members-only section
Research
Our staff is dedicated to helping arts researchers, advocates, administrators, patrons, and the general public access the most current information on research regarding arts policy and practice. Annually, more than 5,000 of your peers tap into our up-to-date reports, surveys, online databases, and one-on-one technical assistance.
Local Arts Agency Resources | Research & Services | National Arts Policy Database | Research Sources | Institute for Community Development and the Arts | Arts Watch - Weekly Policy E-newsletter
Local Arts Agency Resources (LAA)
As the national service organization for the nation’s local arts agencies, Americans for the Arts regularly conducts research for the purpose of tracking budget and programming trends in the LAA field. Our professional members have unlimited access to the findings and reports.Fiscal Year 2007 Survey of Local Arts Agencies
2008 Local Arts Agency Organizational Background Report
2008 LAA Salary & Benefits Summary Report: President/CEO/Executive Director
2008 Local Arts Agency Technology Usage Report
Top Three Challenges Facing Local Arts Agencies in 2008
Fiscal Year 2003 Survey of Local Arts Agencies
The Triennial Report on the Budgets and Programming of Local Arts Agencies
The research team creates several one-pagers a year to give you the boiling points of data at your fingertips. The following are the most recent one-pagers available:
Artist Employment 2009
Arts and Cognitive Development
Arts Education
Business Support of Arts 2009
Creative Industries 2009
Cultural Tourism
Economic Impact 2009
Economic Impact Audiences 2009
Giving USA 2008
Government Funding 2009
Healthcare 2008
Local Arts Agencies (LAA's)- at a Glance
NEA 2009
Ready to Innovate
SAT 2009
SPPA 1982-2002
Youth at Risk
We offer our research expertise and technical assistance on myriad topics related to arts policy and practice. Learn about our:
Economic Impact Studies
Creative Industries Reports
Web-Based Surveys
and more...
Americans for the Arts tracks research in many key areas. Review those key areas and some of the current research available on each topic in the National Arts Policy Database. Search subjects/issues, research abstracts, news articles, program profiles, and sample documents related to arts policy.
Essential Arts Research Sources
Below you'll find a comprehensive list of arts research sources. If it has to do with arts research, it’s here.
Cultural Policy Research and Information Sources
- National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
The NEA conducts the annual Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, the most recognized source of information on participation in the arts. Both the Notes and Reports sections of the NEA site have useful research trends in artist employment, arts organization growth, audience participation, and public funding. - Cultural Policy and the Arts National Data Archive (CPANDA)
CPANDA is a repository of data on artists, arts and cultural organizations, audiences, and funding for arts and culture from a variety of research studies. The data is free and web accessible, so it’s a good place for those who need a data set for analysis. CPANDA also includes analysis and research findings from major reports. - Arts Journal
Arts Journal offers news on arts and culture compiled daily from a wide variety of local and national news outlets. They also host a number of blogs that are widely read in the arts community. - Community Arts Network
Community Arts Network is a well-known and very active site that includes resources, research, and exchange on community-based arts and social change. See also their news service, APInews. - Performing Arts Research Coalition
This is a research collaboration among national discipline-based arts organizations—American Symphony Orchestra League, Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Dance/USA, OPERA America, and Theatre Communications Group. Their 2002 study tracked the impact of performing arts audiences in 10 communities. - Alliance for Arts
Alliance for Arts is one of the best sources of research information on cultural policy for New York City. - ArtsNet at Carnegie Mellon University
Explore this searchable database with a mix of resources: organizations, documents, and websites.
Cultural Policy Academic Research Centers
- Princeton University's Center for Arts & Cultural Policy Studies
- Teachers College, Columbia University's Research Center for Arts and Culture
- University of Chicago's Cultural Policy Center
- Vanderbilt University's Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy
- Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society
- International Journal of Arts Management
- Journal of Cultural Economics
- International Journal of Cultural Policy (formerly the European Journal of Cultural Policy)
- Cultural Trends
Nonprofit Research and Information Sources
- Independent Sector
A leading provider of research on the nonprofit sector. - Foundation Center
The strongest source of information on philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. Also the first place to start a search for funding for any nonprofit organization. They have a special focus on arts funding as well. - GuideStar
A comprehensive database of nonprofit organizations, including financial information and 990 tax forms. - National Center for Charitable Statistics
Downloadable raw data from nonprofit 990 forms. - Urban Institute Nonprofits & Philanthropy
Conducts and disseminates research on the role and impact of nonprofit organizations and philanthropy. - BoardSource
Good source of information on nonprofit board and governance issues. Many of their resources are members-only.
International Cultural Policy Resources
- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Founded in 1945, UNESCO is the agency of the United Nations that serves as a clearinghouse for information and knowledge in the fields of education, science, culture, and communication among its 191 Member States and six Associate Members. - The International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA)
IFACCA is the first global network of national arts funding bodies. Their mission is to create an international resource and meeting ground for all those whose public responsibility it is to support excellence and diversity in artistic endeavour. - Arts Management Network
International information service for culture and management.
Federal Resource Guide Series for Arts Organizations
Access to all of the Federal Resources Guide Series for Arts Organizations is available in the Advocacy section of the this site. Click here to go directly to Advocacy.
Additional International Resources
- Culturelink
- ERICArts: European Research Institute for Comparative Cultural Policy and the Arts
- International Network on Cultural Policy
- Association for Cultural Economics International
Institute for Community Development and the Arts
Americans for the Arts established the Institute for Community Development and the Arts to provide a research-based understanding of how the arts are being used to address social, educational, and economic development issues in communities across the country. Areas of research and publication have included at-risk youth, artist training, economic development, arts and civic dialogue, public housing, cultural tourism, and program planning and evaluation.
Monographs and Special Reports
- Arts Programs for At-Risk Youth: How U.S. Communities are Using the Arts to Rescue Their Youth and Deter Crime
- Building Creative Economies: The Arts, Entrepreneurship, and Sustainable Development
- Cultural Development in Creative Communities
- Cultural Tourism: Bridging America Through Partnerships in Arts, Tourism and Economic Development
- Cultures of Care: A Study of Arts Programs in U.S. Hospitals
- The Arts in Times of Trauma
- The Arts, Religion, and Common Ground
Arts Watch - Weekly Policy E-newsletter
In December 2005, after more than a decade of work dedicated to help improve the research infrastructure, foster and broaden public debate about cultural policy, and provide timely information and news, the Center for Arts and Culture brought its work to a close.
The Center for Arts and Culture’s board and staff worked with Americans for the Arts to develop a plan for the Cultural Policy Listserv, and provide for future access to the Center’s many policy and research publications. As such, the cultural policy communications which the Center initiated carried on as the Cultural Policy Listserv.
In April 2009, the Cultural Policy Listserv was reimagined as Arts Watch, a weekly cultural policy publication of Americans for the Arts. Arts Watch covers news in a variety of categories related to cultural policy including Culture and Communities, Arts Education and the Creative Workforce, Public Investment in Culture and Creativity, and Philanthropy and the Private Sector. The newsletter also features an Arts Watch Spotlight item and Arts Canvas - News from the Field, a short piece written by a different Americans for the Arts staff member each week.
View past editions of Arts Watch and the Cultural Policy Listserv (dating back to July 2008)
Visit the National Arts Policy Database to view publications from the Center for Arts and Culture