaron C. Kay and Christy Z. Koval at Duke University, USA.
Summary
Even when producing identical outputs, men are perceived as more creative than women, and ‘outside-the-box’ creative thinking is associated with stereotypically masculine characteristics. The study provides a statistical analysis of reactions to online TED Talks showing that ingenuity is heavily more associated with men than women. When it comes to evaluations at work, women are
By | 31 July 2017 |

The factors that make local museums more vulnerable to funding cuts

This research was conducted by Bethany Rex at Newcastle UniversitySummaryThis paper examined why – in the face of government cutbacks – some museums ‘retain funding and status as part of direct public provision while others are identified to be transferred to community groups via the asset transfer process’. It discovered that ‘certain types of museum’ are more vulnerable to being treated in this way. In general, local authorities are motivated to ‘renounce responsibility for museums that

Taking a work online may increase audiences but not diversify them

operetta and ballet). In essence, they found that ‘the profiles of live and online cultural consumers differ’ but that socio-demographic factors like age and income ‘are much more important for explaining the likelihood’ of attending in person. ‘Whereas age, gender, educational achievements and labour status are really helpful in explaining who the live attendees are, these variables are less relevant for characterising online consumers’. Taking a performance online will widen its audience but

Social media can increase engagement with museum collections

with their online community in themes where engagement is low. Symbolic Artwork posts were most likely to increase engagement, History Today and Exhibitions also had above-average levels of engagement. By contrast, Open Museum, Museum Programme and Cultural Encounters had below-average levels of engagement.

Music education promotes lifelong engagement with the arts

/ethnicity’. Ultimately, ‘lifelong engagement with music and the arts is one measurable outcome of school-based music education in the United States’ (which could be thought of ‘as the largest audience development enterprise in the nation’).The study used the 2012 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts to measure a mixture of specific attendance and participation activitiesThese included ‘attendance at live classical music or opera, live jazz, live theatre, live ballet, or live dance performances