From the Field

Orchestral Audience Diversification

The League of American Orchestras has published Catalyst Guide: Audience Diversification. It contains eight strategies for engaging and becoming more welcoming to younger and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and/or people of color) audiences. The strategies featured include working toward internal organizational alignment and onstage representation. Fifteen orchestras are showcased in the guide, sharing their experiences in successfully engaging a more diverse audience.

Impact of Federal Relief Funding for Arts and Culture

A new study, Following the Funding: Distribution of Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds for the Arts and Culture Sector, conducted by SMU DataArts, presents a comprehensive analysis of the distribution of the unprecedented $53 billion in federal relief funding across four key programs—Paycheck Protection Program; Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program; Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act; and American Rescue Plan Act. The funding is shown in relation to the overall impact and to the percentage of arts establishments and payroll that was funded. The analysis employs both a broad definition from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’s (BEA) Arts and Culture Production Satellite Account, which is also used by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and a narrower definition aligning with SMU DataArts’s Arts Vibrancy Index.

While comparing the results based on the definitions and programs provides valuable perspectives on the nuanced dynamics within the arts and culture sector, the geographic allocation analysis illustrates that federal relief funding reached over 88% of counties (96% with the BEA/NEA definitions). This report includes interactive maps visualizing the distribution of funding.

2024 Arts Funding Snapshot from GIA

Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) has published its 2024 Annual Arts Funding Snapshot. Researchers from NASAA cowrote the funding snapshot with independent consultant Steven Lawrence. The snapshot covers foundation giving trends and public funding trends using the most recent data available. NASAA partners with GIA on the snapshot, presenting the findings in an annual webinar at the beginning of the year.