The Diversity of Cultural Participationalso Kevin F. McCarthy, Elizabeth H. Ondaatje, Laura Zakaras, and Arthur Brooks. Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the Debate about the Beneﬁts

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Francie Ostrower

The Diversity of Cultural ParticipationF I N D I N G S F R O M A N A T I O N A L S U R V E Y

The UrbanInstitute

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Francie Ostrower

The Diversity of Cultural ParticipationF I N D I N G S F R O M A N A T I O N A L S U R V E Y

ContentsThe Diversity of Cultural Participation ..........................................................1

About the Study ...................................................................................................3

Live Attendance over the Past 12 Months .....................................................5

Frequency of Attendance ....................................................................................5

What People Attended ........................................................................................7

Attendance at Music Performances ....................................................................9

Motives for Attendance .......................................................................................9

Where People Attend ........................................................................................11

Respondents’ Most Recently Attended Event.............................................13

What People Most Recently Attended..............................................................13

Motivations for Most Recent Attendance .........................................................14

Venues: Where People Attended ......................................................................17

Most Recently Attended Event: Respondents’ Experiences and Assessments..18

Who People Attend With ..................................................................................23

Implications .........................................................................................................25

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Those who wish to understand or expand cul-tural participation need to pay much greaterattention to its diversity. Participation in artsand cultural events is not monolithic, thoughit is frequently discussed and acted upon as ifit were. As one observer notes, “We often talkas if the ‘arts’ were a single thing.”1 The fact isthat people attend different types of culturalevents for different reasons, with differentpeople, in different places, with differentexperiences. Thus, if those seeking to enlargeparticipation are to succeed, they need toclearly define and understand the type of“culture” in which they wish to expandparticipation and target their strategiesaccordingly.

This is the central conclusion from a nationalsurvey of cultural participation commissionedby The Wallace Foundation and conductedby the Urban Institute. For instance, mostpeople who attend museums say they arestrongly motivated by a desire to learn some-thing new. This is not true of those whoattend music performances or plays, forwhom a primary motivation is to socializewith friends and family. Survey findings alsoindicate some important differences in partic-ipation among members of different ethnicgroups and among frequent, moderate, andinfrequent attendees. Arts organizations wish-ing to reach those audiences should be awareof such differences.

1 Paul DiMaggio. 2002. “Taking the Measure of Culture.” http://www.princeton.edu/~artspol/moc_prospectus.html. Seealso Kevin F. McCarthy, Elizabeth H. Ondaatje, Laura Zakaras, and Arthur Brooks. Gifts of the Muse: Reframing theDebate about the Benefits of the Arts. Santa Monica, CA: Rand, 2004.

The Diversity of Cultural Participation

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Taking a broad and inclusive definition of cul-ture, the survey asked a random sample of1,231 Americans about their participationpatterns, motivations, and experiences. As istypical of such surveys, we asked people abouttheir participation during the previous 12months. The major innovation of this studywas that we also asked people a set of ques-tions about their most recently attended event: whatthey attended, why, where, with whom, andwhat experiences they had. This providedinformation that allowed us to link particulartypes of motivations, venues, and experiencesto particular types of arts attendance in orderto determine what people wanted from a par-ticular kind of arts event and whether they feltthe event actually delivered. The surveytherefore permits us, for instance, to gobeyond knowing that a desire to socialize is acommon motivation for arts attendance. Wecan now ask whether or not a desire to social-ize is common for all attendance or hasgreater or lesser importance for those whoattend specific kinds of arts events.

The ability to do so distinguishes this surveyfrom others, including the Survey of Public

Participation in the Arts, that ask about par-ticipation over the course of the past 12months but do not ask about motivations andcircumstances associated with particular typesof arts attendance.

The different motivations and experiencesprevalent among those attending different artforms turned out to be numerous indeed.Overarching statements about “cultural par-ticipation” that fail to take the differencesamong events into account can therefore bevery misleading. Survey findings show this isclearly not the case, with direct implicationsfor those who study or wish to expand culturalparticipation. The most fundamental implica-tion of these findings is that arts research, pol-icy, and management need to be reoriented topay greater attention to the diversity of cul-tural participation—that is, the differences inwhat people attend and the differing motiva-tions, expectations, and experiences thataccompany particular types of arts participa-tion.

This survey represents a preliminary steptoward demonstrating the diversity of motiva-tions and circumstances that characterize cul-tural participation. We do not attempt todocument the extent and nature of that diver-sity comprehensively. Instead, this reportexamines only live attendance and does notcover other modes of participation, such asproduction, participation through media, orreading. The evidence presented in this reportindicates the pressing need for additionalanalyses that make diversity a central facet ofexamining other dimensions of participation.

TO READ THE SUMMARY

For a summary of the study’s major findings and implications, see

Francie Ostrower, “Motivations Matter: Findings and Practical

Implications of a National Survey of Cultural Participation.” Wash-

ington, DC: The Urban Institute. This publication can be downloaded

at http://www.urban.org and at http://www.wallacefoundation.org.

.

The phone survey of a random sample ofAmericans age 18 and older was conductedduring June and July 2004. The 1,231 peoplewho participated represent a response rate of45 percent. The study built on and extendedan earlier survey of arts participation in fivelocal communities conducted by the UrbanInstitute in 1998, also commissioned by theWallace Foundation. That survey, Reggae toRachmaninoff, took a broad and inclusive viewof culture, highlighted the diverse venues

where people attend cultural events, anddemonstrated the links between cultural andcivic participation.2

We intentionally collected data that were notalready available in current national surveys.The main such survey is the Survey of PublicParticipation in the Arts (SPPA) that theNational Endowment for the Arts has con-ducted for more than 20 years.3 As discussedabove, the primary innovation of the present

2 Chris Walker and Stephanie Scott-Melnyk with Kay Sherwood. Reggae to Rachmaninoff: How and Why PeopleParticipate in Arts and Culture. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 2002.

3 Modules on cultural participation have also periodically been included in the General Social Survey. For benchmarkingpurposes, we included some items similar to those in the SPPA. Our estimates for attendance at plays, dance, and artmuseums were somewhat higher than the SPPA, but lower than the 2002 General Social Survey (GSS), which askedabout dance and museums. They were also lower than estimates from the 2002 Classical Music Segmentation Study(CMSS), which asked about plays and museums. Our estimates for classical music/opera were slightly lower than theSPPA and also lower than the GSS and CMSS. Our estimate for jazz was almost identical to the SPPA and lower thanthe CMSS (the GSS did not ask about jazz). Our estimate for arts and crafts fairs and festivals (40 percent), however, is considerably higher than the 2002 SPPA estimate of 33 percent but almost identical to the 1992 SPPA estimate (41 percent). The 2002 SPPA survey was conducted between August 2001 and August 2002, and the NEA hypothe-

About the Study

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survey was that it includes questions aboutrespondents’ most recently attended culturalevent.4 This information allowed us to linkspecific types of motivations, experiences, andvenues to attendance at different types ofevents, and thus compare their commonalitiesand differences.

In this report on survey findings, we focusprimarily on that section of the survey, after

summarizing respondents’ overall attendanceduring the previous 12 months.5 In doing so,we also discuss motivations and experiencessurrounding cultural participation, areas theSPPA does not cover. Likewise, we give atten-tion to attendance at different types of musicevents to supplement current information.6

These analyses argue for recognizing thediversity of cultural participation, even withindisciplines.

sizes that the drop in fair attendance in 2002 reflects the influence of September 11 (Research Division Report no. 45,2002). Our study was done two years later and indicates that, with the passage of time, attendance at fairs and festi-vals has largely recovered. Survey estimates of cultural participation do differ, and the SPPA’s figures tend to be lower(Steven J. Tepper, Making Sense of the Numbers: Estimating Arts Participation in America. Working paper no. 4.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, 1998). Overall, a comparison of oursurvey estimates to other national surveys indicates that it yielded realistic estimates that are not unduly high or low.

4 A comparison of answers to the 12-month battery and the most recent event series lead us to suspect respondentrecall may be better for the latter. A small but noteworthy minority of people who reported they had not attended par-ticular types of events or venues in the 12-month battery later said their most recent attendance was at those sametypes of events or venues. Some of the discrepancy may also reflect classification issues. Further research is neededto examine the impact of asking about overall attendance versus specific, recent events, and to assess whether theorder in which these questions are asked affects responses.

5 While this report highlights attendance, the survey also asked respondents about other forms of participation, includ-ing production (such as playing an instrument) and giving time and money.

6 While the SPPA asks respondents about attendance at jazz, opera, and classical music concerts, we asked about thosebut also about attendance at rock/pop/country/rap/hip-hop, religious music, Latin/Spanish/salsa, blues, and rhythmand blues.

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Frequency of Attendance

The majority of respondents—fully 70 per-cent—had attended at least one cultural eventduring the previous 12 months (see exhibit 1).7

On average, respondents attended six events,with a median of three.8 These figures do notinclude attendance at elementary, middle,and high school student performances. A sig-nificant minority of people (24 percent) whodid not attend other events had gone to a stu-dent performance. If we include attendance atstudent performances, the percentage of

attendees rises to 77 percent. This finding sug-gests it would be useful for arts organizationsand others seeking to engage nonattendees towork with schools to reach adults as well aschildren.

Certain factors increased the likelihood that arespondent attended cultural events: having ahigher level of education, having taken arts orcrafts lessons at age 18 or younger, going toarts events with a parent or other adult whilegrowing up, and being employed full-time.9

By contrast, living in a rural (versus urban)

7 As is customary in survey analysis, these and other percentages reported are based on weighted analyses. Weights areused to adjust for differential selection probabilities (due to household size and number of phone lines) and to matchthe sample to national parameters for gender, age, education, race, Hispanic origin, and region.

8 Among attendees only, the average number of events attended was 8.5 and the median was five.

9 Unless otherwise noted, when this report notes a relationship between two variables such as education and attendance,a statistically significant relationship exists between them at or below the .05 level.

Live Attendance over the Past 12 Months

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community decreased the likelihood of atten-dance.10 However, the influence of childhoodlessons on arts attendance was complex.Although having had lessons both in and out of school clearly promoted adult attendance,we could not confirm that either lessons takenin school or lessons taken outside of schoolalone had a statistically significant impact.More research is needed to understand whyand to understand how different types ofchildhood lessons influence participation.

Some of the same factors that explain whetherrespondents attended also explain how fre-quently attendees went to cultural events:level of education, having gone to culturalevents with parents or other adults while

growing up, and living in an urban locationwere all associated with more frequent atten-dance. On the other hand, having takenlessons as a child did not influence frequencyof attendance. That city dwellers attend moreoften than suburban and rural residents sug-gests the importance of the availability of cul-tural events, though it is also possible thatthose more inclined to attend cultural eventschoose to locate in cities. Finally, motivationsmatter. The desire to experience high-qualityart was a significant predictor of higher levelsof attendance, even with controls for othervariables.11 Still, much variation in culturalparticipation remains unexplained, and moreresearch is needed to understand better bothwhy people participate, and why some partic-ipate more frequently than others.

Interestingly, many people did not go to cul-tural events that they say they find very enjoy-able. We gauged this by asking respondentswhich events they most enjoyed attending—dance, plays, concerts, art museums, movies,or sporting events—and comparing theiranswers with their actual attendance. Manypeople who said that they most enjoy dancehad not gone to a dance performance duringthe previous 12 months. The same was truefor plays and concerts. On the other hand,this was far less common among those whomost enjoyed museums and galleries.12 Thesefindings suggest it is easier for people to attendcertain types of cultural events than others.The low percentage for museums may reflectthe greater ease of attending a museum thandance, plays, or concerts (e.g., because muse-

10 There were no significant differences between those employed part-time and the other two groups or between subur-ban and urban residents. These results come from a logistic regression analysis. The relationships reported here heldwith controls for the other variables.

11 Findings are based on regression analysis of those who attended one or more cultural events during the past 12 months. The dependent variable was the total number of events attended. The adjusted r-square was 10. Variables described as significant predictors were significant at the .01 level or below.

12 Almost half who said they most enjoy “dance performances,” 20 percent who said “plays,” 27 percent who said “con-certs,” but only 11 percent who said art museums had not attended one. Since we did not ask about attendance atmovies or sports events we cannot say what percentages choosing them as most enjoyable actually attended.

8 or more23%

4 to 721% 1 to 3

26%

None30%

E X H I B I T 1N U M B E R O F E V E N T S A T T E N D E D( P A S T 1 2 M O N T H S )

Source: 2004 National Survey on Cultural Participation, theUrban Institute.

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ums do not require advance tickets). Thepresent data do not permit us to explain why so many people did not attend eventsthey say they enjoy, but it would certainly beof interest—particularly for those interestedin promoting dance, plays, and music—tofind out.

What People AttendedAs exhibit 2 shows, the largest numbers ofpeople attended music performances (44 per-cent) and arts and crafts fairs and festivals (40 percent). Dance performances were leastoften attended. Most attendees went to more

13 For an extended discussion of cultural participation and civic engagement based on the 1998 local Urban Institute sur-veys, see Chris Walker. Arts Participation: Steps to Stronger Cultural and Community Life. Washington, DC: The UrbanInstitute, 2003.

14 The percentage who say they generally vote in most elections climbed from a low of 59 percent among nonattendeesto a high of 83 percent among frequent attendees.

15 For extended discussions of the relationship between giving and participation based on the 1998 local Urban Institutesurveys, see Chris Walker. Community Connections. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 2002.

F R E Q U E N T A RT S AT T E N D E E S A R E M O R EC I V I C A L LY E N G AG E D

Those who attend cultural events more frequently tend to be more involved in social, reli-

gious, and civic activities. They more often belong to associations, do volunteer work, attend

religious services, and register to vote.13 For instance, the proportion of respondents regis-

tered to vote climbs from 73 percent among nonattendees up to 91 percent among frequent

attendees.14 Attending religious services rises from 64 to 82 percent, doing volunteer work

rises from 27 to 63 percent, and membership in associations rises from 16 to 46 percent.

F R E Q U E N T AT T E N D E E S A R E M O R E L I K E LYTO B E D O N O R S

The most frequent attendees are also more likely to make monetary donations to cultural

institutions. The percentage of respondents donating to arts institutions rises from

7 percent among nonattendees to 11 percent among infrequent attendees, 23 percent

among moderate attendees, and 47 percent among frequent attendees. The clear mes-

sage to arts organizations seeking to raise more money is that fundraising efforts should

be linked to engaging audiences.15

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than one type of cultural event.16 Frequentattendees were more likely to have gone tomultiple types of events and to have attendedeach type of cultural event.17 Thus, frequentattendance at cultural events is associatedwith more varied attendance, indicating that multiple art forms would benefit fromincreases in overall arts attendance.

Certain cultural forms were more likely toshare audience with one another. For in-stance, people who attended plays were morelikely than others to have attended a dance

performance. Similar overlaps exist for atten-dance at plays and live music; plays and artsmuseums and galleries; and dance and artmuseums and galleries.18 Interestingly, thesepairs cut across visual and performing artsboundaries.19 Such overlaps offer clues aboutpromising groups of people to target in build-ing audiences. Arts organizations in fields thathave higher audience overlap might considerdeveloping relationships with one another tohelp expand audiences, for instance, byexchanging mailing lists, publicity (e.g., inprograms), and conducting joint events.

16 Among attendees, 28 percent attended two types of cultural events; 22 percent went to three; and 20 percent attendedfour or five types.

17 Fifty-two percent of those attending eight or more events went to four or five different types of cultural events. Thatfigure drops to 11 percent for those attending four to seven events. Still, almost all moderate attendees (those attend-ing four to seven events) went to more than one cultural form, and over half went to three or more.

18 Based on analyses of those who attended two or more events. Phi coefficients ranged from a low of .1 for plays andlive music to a high of .2 for plays and live dance (p < .001 for all relationships except for attendance at plays andmusic, where p < .01). One negative relationship existed: those who attended live music performances were some-what less likely to have attended fairs or festivals (phi = –.08, p < .05).

19 A case in point: fifty-seven percent of those who visited an art museum or gallery, as compared with 41 percent ofother attendees, also attended a play.

0

OtherDancePlay

Perc

ent

Museum/Gallery

Fair/Festival

Music

20

40

60

80

100

E X H I B I T 2T Y P E S O F C U L T U R A L E V E N T S A T T E N D E D ( P A S T 1 2 M O N T H S )

Source: 2004 National Survey on Cultural Participation, the Urban Institute.

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Attendance at Music Performances

Among music attendees, 72 percent went torock, pop, country, rap, and hip-hop perfor-mances. This category attracted the largestnumber of people: fewer than half thatamount attended religious music (33 per-cent); blues or rhythm and blues (29 percent);classical music or opera (25 percent); jazz (24 percent); and Latin, Spanish, or salsa (13 percent).

Most music attendees (57 percent) went tomore than one type of music performance.Certain types of music were more likely toshare audiences: classical music/opera andjazz, classical music/opera and blues/rhythmand blues, jazz and blues/rhythm and blues,jazz and Latin/Spanish/salsa, and blues/rhythm and blues and Latin/Spanish/salsa.20

On the other hand, rock, pop, country, rap,and hip-hop attendance was negativelyrelated to attendance at classical music andreligious music 21 and was not positivelyrelated to any other form.

These findings indicate the importance oflooking at cultural participation within, aswell as across, forms. This point is dramati-cally reinforced when we compare musicattendance patterns among white, African-American, and Hispanic respondents. Whileoverall rates of live music attendance arecomparable among the three groups, thereare some striking differences in the types ofmusic they attend:

0 A far higher percentage of African-American respondents attended religiousmusic (37 percent) than did either whites(12 percent) or Hispanics (12 percent). Infact, were one to take out religious music,overall attendance figures for live musicwould plummet 11 points for AfricanAmericans but only 3 points for white andHispanic respondents.

0 African Americans also attended live jazzmore often (17 percent) than did whites (9 percent) or Hispanics (12 percent).22

0 Hispanic respondents far more commonlyattended Latin, Spanish, and salsa perfor-mances (20 percent) than did African-American or white respondents (4 percenteach).

0 Whites were more likely to attend classi-cal music and opera (12 percent) thanAfrican Americans (7 percent) or His-panics (3 percent). White respondents were also more likely to attend rock, pop,country, rap, or hip-hop (34 percent) per-formances than were African-American (22 percent) or Hispanic respondents (29 percent).

Motives for Attendance

As exhibit 3 shows, the most common majormotivations for attending cultural events werewanting to socialize with friends and family(57 percent), and finding the event emotion-

20 Phi coefficients ranged from .1 to .14 (p < .02 ) for all relationships except jazz and blues, where phi = .45 (p < .001).

21 For the relationship with classical music, phi = –.28 (p < .0001), and for religious music phi = –.33 (p < .0001).

22 Our estimates show a considerably larger gap between African Americans and whites than do SPPA figures for jazzattendance (which are 12.7 percent for African Americans and 11.4 percent for whites). We note the difference but,absent other information, cannot explain it.

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ally rewarding (53 percent). The least com-mon was a desire to learn about or celebrateone’s cultural heritage.

Striking differences exist in the prominence

of two motivations for members of different

racial and ethnic groups:

0 African Americans and Hispanics were farmore likely than white respondents to cite a

desire to celebrate their cultural heritage as

a major motivation. While 50 percent of

African Americans and 43 percent of

Hispanics gave this response, only 15 per-

cent of whites did so.

0 Hispanics (49 percent) and AfricanAmericans (41 percent) were more likely

than white respondents (34 percent) to say

that a major reason for their attendance

was a desire to support a community

organization.

These findings bear careful attention by

organizations with predominantly white

audiences that wish to diversify their audi-

ences. They certainly suggest that incorpo-

rating programming that speaks to African-

American and Hispanic heritages may be an

important way to engage those communities

(e.g., through new programming or new

presentations of existing programming). At

the same time, organizations cannot expect

that merely presenting isolated events with

programming that addresses cultural heritage

will automatically increase attendance by

African Americans or Hispanics at their

other events.

0

Celebrateheritage

Low costSupportcommunityorganization

Perc

ent

High-qualityart

Gainknowledge

Emotionallyrewarding

Socialize

40

30

20

10

60

50

70

80

90

100

Major Reason Minor Reason Not a Reason

E X H I B I T 3R E A S O N S F O R A T T E N D A N C E ( P A S T 1 2 M O N T H S )


.

Certain motivations were more prevalent

among more frequent arts attendees, particu-

larly a wish to experience high-quality art,

support a community organization, gain

knowledge or learn something new, learn

about one’s cultural heritage, and have an

emotionally rewarding experience. By con-

trast, comparable percentages of frequent,

moderate, and infrequent attendees cited low

cost and a desire to socialize as a major reason.

Above all, frequent attendees, more than anyother group, were motivated to attend the arts because of the art itself.23 Fully 59 percentof those who went to eight or more culturalevents said a major reason was their desire toexperience high-quality art. That figure dropsto 34 percent among people who went to fourto seven cultural events, and to 21 percentamong those who went to one to three events.For many of the least frequent attendees (45 percent), a desire to experience high-quality art was not a reason for their atten-dance at all.24 As noted earlier, even afterdemographic variables associated with higherattendance are taken into account, the posi-tive relationship between a desire to experi-ence high-quality art and higher attendancelevels persists.25

Frequent attendees also cited a greater num-

ber of strong motivations for attending cul-

tural events during the past 12 months. On

average, they cited 3.5 major reasons, com-

pared with 2.6 major reasons given by mod-

erate attendees, and 2.2 among infrequent

attendees.26 This strongly suggests that fre-

quent attendees’ active engagement in the arts

is driven by the very multiplicity and variety

of positive experiences they derive from

the arts.

Where People AttendPeople attended cultural events at many

places, including nonprofit and commercial

sites, dedicated arts venues, and other com-

munity venues. As exhibit 4 shows, the two

most frequently attended venues by far were

concert halls and theaters (60 percent) and

parks and other outdoor facilities (57 percent).

These were followed in order by museums

and galleries; clubs, coffee houses, or restau-

rants; churches or other places of worship;

community centers, recreation centers, or

libraries; and colleges or universities.27

23 This finding is consistent with McCarthy et al.’s (2004) argument that a key characteristic of frequent attendees is thatthey experience “intrinsic benefits” from the arts.

24 Also striking is that wanting to gain knowledge or learning something new was a major reason for 64 percent offrequent attendees, but only 39 and 34 percent of moderate and infrequent attendees, respectively. Both frequent (68 percent) and moderate attendees (54 percent) were notably more likely to say a major reason they attend is thatthey find it emotionally rewarding than infrequent attendees (38 percent). Likewise, 45 percent of frequent attendeeswant to support a community organization, as compared with 33 and 29 percent respectively of moderate and infre-quent ones. Differences for learning about cultural heritage were statistically significant but smaller—25 percent offrequent attendees, but only 18 percent of infrequent ones said this is a major reason.

25 With controls, including controls for other motivations, a desire to experience high-quality art was the only motivationthat remained statistically significant.

26 Over 25 percent of frequent attendees cited five or more “major” reasons for attending, as compared with 13 and 12 percent of moderate and frequent attendees, respectively.

27 For an extended discussion of the importance of community venues as sites for cultural participation, see ChrisWalker, Participation in Arts and Culture: The Importance of Community Venues, Washington, DC: The UrbanInstitute, 2003.

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Frequent attendees were more likely to havegone to each type of venue than were less fre-quent ones, but concert halls and theaters,and parks and outdoor facilities, were the toptwo venues attended by all.28 One strikingdifference is how much more often frequent

attendees went to a cultural event at a club,restaurant, or coffee house. Most frequentattendees (59 percent), compared with 26 per-cent of moderate attendees and 19 percent ofinfrequent attendees, went to a cultural eventat a club, restaurant, or coffee house. Amongfrequent attendees, this venue was tied withmuseums as the third most frequentlyattended venue—but it ranked sixth for mod-erate and infrequent attendees. Thus artsorganizations seeking to target frequent atten-dees would do well to reach out to thesenondedicated arts venues (e.g., when advertis-ing or, where feasible, by presenting their ownwork at such venues).

28 Theaters ranked first and parks second among frequent and moderate attendees, while the order was reversed amonginfrequent attendees.

E X H I B I T 4A T T E N D A N C E A T D I F F E R E N T V E N U E S ( P A S T 1 2 M O N T H S )

Venue Percent Attending

College/university ................................................................................................................ 25

Community center/library ..................................................................................................... 30

Church, place of worship ...................................................................................................... 32

Club/restaurant/coffee house................................................................................................ 35

Museum or gallery................................................................................................................ 39

Park/outdoor facility ............................................................................................................. 57

Concert hall/theater............................................................................................................... 60


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We now turn from total attendance duringthe previous 12 months to examine respon-dents’ most recently attended cultural event.29

Doing so will reveal the marked variationsthat exist in the motivations, experiences, andcircumstances associated with different typesof cultural events.

What People MostRecently Attended

Musical performances were the most com-monly attended type of cultural event. Forty-

two percent had most recently gone to amusic performance. As exhibit 5 shows, thatfigure drops by half for fairs and festivals, thesecond most commonly attended recentevent. Dance was least common, with muse-ums and plays falling between.

Music attendance was divided among a vari-ety of musical forms. Rock and pop was mostcommon by far, though it still accounted foronly 25 percent of music attendance. Abouthalf as many had gone to jazz, country, andreligious music performances,30 and 9 per-cent had gone to classical music or opera performances.

29 This section focuses exclusively on those who had attended at least one event during the previous 12 months. Amongthis group, one-third had gone within the past month and 61 percent had gone within the past three months.

30 Thirteen percent had gone to a jazz performance, and 12 percent each to country and religious music.

Respondents’ Most Recently Attended Event

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Motivations for MostRecent Attendance

The most commonly cited major motivationsfor respondents’ most recent attendance werea desire to socialize with friends and family(58 percent) and wanting to have an emotion-ally rewarding experience (47 percent). Asexhibit 6 shows, most people attributed atleast some importance to all the motivationswe asked about, with the exception of wantingto celebrate one’s cultural heritage.

Yet behind these aggregate figures is consider-able variation. People attended different typesof cultural events for different reasons. In fact,all but two of the motivations had varyingimportance for attendance at different typesof cultural forms (see exhibit 7).

0 A wish to experience high-quality art was a majormotivation for the majority of those whowent to an art museum or gallery (56 per-

cent) and almost half who attended a play(47 percent), but for only 37 percent whoattended a music performance, and foreven fewer (25 percent) who went to a fairor festival.

0 Art museum and gallery attendees cited adesire to socialize with friends or family notablyless often than those attending other forms.Only 45 percent of museum attendees,compared with 59 percent or more of thoseattending every other form, said this was amajor reason for attending. It was mostoften a major motivation for attending aplay (68 percent).

0 A desire to gain knowledge or learning somethingnew was far more often a major motivationfor going to a museum or gallery (65 per-cent). That figure falls to only 39 percentfor attendance at fairs and festivals, andcontinues to drop to a low of 29 percent forlive music attendance.

0 A desire to support a community organization or eventranged from a high of 37 percent for fairsand festivals to lows of just over 26 percentfor museums and dance each. Only 26 per-cent of those who went to a fair, but over 40 percent of those who attended otherevents, said this was not a reason at all.

0 Low cost ranged as a major motivation from ahigh of 31 percent for attendance at fairs andfestivals to a low of 21 percent for dance.

It is useful to recall our earlier discussion ofoverlaps in attendance among cultural forms;we saw that those who go to art museums arealso more likely to go to plays, and vice versa.Yet here we have seen that there are somestriking differences in the reasons that peoplego to museums compared with plays, with adesire to socialize far more important for thelatter. This reinforces the point that the samepeople go to different types of cultural events

Other5%

Fair/festival

21%

Museum/gallery14%

Dance6%

Play13%

Music42%

E X H I B I T 5T Y P E O F E V E N T M O S T R E C E N T L Y A T T E N D E D

Source: 2004 National Survey on Cultural Participation, theUrban Institute. Note: Percentages do not total 100 due to rounding.

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for different reasons. Indeed, their very desirefor a diversity of experiences may well drivepeople to diversify their attendance.

These findings should be considered by thoseseeking to raise participation in particular typesof cultural forms. The more frequently peoplego to the arts, the more likely they will attenddifferent types of events, and therefore artsorganizations in different fields have a commoninterest in the overall health of the arts. How-ever, that does not mean that the same strate-gies will attract people to different types ofcultural events. Those seeking to attract morepeople to their events must target their effortsaccordingly, and/or change their image so thatpeople will attend them for other reasons.

Additional findings suggest that even speakingof motivations for attending a general type ofculture, such as “music,” is too monolithic.Generally, there were too few people attend-

ing specific subgenres to allow extendedanalysis, but findings for the most commonlyattended forms of music illustrate the point.

0 A desire to experience high-quality art was a farmore prevalent major motivation for goingto classical music and jazz events than othertypes of music. Cited by 61 percent of thosewho went to classical music and 47 percentwho went to jazz performances, the figuredrops to 35 percent for rock and pop andreaches a low of 24 percent for countrymusic.

0 A desire to socialize with friends or family rangedas a major motivation from a high of 72 percent of rock and pop performanceattendees to a low of 48 among those whowent to classical music events.

0 Fully 63 percent of those who went to hearreligious music said a major reason was that

0

Celebrateheritage

Low costSupportcommunityorganization

Perc

ent

High-qualityart

Gainknowledge


Socialize

40

30

20

10

60

50

70

80

90

100

Major Reason Minor Reason Not a Reason

E X H I B I T 6R E A S O N S F O R A T T E N D I N G M O S T R E C E N T E V E N T


56.5

36.2Play

0

20

40

60

80

100

Perc

entc

allin

gre

ason

“maj

or”

13.3

Celebrateheritage


Gainknowledge

47

High-qualityart

23

Lowcost

67.9

Socialize

28.9

Supportcommunity

organization

29

45.7Music

0

20

40

60

80

100

Perc

entc

allin

gre

ason

“maj

or”

15.7

36.724.5

60

32.4

Celebrateheritage


Gainknowledge

High-qualityart

Lowcost

Socialize Supportcommunity

organization

41.7 39.3Arts and CraftsFair or Festival

0

20

40

60

80

100

Perc

entc

allin

gre

ason

“maj

or”

21.525.531.2

59

37.2

Celebrateheritage


Gainknowledge

High-qualityart

Lowcost


organization

3551.1

Dance

0

20

40

60

80

100

Perc

entc

allin

gre

ason

“maj

or”

20.5

39.1

21.1

60.5

26.4

Celebrateheritage


Gainknowledge

High-qualityart

Lowcost


organization

54.464.6

0

20

40

60

80

100Pe

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tcal

ling

reas

on“m

ajor

”

17.6

55.5

23.8

44.5

26.7

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organization

Art Museumor Gallery

E X H I B I T 7M A J O R M O T I V A T I O N S F O R A T T E N D I N G D I F F E R E N T C U L T U R A L E V E N T S


.

it would be emotionally rewarding—but that istrue for far fewer people who went to coun-try and rock music performances (42 and40 percent, respectively).

0 Gaining knowledge or learning something new wasa major reason for 45 percent of those whoattended a religious music performance—but only 13 percent of those attending arock or pop performance.

0 A desire to celebrate one’s cultural heritage was amajor reason for attending religious musicperformances far more often than for othermusic. While cited by 32 percent of reli-gious music attendees, the figure next dropsto 18 percent for jazz and blues and falls tolows of 5 percent for country and rock. Thisoffers a clue to the previous finding, by indi-cating that religious music attendees wantto gain knowledge about their cultural her-itage, of which music is a part.

0 A desire to support a community organization wasa major motivation for far higher percent-ages of those who attended religious music(56 percent) and jazz (45 percent) than clas-sical (26 percent) or country music (20 per-cent) performances.

A desire to learn about or celebrate one’scultural heritage was a far more commonmajor motivation among African Americans (49 percent) and, to a lesser extent, Hispanics(29 percent) than among whites (10 percent).31

This bears close consideration by organiza-tions with predominantly white staff and audi-ences that say they want to attract moreAfrican Americans but are having difficultydoing so. When fully half of all African Amer-icans say celebrating their heritage was a

major reason for attending their most recentcultural event, such institutions need to giveserious thought to whether and how they canspeak to this desire. One possibility might beto incorporate programming (or more promi-nently feature existing programming) thataccomplishes that end. On the other hand,organizations cannot expect that presentingisolated individual events with such program-ming will automatically increase attendanceat their other events. Instead, organizationsneed to take a multifaceted approach, built onan understanding of the audience they wish toreach and the multiple reasons that AfricanAmericans, like other groups, attend.

Comparing respondents’ reasons for attend-ing their most recent event with the reasonsfor their total attendance during the past 12 months reinforces the point that peopleattend different cultural events for differentreasons. Reasons that may have been majormotivations for their overall attendance dur-ing the past year were often not as importantfor their last attendance. For instance, manyof the people (38 percent) who said a majorreason they attended during the past year wasto support community organizations also saidthis was not a major reason for attending theirlast event. This shows that wanting to supportcommunity organizations was a factor forsome, but not all, of their attendance.

Venues: WherePeople Attended

People most often went to their last event at apark or other outdoor facility (31 percent) orat a concert hall or theater (24 percent), as

31 To a lesser extent, there were also differences in desire to support a community organization and event, with 44 per-cent of African Americans, 37 percent of Hispanics, and 29 percent of whites saying this was a major motivation. Thesignificance level here was just over the .05 level (.055).

.

illustrated in exhibit 8.32 There is considerablevariation in the venues where different typesof cultural events were attended, and atten-dance at some cultural forms was more con-centrated in a smaller number of venues.

0 Not surprisingly, attendance at arts andcrafts fairs and festivals was highly concen-trated at parks and other outdoor facilities(71 percent). The percentage attending out-doors then falls to 28 for music, and is 10 orunder for other forms. Attendance at fairsand live music accounted for almost all (86percent) outdoor attendance.

0 Music attendance was divided among thelargest number of venues: thirty percent

went to a concert hall or theater; 28 percent

went to a park or other outdoor facility; 15

percent went to a club, coffee house, or

restaurant; 8 percent went to a church; 6

percent went to a community center or

library; and 4 percent went to a college.

0 Attendance at plays was fairly concentratedin concert halls and theaters (67 percent),

but a substantial minority attended else-

where. Places of worship and community

centers, recreation centers, and libraries

accounted for 8 percent each (no other

venue accounted for more than 5 percent).

Most Recently AttendedEvent: Respondents’Experiences andAssessments

People overwhelmingly reported positive

experiences at their most recently attended

event. We gauged this by reading respon-

dents a series of six statements about their

most recently attended event, such as “the

artistic quality was high,” and asking whether

they strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed, or

strongly disagreed. Over 93 percent agreed

or strongly agreed with four of the state-

ments. In the other two cases, the majority

also responded positively, though a greater

percentage disagreed.33

32 Since the survey was conducted in June and July, a question that arose was whether the high percentage attendingoutside might partly represent a seasonal effect. An analysis of timing of last attendance by type of venue attendedproved this was not the case. Virtually identical percentages of people who attended their most recent event at indoorand outdoor venues had done so within the past month (34 and 36 percent, respectively) and even within the pastthree months (64 and 57 percent). Indeed, a higher percentage of those whose most recent event was outdoors went4 to 12 months ago (43 percent) than did those who attended indoors (36 percent).

33 Twenty-three percent disagreed that they learned something new, and 15 percent disagreed that it was emotionallyrewarding.

Concert hall/theater

24%

Church,synagogue,

etc.5%

Museumor gallery

14%

Other8%

College4%

Park oroutdoor facility

31%

Community center,library

7%

Club/restaurant

8%

E X H I B I T 8V E N U E O F M O S T R E C E N T E V E N T

Source: 2004 National Survey on Cultural Participation,the Urban Institute.Note: Percentages do not total 100 due to rounding.

.

Given that so few had negative experiences,we focus here on intensity of positive experi-ences. Exhibit 9 accordingly shows the per-centage of people who strongly agreed witheach of the statements. As we can see, 50 per-cent or more strongly agreed that it wassocially enjoyable, that they liked the venue,and that they would attend again, and almosthalf strongly agreed that the artistic qualitywas high. Lower percentages strongly agreedthey had learned something new or found theevent emotionally rewarding.

Interestingly, even substantial percentages ofthose who expressed a negative judgmentabout some aspect of their experience saidthey would attend a similar event again. Forinstance, 49 percent of those who said theydid not learn something new strongly agreedthey would go again. Sizable minorities ofthose who did not find the artistic quality

high, who did not like the venue, and who didnot find it emotionally rewarding also stronglyagreed they would go again. By contrast, onlya few who did not have an enjoyable socialtime strongly agreed they would go again.34

The two negative experiences most likely toresult in respondents saying they would notattend again were not liking the venue andnot having an enjoyable social occasion. Fully23 percent of people who did not like thevenue and 19 percent who did not enjoythemselves socially said they would not go to asimilar event again. Most people did like thevenue and had an enjoyable social occasion.Still these figures show how factors other thanprogramming can impact attendance andshould alert arts presenters to the importanceof an appealing venue. The numbers avail-able for analysis here were quite small (sinceso few people had negative experiences) but

34 Percentages were 34 percent for those who did not find the artistic quality high, 33 percent for those who did not likethe venue, 29 percent for those who did not find it emotionally rewarding, but only 13 percent for those who did nothave an enjoyable social occasion.

0

Learn

ed

some

thing

new

Emoti

onall

y

reward

ing

High a

rtistic

quali

ty

Liked

venue

Socia

lly

enjoy

able

Would

go

again

Perc

ent

10

20

30

40

60

50

E X H I B I T 9E X P E R I E N C E S A T M O S T R E C E N T E V E N T ( P E R C E N T S T R O N G L Y A G R E E I N G )


.

the relative impact of different experiences onfuture attendance is one that warrants furtherinvestigation.

As with motivations and venues, we foundstriking variations in peoples’ experiences at different types of cultural events (see ex-hibit 10).

0 Those who attended museums were farmore likely to say they had learned somethingnew (51 percent) than those who attendedeither fairs or festivals (23 percent) or musicperformances (28 percent).

0 Those attending plays were most likely tostrongly agree they had an enjoyable social occa-sion (67 percent), while those attending fairsand festivals were least likely (45 percent).

0 A markedly lower percentage (34 percent)of those who went to an arts or crafts fairstrongly agreed that the artistic quality washigh, compared with 47 percent or more ofthose attending any other event. Recall,however, that a desire to experience high-quality art was not a major motivation forattending fairs, and the percentage whostrongly agreed the artistic quality was highexceeded the percentage who said that wasa strong motivation for attending.

0 A greater percentage of those who attendedplays, art museums or galleries, and livemusic (approximately 55 percent each)strongly liked the venue than those whoattended dance performances or arts andcrafts fairs (44 and 34 percent, respectively).

0 Attendees of arts and crafts festivals wereleast likely to strongly agree that they had an

emotionally rewarding experience (23 percent).Those who attended plays and dance weremost likely (43 and 44 percent, respectively).

0 A low of 46 percent of those who attendedfairs strongly agreed they would attend a sim-ilar event again. This was the only group inwhich fewer than half strongly agreed. Thehigh was 65 and 66 percent for music andplays. Still, fewer than 4 percent of anyattendees, including fair attendees, saidthey would not attend again.

A recurring theme is the comparatively lowlevel of strong positive experiences at fairs andfestivals, particularly since they were amongthe more frequently attended events. Takentogether, the findings suggest that arts andcrafts fairs do have a widespread appeal andthat people apparently find them an enjoyableexperience but not an intensely engaging one.

Frequent attendees were more likely to reportstrong positive experiences at their most recentevent. Higher percentages of them stronglyagreed that the artistic quality was high, theevent was socially enjoyable, they learnedsomething new, they liked the venue, the eventwas emotionally rewarding, and they would go again. For instance, 59 percent of the mostfrequent attendees (those going to 11 or moreevents) strongly agreed that the artistic qualitywas high. That figure falls to 36 percent amongthe least frequent attendees (those attendingonly once or twice). Likewise, 69 percent of fre-quent attendees, compared with 45 percent ofinfrequent attendees, strongly agreed they hadan enjoyable social occasion.35

Most people apparently got what they hadhoped to get out of the event. For instance,

35 The percentage who strongly believed that they learned something new dropped from 43 to 23 percent between themost and least frequent attendees, that they liked the venue from 61 to 43 percent, that it was emotionally rewardingfrom 49 to 27 percent, and that they would go again from 74 to 46 percent. (Continued on page 22.)

0

20

40

60

80

100Pe

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twho

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ongl

yag

reed

”

Art Museumor Gallery

54.556.150.6 53.650.2

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Socialize Emotionallyrewarding

35.2

Dance

0

20

40

60

80

100

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tron

gly

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ed”

55.952.540.1 44.2

58.6

Would goagain

High-qualityart

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44.3

Arts and CraftsFair or Festival

0

20

40

60

80

100

Perc

entw

ho“s

tron

gly

agre

ed”

46.433.5

23.234.4

45

Would goagain

High-qualityart

Gainknowledge

Likedplace


22.6

Music

0

20

40

60

80

100

Perc

entw

ho“s

tron

gly

agre

ed”

65.4

47.1

27.5

54.959.1

Would goagain

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Gainknowledge

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37.2

Play

0

20

40

60

80

100

Perc

entw

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ed”

Would goagain

High-qualityart

54.4

Gainknowledge

35.8

Likedplace

5565.8

Socialize

66.5


43.2

E X H I B I T 1 0E X P E R I E N C E S A T D I F F E R E N T C U L T U R A L E V E N T S


.

two-thirds of those who said that a majormotivation for attending was to experiencehigh-quality art strongly agreed that the artis-tic quality of the event was high. Likewise,most (56 percent or more) who were stronglymotivated by a desire for an enjoyable socialoccasion strongly agreed that they had one;most who were strongly motivated by a desirefor an emotionally rewarding experiencestrongly agreed that they had one; and mostwho strongly wanted to learn something newstrongly agreed that they did learn something.And almost all who did not strongly agree,agreed.

There are important variations by types ofcultural events, however, where significantnumbers did not strongly agree that they hadhoped-for experiences. For example:

0 Sixty-five percent of museum attendees saida major reason they attended was to gainknowledge or learn something new, butonly 52 percent strongly agreed that theylearned or experienced something new.Recall that this was the most importantmotivation for attending museums, and sothis finding is particularly noteworthy.

0 Fully 54 percent of museum attendees saida major reason they last attended was thatthey thought it would be emotionallyrewarding—but only 35 percent stronglyagreed that it was.

0 Thirty-nine percent of those whose mostrecent event was an arts or crafts fair said amajor reason they attended was to learn

something new—but only 23 percent saidthat they did.

0 Fifty-nine percent of fair and festival atten-dees said a major reason they went was tosocialize—but only 45 percent said theevent was a socially enjoyable occasion.

0 Fifty-seven percent of those who attended aplay said a major reason they went was thatthey thought it would be emotionallyrewarding—but only 43 percent stronglyagreed that it was.

0 Forty-six percent of those attending musicperformances said a major reason was thatthey thought it would be emotionallyrewarding—but only 37 percent stronglyagreed that it was.

Such findings are absolutely critical for artsinstitutions to consider, for they point to areasin which audiences are not getting the thingsthey want from those institutions. Efforts tounderstand why and to close such gaps arecritical parts of any strategy to enlarge andmaintain audiences.

We should also note that in a few cases, atten-dance apparently yielded a modest bonus inwhich people reported strong positive experi-ences beyond what they cited as strong moti-vators for attending certain types of events.For instance,

0 Thirty-seven percent of music attendeessaid a major motivation was to experience

(Continued.) McCarthy et al. (2004 op. cit.) contend that frequent exposure to the arts is needed to derive arts’ “intrin-sic” (versus “extrinsic”) benefits. Our findings do indicate that more frequent attendees strongly experience the “intrin-sic benefit” of artistic quality. However, frequent attendees also more strongly experience other benefits, such ashaving an enjoyable social occasion. This may, in part, be because frequent attendees’ experience enables them to bet-ter predict and select events they will enjoy. More fundamentally, frequent attendees have a wider variety of interestsand derive fulfillment and enjoyment from a wider array of activities. This is consistent with the fact that they not onlyattend more types of cultural events, but are “joiners” that get involved in more civic, social, and religious activities.

.

high-quality art—and fully 47 percentstrongly agreed the quality was high.

0 Twenty-six percent of those who went to afair or festival said a major motivation wasa desire to experience high-quality art—and 34 percent strongly agreed that theartistic quality of the event was high.

0 Forty-seven percent of those attendingplays said a major motivation was to experi-ence high-quality art—and 54 percentstrongly agreed that the quality was high.

Who People Attend WithThe vast majority of people went to theirmost recent event with other people (87 per-cent), a finding consistent with so many peo-ple saying a major motivation is a desire tosocialize with friends and family. Both singleand married people usually attended withothers, though single people were more likelyto attend alone (18 versus 8 percent). Most ofthose who attended with others went with arelative (63 percent), followed by a friend (41 percent).36 Married people were far morelikely to have attended with a relative (78 per-cent) than a friend (29 percent), while a some-what higher percentage of single peopleattended with a friend (59 percent) than a rel-ative (40 percent). Still, for married and singlepeople alike, attending cultural events wasoften time spent with family.37

Almost no one had attended with a club ororganization they belong to or with work col-

leagues. Women were more likely to haveattended with a club or organization thanmen, but the percentage was still quite low (3 percent for women versus under 1 percentfor men). Those who belong to organizationsthat sponsor cultural activities or trips toevents were more likely to have gone with aclub or organization, but again the percent-age was low (5 percent versus 1 percent forothers).38 Given the high correlation betweenassociational memberships and cultural par-ticipation, cultural institutions might explorewhether there are ways to work with asso-ciations to expand their role in engagingaudiences.

People were more likely to attend certaintypes of cultural events and venues withfriends, while they were more likely to attendothers with relatives.

0 People were more likely to have gone tomusic performances and plays with friends(46 percent each) than were those whoattended other forms. The percentageattending other forms with a friend rangesfrom 26 percent for dance to 34 percent forfairs and festivals.

0 Higher percentages of those who went todance (75 percent) and fairs (70 percent)went with relatives than did those attendingmuseums (64 percent), music performances(59 percent), and plays (55 percent).

0 People were far more likely to go to clubs,coffee houses, and restaurants than othervenues with friends. Fully 62 percent went to

36 People could attend with more than one type of person and thus percentages exceed 100 percent.

37 Much of the attendance with relatives among unmarried people is probably accounted for by children. Among unmar-ried people with school-age children, 65 percent attended with a relative. By contrast, only one-third of single peoplewith no school-age children attended with a relative.

38 During the previous 12 months, 13 percent of sample members attended a cultural activity sponsored by an organiza-tion to which they belong.

.

such venues with a friend, a figure that dropsto 43 percent for community and recreationcenters and libraries, and down to a low of30 percent for art museums and galleries.

0 Over 70 percent of those who went to aplace of worship or college and over 60 per-cent of those who went to a museum orconcert hall went with a relative. By con-trast the figures for clubs and communitycenters are 45 and 46 percent, respectively.

These comparisons strongly indicate thateven similar categories of motivation and

experience are complex and heterogeneous.For instance, socializing is an important rea-son that people go to plays, dances, andclubs—but apparently the type of social expe-rience sought is a different one. Going toplays and dance events is a social experiencewith family, while going to clubs, restaurants,and coffee houses more often involves social-izing with friends. Far more could be done toexplore these relationships—but the basicpoint again is that people go to different typesof cultural events and venues looking for dif-ferent things, and understanding this is key toexpanding participation.

.

This report has repeatedly demonstrated thevariety of motivations, circumstances, andexperiences associated with different types ofcultural participation. Those seeking toenlarge participation need to reorient theirapproach to take this heterogeneity intoaccount. Initiatives to enlarge participationshould clearly define what type of “culture”they want to encourage participation in andtailor their efforts to fit that particular form.One size will not fit all. Having done this, thenext step is to clearly understand the culturalevent that is the focus of the participation-expanding effort. Efforts to enlarge atten-dance cannot be based on why peopleattend “culture” but must be rooted in infor-mation about why people attend that type ofcultural event, where they attend, who theyattend with, and what experiences theyhave.

Additionally, and critically, efforts to build

participation in a form must understand

whether people are getting the experiences

from attendance that they seek from that

form. This is a very different matter than ask-

ing people abstract questions about why they

don’t attend various types of cultural events

more often. Rather, it is a matter of finding

out whether people who do attend—and who

do so for particular reasons—get the experi-

ences that they seek. When attendees are

questioned about their experiences, it is criti-

cal that they are also questioned about their

motivations for attending. Otherwise, it is

easy to mistakenly focus on improving some

aspect of the arts attendance experience not

really relevant to enhanced attendance.

For instance, we found that only 34 percent ofthose who attended arts and crafts fairs and

Implications

.

festivals strongly agreed the artistic qualitywas high—lower than in any other area. Onthe other hand, 45 percent strongly agreed itwas an enjoyable social occasion, and noother experience was rated as strongly forfairs. It would therefore be easy to concludethat artistic quality is a weak area and try toenlarge attendance at fairs by trying tostrengthen quality. By contrast, these figureswould not lead one to focus on people’s socialexperience at fairs.

Yet if we couple information on experiencesand motivations, a dramatically different pic-ture emerges. Only 25 percent of those whowent to a fair said a desire to experience highartistic quality was a major reason. Thus, itwould hardly be worth focusing on artisticquality—artistic quality may be rated lower atfairs than other types of events, but it is notwhy people attend fairs in the first place. Infact, by comparison with the 25 percent whowent to fairs for artistic quality, the 34 percentwho actually experienced high artistic qualitynow looks high. On the other hand, coupledwith data on motivations, the 45 percent whosaid their attendance was socially enjoyablenow looks more problematic, because fully 59percent of those who attended fairs said amajor reason was a desire to socialize. Thegap suggests an area where a significant num-ber of people are not getting what they seek.Thus, trying to understand what makes a faira more or less enjoyable social occasion wouldbe a priority for those seeking to organize suc-cessful ones.

For museums, a priority area to focus onwould be ensuring that visitors leave feelingthey have learned something. That is themajor reason people visit museums. However,while 65 percent said a major reason they vis-ited a museum was to learn something, only51 percent strongly agreed that they did learnsomething new. Likewise, 54 percent said amajor reason they attended a museum was

that they thought it would be emotionallyrewarding, but only 35 percent of museumattendees strongly agreed that it was an emo-tionally rewarding experience. What hap-pened in such cases? To build participationand sustain audiences, museums need toknow. Turning to plays, 57 percent of thosewho attended a play said a major reason theywent was that they thought it would be emo-tionally rewarding, but only 43 percent saidthat it was. Understanding why people fail tohave the experiences that bring them to a par-ticular form is critical to figuring out how tomake their experiences better and thus fostermore attendance.

If participation-building efforts are not builton a clear understanding of a particular cul-tural form and its audience, they risk trying toattract people in ways that will not workbecause they fail to understand those theyseek to reach. For instance, it is oftenobserved that special events frequently pro-duce disappointing results in terms of bringingpeople back to regular programs. But thatshould come as no surprise in light of thesefindings, because “special” events likelyattract people for reasons quite different fromreasons that bring them to the organization’sregular programs.

Much more remains to be learned and done,however, to effectively translate the lessons ofthis paper into practice. We need research toprobe more deeply into motivations and expe-riences. We need to investigate the discrep-ancy between expectations and experiences.Moreover, we need to understand far moreabout cultural participation at levels moredetailed than broad categories such as“music” or “dance.” For example, our find-ings concerning music show that aggregatefigures for such broad categories can obscureprofound differences in cultural participationamong subgenres. Recall that a desire to gainknowledge, a relatively unimportant reason

.

for music attendees considered in the aggre-gate, proved a very important motivation forattending religious music.

Adding to the complexity is that motivationsand experiences associated with arts atten-dance often depend on a wider context thanthe artistic event or product alone. Religiousmusic attendees seek knowledge, but theknowledge they seek is about their culturalheritage, which they learn about and cele-brate by participating in the music.Understanding the links between cultural

forms and their wider social and cultural con-texts is thus also an important part of under-standing the heterogeneity of culturalparticipation.

Thinking in broad and general terms willobscure rather than clarify what is needed toexpand cultural participation. Rather, weneed to delineate different types of culturalactivities, motivations, and experiences.Only by understanding these further canefforts to increase participation proceedeffectively.

ABOUT THE STUDY

The Wallace Foundation commissioned the Urban Institute to conduct anational survey of cultural participation. Building on the Reggae toRachmaninoff: How and Why People Participate in Arts and Culturestudy (2002), also commissioned by Wallace and conducted by UrbanInstitute, the national survey took a broad and inclusive approach to culture. The survey was administered by phone to a random sample of1,231 American adults during June and July 2004. Survey results make itpossible to compare motivations and experiences for participation atdifferent types of cultural events. Other Wallace-commissioned reportsin this UI series can be downloaded at http://www.urban.org andhttp://www.wallacefoundation.org.

.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For their assistance, the author thanks Lucas Held, Lee Mitgang, EdwardPauly, Ann Stone, and Mary Trudel of The Wallace Foundation, andElizabeth Boris, Will Bradbury, Scott Forrey, Tim Triplett, and Chris Walkerof the Urban Institute. Thanks as well to the many people who offeredhelpful comments on the questionnaire, and to Princeton Survey ResearchAssociates who administered the phone survey for the Urban Institute.

APPENDIX

.

Ask all

Q1 Everyone enjoys spending their leisure timein different ways. Overall, which one of the following do you enjoy the most? (Read List)

Rotate1 movies2 concerts3 plays4 dance performances5 sporting events6 art museums or galleries8 Don’t know9 Refused

Ask allQ2 About how many hours during a typical

week do you spend watching television,including videos? (IF RESPONDENTHAS DIFFICULTY GIVING AN ESTI-MATE: Just your best guess is fine)

Range 0-9697 97 or more98 Don’t know 99 Refused

Now I’d like to ask you about some of thethings you may have done during the last12 months.

Ask all

Q3 Not counting elementary, middle or highschool performances did you attend a liveperformance of a musical or non-musicalplay during the last 12 months?

1 Yes2 No 8 Don’t know9 Refused

Ask if has attended a live perfor-mance of a musical/non-musicalplay in the past twelve months(Q3=1)

Q4 About how many times did you go see amusical or non-musical play during the last12 months? (IF RESPONDENT HASDIFFICULTY GIVING AN ESTIMATE:Just your best guess is fine)


Survey Questions:Paper Conversion of the Computer-AssistedTelephone Interview Instrument

.

Ask all

Q5 Not counting school performances, did yougo to a live dance performance during thelast 12 months, such as ballet, Africandance, flamenco, or any other type ofdance? [INTERVIEWER: RECORDONLY DANCE PERFORMANCES ANDNOT MUSICALS OR OTHER PER-FORMANCES THAT HAD DANCE ASPART OF THE PERFORMANCE]


Ask if has attended a live dance per-formance in the past 12 months(Q5=1)

Q6 About how many times did you go to a live dance performance over the last 12 months? (IF RESPONDENT HASDIFFICULTY GIVING AN ESTIMATE:Just your best guess is fine) [INTER-VIEWER: RECORD ONLY DANCEPERFORMANCES AND NOT MUSI-CALS OR OTHER PERFORMANCESTHAT HAD DANCE AS PART OFTHE PERFORMANCE]


Ask all

Q7 Not counting school performances, did youattend any live music performances duringthe last 12 months, such as a classicalmusic, rock, gospel, hip-hop, or countrymusic performance? [INTERVIEWER:RECORD ONLY MUSIC PERFOR-MANCES AND NOT OTHER PER-FORMANCES THAT HAD MUSIC ASPART OF THE PERFORMANCE]


Ask if has attended a live music per-formance in the past 12 months(Q7=1)

Q8 About how many times did you go to a live music performance during the last 12 months? (IF RESPONDENT HASDIFFICULTY GIVING AN ESTIMATE:Just your best guess is fine.) [INTER-VIEWER: RECORD ONLY MUSICPERFORMANCES AND NOT OTHERPERFORMANCES THAT HAD MUSICAS PART OF THE PERFORMANCE]



Q9 Now I’m going to read you a list of somedifferent types of music. Did you attend alive performance of (Insert) during the last12 months or not?

Rotatea. Classical music or operab. Rock, pop, country, rap, or hip-hopc. Jazzd. Blues or rhythm and bluese. Religious music, such as hymns or gospelf. Latin, Spanish, or Salsa



Q10 Did you go to a live performance of any other type of music during the last 12 months? (IF YES: And what type ofmusic was that?)

1 Yes (Specify)2 No8 Don’t know9 Refused

Ask all

Q11 Did you visit an ART museum or galleryduring the last 12 months?


.

Ask if has visited an art museum orgallery in the past 12 months(Q11=1)

Q12 About how many times did you go to anART museum or gallery during the last 12 months? (IF RESPONDENT HASDIFFICULTY GIVING AN ESTIMATE:Just your best guess is fine)


Ask all

Q13 Did you visit an art fair or festival, or a craft fair or festival during the last 12 months?


Ask if has visited an art/craft fair orfestival in the past 12 months(Q13=1)

Q14 About how many times did you go to anarts or crafts fair or festival during the last12 months? (IF RESPONDENT HASDIFFICULTY GIVING AN ESTIMATE:Just your best guess is fine)


Ask all

Q15 Not counting school performances andexhibits, did you attend any other cul-tural events or exhibits during the last 12 months that we have not talked about?


Ask if has attended any other cul-tural event or exhibit in the past 12 months (Q15=1)

Q16 What type of event/exhibit was that?

1 Gave response8 Don’t know9 Refused

Ask if has attended any other cul-tural event or exhibit in the past 12 months (Q15=1)

Q17 About how many times did you do thisduring the last 12 months? (IF RESPON-DENT HAS DIFFICULTY GIVING ANESTIMATE: Just your best guess is fine).(INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION:Include total number if respondent listedmore than one event)


Ask if has attended any of the previ-ously mentioned cultural events/exhibits/performances in the past12 months (Q3=1 or Q5=1 or Q7=1or Q11=1 or Q13=1 or Q15=1)

Q18 Now I’d like to ask you about where yousaw the performances and exhibits thatwe’ve been speaking about. During the last12 months, did you see a performance orexhibit at a/an (Insert)?

Rotatea. Art Museum or Galleryb. Church, Synagogue, or other Place of

Worshipc. Concert Hall or Theaterd. Club, Coffee House, or Restaurante. Community Center, Recreation

Center, or Libraryf. Park or other Outdoor Facilityg. College or University



Q19 Is there anywhere else that you often wentto see a performance or exhibit during thelast 12 months? (IF YES: And what kind ofplace was that?)

1 Yes (Specify) 2 No8 Don’t know9 Refused

.


Q20 People attend performances and exhibitsfor different reasons. How big a reason was (insert) in your decision to attendperformances and exhibits over the last 12 months? Was it a major reason, a minorreason, or not a reason at all?

Rotatea. Low costb. Wanting to experience high quality artc. Wanting to socialize with family or

friendsd. Wanting to learn about or celebrate

your or your family’s cultural heritagee. Wanting to support a community

organization or eventf. That you find it emotionally rewardingg. Wanting to gain knowledge or learn

something new

1 Major reason2 Minor reason3 Not a reason8 Don’t know9 Refused


Q21 Were there any other major reasons thatyou decided to attend? (IF YES: Whatwere those reasons?)



Q22 Not counting elementary, middle, or highschool performances, when was the lasttime that you went to one of the culturalperformances or exhibits that we havebeen talking about? Was it: (Read List)

1 In the past week2 1-2 weeks ago3 3-4 weeks ago4 2-3 months ago5 4-6 months ago or6 7-12 months ago8 Don’t know9 Refused


Q23 Which of the following best describes thisparticular performance or exhibit? Was ita/an: (Read List)

Rotate1 Live music performance2 Musical or non-musical play3 Live dance performance4 Art museum or gallery5 Arts or crafts fair or festival6 Or something else (Specify)98 Don’t know99 Refused

Ask if has attended any of the previ-ously mentioned cultural events/exhibits/performances in the past12 months (Q3=1 or Q5=1 or Q7=1or Q11=1 or Q13=1 or Q15=1) and(Q23=1,2,3,4,5 or 6)

Q24 What type of (Insert Q23 response/repeatspecified response) was this? (DO NOTREAD INTERVIEWER INSTRUC-TION: This question is asking for morespecifics about event—for example, bluesmusic, ballet, or a modern art exhibit, etc.)

1 Gave response8 Don’t know9 Refused

.


Q25 What type of place was this event held in—for example was it held in an art museum,restaurant, library, or park? (Read List—only if necessary)

1 Art museum or gallery2 Church, synagogue, or other place

of worship3 Concert hall or theater 4 Club, coffee house, or restaurant5 Community center, recreation

center, or library6 Park or other outdoor facility7 College or university8 Or some other place (Specify)98 Don’t know99 Refused


Q26 Did you go to the (Insert Q23response/repeat specified response) withanyone else?


Ask if has attended any of the previ-ously mentioned cultural events/exhibits/performances in the past12 months (Q3=1 or Q5=1 or Q7=1or Q11=1 or Q13=1 or Q15=1) and(Q26=1)

Q27 How many other people did you go with?


Ask if has attended any of the previ-ously mentioned cultural events/exhibits/performances in the past12 months (Q3=1 or Q5=1 or Q7=1or Q11=1 or Q13=1 or Q15=1) ANDwent with only one other person tolast event (Q27=1)

Q28 Did you go with a (Read List)?

1 Friend or social acquaintance 2 Spouse or relative3 Work colleague4 Or someone else (Specify)8 Don’t know9 Refused

Ask if has attended any of the previ-ously mentioned cultural events/exhibits/performances in the past12 months (Q3=1 or Q5=1 or Q7=1or Q11=1 or Q13=1 or Q15=1) ANDwent with two or more people to lastevent (Q27=2-97)

Q29 Did you go with (Read List)? (ACCEPTMULTIPLE MENTIONS)

1 Friends or social acquaintances 2 Spouse or relatives3 Work colleagues4 A club or organization that you

belong to5 Or other people or different group

(Specify)8 Don’t know9 Refused

.


Q30 Still thinking about the last cultural perfor-mance or exhibit you went to, how big areason were each of the following in yourdecision to attend this event? First/Next,was (Insert) a major reason, a minor rea-son, or not a reason why you attended?

Rotate

a. Low costb. Wanting to experience high quality artc. Wanting to socialize with family or

friendsd. Wanting to learn about or celebrate

your or your family’s cultural heritagee. Wanting to support a community orga-

nization or eventf. You thought it would be emotionally

rewardingg. To gain knowledge or to learn some-

thing new

1 Major reason2 Minor reason3 Not a reason 8 Don’t know9 Refused


Q31 Were there any other major reasons thatyou decided to attend? (IF YES: What wasthe other major reason you decided toattend?)



Q32 Now I’d like to read you a set of statementsabout the (Insert Q23 response/repeatspecified response). First/Next (Insert), doyou strongly agree, agree, disagree, orstrongly disagree?

Rotate a-e, always ask f last

a. The artistic quality was highb. This was an enjoyable social occasionc. You learned or experienced something

new from itd. You liked the place where the (Insert

Q23 response/repeat specifiedresponse) was located

e. You found it emotionally rewardingf. You would go to see a (Insert Q23

response/repeat specified response) likethis again

1 Strongly agree2 Agree3 Disagree4 Strongly disagree 8 Don’t know9 Refused

Ask all

Q33 Now thinking about elementary, middle or high school events, during the last 12 months did you go to any elementary,middle, or high school student perfor-mances or exhibits, for instance a schoolplay or choral performance?


.

Ask if has attended a school performance/exhibit in the past 12 months (Q33=1)

Q34 Which of the following activities did you goto at a school? Did you go to a/an (Insert)?

Rotate

a. Musical or non-musical playb. Music concertc. Dance performanced. Arts, photography, or crafts exhibite. General talent show

1 Yes 2 No8 Don’t know9 Refused

Ask if has attended a school performance/exhibit in the past 12 months (Q33=1)

Q35 Did you go to any other type of perfor-mance or exhibit at a school? (IF YES:What was that?)

1 Yes (Specify)2 No8 Don’t know9 Refused

Ask if has attended a schoolperformance/exhibit in the past 12 months (Q33=1)

Q36 About how many times during the last 12 months did you go to any of these typesof school events?


Ask all

Q37 Now, I’d like to ask about some other waysthat people can get involved in culturalactivities. First/Next how often, if ever,have you (Insert) in the last 12 months. Isthis something you did often, sometimes,rarely, or never during the last 12 months?

Rotatea. Taken photographs, or made videos or

movies b. Made arts or crafts objects, such as

paintings, pottery, quilts, or woodworkc. Played a musical instrument, such as

the guitar or pianod. Sung, acted, or danced e. Wrote novels, short stories, or poems f. Read novels, short stories, or poems

1 Often2 Sometimes3 Rarely4 Never 8 Don’t know9 Refused

Ask if has done any of the aboveactivities in the past 12 months(Q37a=1-3 or Q37b=1-3 or Q37c=1-3or Q37d=1-3 or Q37e=1-3 orQ37f=1-3)

Q38 Were any of these activities done for a pub-lic performance or exhibit?


Ask all

Q39 When you were growing up, how often didyour parents or other adults take you to artor cultural events? Would you say it wasoften, sometimes, rarely, or never?

1 Often2 Sometimes3 Rarely4 Never8 Don’t know9 Refused

.

Ask all

Q40 Thinking about when you were growingup, when you were 18 or younger, did youtake any arts or crafts lessons or classes,such as a painting, creative writing, orweaving class?


Ask if took arts or craftslessons/classes as a child (Q40=1)

Q41 Did you take these classes in school, some-where else, or both?

1 School 2 Somewhere else3 Both8 Don’t know9 Refused

Ask all

Q42 Have you taken any arts or crafts lessons orclasses in the last 12 months?


Ask all

Q43 On another subject, not counting profes-sional associations or unions, are you currently a member of an association ormembership-based organization, such as aneighborhood association, youth group,social club, or any other similar organization?


Ask if belongs to any organizations(Q43=1)

Q44 Do any of these organizations sponsor cul-tural activities such as concerts, art shows,trips to cultural events, or other culturalactivities?


Ask if belongs to an organizationthat spons

Documents

The Diversity of Cultural Participationalso Kevin F. McCarthy, Elizabeth H. Ondaatje, Laura Zakaras, and Arthur Brooks. Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the Debate about the Beneﬁts