From the Field

To Stream or Not to Stream

WolfBrown’s latest edition of Navigating the Crisis provides guidance for performing arts organizations on offering digital and live content as venues begin to reopen. Audience research indicates the majority of attendees are ready to resume live shows. However, with 15-20% of audience members not ready to resume in-person shows, Digital Strategies: To Stream or Not To Stream suggests a hybrid strategy of both live and digital performances for the foreseeable future. It provides a decision framework to help organizations think through digital strategies.

Humanities Impact Survey Toolkit

The National Humanities Alliance (NHA), together with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), has created a Humanities Impact Survey Toolkit based on four years of research on NEH-funded projects. The toolkit includes tips for evaluating the public impact of humanities programs in community and higher education settings and contains survey questions organized by impact. Recently NHA added survey examples to cover questions regarding COVID-19 and the inclusion of underrepresented histories in programs.

Cultivating Empathy in Museum Visitors

The Minneapolis Institute of Art’s [Mia] Center for Empathy and the Visual Arts has been studying the effect of the visual arts on human empathy. Together with UC Berkeley’s Social Interaction Laboratory, the museum is developing and sharing strategies for cultivating empathy in art museums. Empathy Interventions: Mia Experiments with Cultivating Empathy in Museum Visitors offers case studies on fostering empathy, which in turn can reduce prejudice and improve health.