From the Field

State Arts Vibrancy

SMU DataArts has released State of the Arts 2023: Arts Vibrancy Insights into All 50 States. This is the first year the program is ranking the arts vibrancy of all 50 states in addition to its annual ranking of communities. Arts vibrancy is a unique indicator designed by SMU DataArts to measure supply, demand and support of arts. Rankings are calculated on a per capita basis and adjusted for a state’s cost of living. The state rankings are divided into four lists: top 10 most vibrant states overall, top 5 most vibrant states with a higher-than-average rural population, top 5 most vibrant states with above-average poverty levels and the top 8 highest-ranked states without high-ranking communities.

On April 11, join SMU Data Arts and NASAA Senior Director of Research Ryan Stubbs for a conversation on State Strategies for Fostering Arts Vibrancy within More Rural Communities.

Advancing Indigenous Cultures

The Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums has released the final reports from its 2021 update to previous research on the status and role of tribal archives, libraries and museums. Surveys were conducted in 2021, and the findings have been published as separate needs assessments for each of the three institution types. Additional survey results from 349 artists outline the challenges that Native artists face, and a supplemental report examines the role of tribal libraires in digital inclusion. Each of the reports also includes reflections from and summaries of complementary online summits that were held in 2021.

Building Audiences for Sustainability

The Wallace Foundation’s Building Audiences for Sustainability (BAS) initiative, conducted from 2015 to 2019, awarded $41 million in grants to 25 performing arts organizations to test strategies for building new audiences while retaining current ones. Through the initiative, most BAS organizations expanded their target audience, although the increases were modest. Research into the initiative yielded insights into the challenges and strategies associated with building and sustaining audiences and the financial implications of those efforts. Successful audience building may require arts organizations to adapt and change themselves, including their programming and communication strategies, to better engage with their audiences. Effective strategies included providing audiences with performance expectations and expanding digital communications.