Arts Policy Should Focus on Building Appreciation of the Arts, Report Finds
Arts Policy Should Focus on Building Appreciation of the Arts, Report Finds
The broad range of benefits that the arts provide to individuals can be sustained and enhanced by strengthening public appreciation of the arts, a new report from the Washington, D.C.-based RAND Corporation argues.
Commissioned by the New York City-based Wallace Foundation, the study, Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the Debate About the Benefits of the Arts, suggests that providing individuals with repeated positive experiences with the arts over time is a necessary first step before other, more public benefits of the arts can be realized. According to the report, public policy should focus on promoting early exposure to the arts through schools and community programs; encouraging arts organizations to provide rewarding experiences that connect with audiences and educate them to appreciate the arts, as well as encouraging research on the intrinsic benefits of the arts; and developing clear and compelling language for discussing these benefits.
"We hope that future policies focus on cultivating the demand for the arts, rather than the supply," said Kevin McCarthy, a senior social scientist at Rand and lead author of the report. "A demand-side approach would build a market for the arts by helping people personally experience its benefits and understand how arts can improve their quality of life."
To download the executive summary (9 pages, PDF) from the report, visit: http://www.wallacefoundation.org/NR/rdonlyres/9120074D-0BFA-4B86-A428-2433BD224179/0/GiftsoftheMuseExSumm.pdf.
“Rand Study Says Arts Policy Should Focus on Building Individual Appreciation of the Arts.”
Rand Corporation Press Release
2/15/05.
Primary Subject: Arts and Culture
Location(s): National, United States, Washington, D.C.
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