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March 15, 2002
Washington, DC-Performing arts organizations in four cities across
the country and the state of
Alaska this month will begin testing an innovative strategy to solicit
patrons' opinions about their
arts experience and the contributions the arts make to their communities.
The result will be
comprehensive, standardized information that can be compared for
the first time across participating
member organizations, disciplines, and cities. The project also
will help the arts world develop a
national model for arts research collaboration.
This groundbreaking collaborative project will help performing
arts organizations across the
country significantly improve their management capacity, increase
their responsiveness to their
communities, and strengthen local and national advocacy efforts
on behalf of American arts and culture.
The project brings together five major national service organizations
(NSOs) in the performing
arts in a partnership called the Performing Arts Research Coalition
(PARC)
the American Symphony Orchestra League, the Association of
Performing Arts Presenters, Dance/USA, OPERA America, and Theatre
Communications Group.
The project, coordinated by OPERA America, Inc., seeks to improve
and coordinate the way performing
arts organizations gather information on their sector so that they
can offer a more unified and factually
based voice on issues of common concern.
Supported by a three-year, $2.7 million grant to OPERA America
from The Pew Charitable Trusts,
the project is part of the Trusts' national cultural strategy, Optimizing
America's Cultural Resources,
which seeks to strengthen financial and policy support for America's
cultural resources.
Working with the Urban Institute, a leading nonprofit research
organization in Washington, DC,
the project is using a data-collection process in 10 pilot sites
designed to be cost-effective and
highly replicable. The initial five sites are Cincinnati, Denver,
Pittsburgh, Seattle, and the State of Alaska.
The second group of five cities will be identified later this year.
Information will be gathered on administrative expenditures, revenues,
staffing characteristics
of performing arts organizations, the value of the performing arts
as experienced by both participants
and non-participants in the arts, and audience and subscriber satisfaction
with performances and
related activities. The program will yield important benefits:
- Better Coordination: Cross-disciplinary partnerships
based on common interests
in obtaining and communicating information about the value of
the performing arts
will allow participating performing arts organizations, both locally
and nationally, to
forge relationships with one another that go beyond information
gathering.
- Improved Operations: New cross-disciplinary data can
lead to better comparative
analysis of income and expense management and a deeper understanding
of the
local performing arts economy.
- More Effective Advocacy: Better, more comprehensive information
will provide the
foundation for more compelling arguments to policy makers and
community leaders
about the value of the arts
Using this improved information, arts organizations will be better
positioned to enhance their leadership
role in the community and nationally, improve their organizational
management, and identify barriers and
opportunities to greater participation of individuals in performing
arts activities.
Research findings will be available each year of the initiative,
and a summary analysis will be released
in 2004. The NSOs will regularly share findings with their members,
policy makers, and the press, indicating
how this information could be used to increase participation in
and support for the arts, locally and nationally.
Findings also will be disseminated through the NSOs' national publications
and conferences, which reach tens
of thousands of artists, arts administrators, trustees, and volunteers,
and through the American Arts Alliance,
a national arts advocacy organization, which will incorporate the
new information in its public education materials.
OPERA America, the national service organization dedicated to enhancing
the creativity, production, and
enjoyment of opera, is fiscal agent and facilitator of the initiative.
Marc A. Scorca, president and chief executive
officer of OPERA America, serves as project coordinator.
The Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research
and educational organization that examines
the social, economic, and governance challenges facing the nation.
In its arts-related research, the Institute
seeks to better understand and monitor arts participation in communities,
financial and other support structures
for U.S. artists, and the role and strength of nonprofit performing
arts organizations.
The Pew Charitable Trusts support nonprofit activities in the areas
of culture, education, the environment,
health and human services, public policy, and religion. Based in
Philadelphia, the Trusts make strategic
investments
to help organizations and citizens develop practical solutions to
difficult problems. In 2001, with approximately
$4.3 billion in assets, the Trusts committed more than $230 million
to 175 nonprofit organizations.
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