A few months ago, the Wallace Foundation presented a forum with NEA Chair Jane Chu (who I absolutely think is a rock star diva) and 3 other arts leaders talking about building arts audiences. Some great, great thoughts to ponder and takeaways (“Creativity doesn’t stop at the stage, but continues into the administration” ~ Robert Battle; “Honor the individual, your participation matters” ~ James Houghton). Check out the conversation on twitter using #buildingartsaudiences.
Pre-conversation though, the Wallace Foundation announced a new study on Strategies for Expanding Arts Audiences and a $40 million 6 year initiative to build new audiences. I think I could hear the collective gasp of everyone watching in my Chattanooga office.
The full report is a worthy, yet lengthy read. The Exec Summary is a bit more manageable. But, I LOVE INFOGRAPHICS! And on 10/2/2014, the Wallace Foundation released an infographic with the nine practices for building audiences. It’s not the answer to filling halls and museums, but it at least gets you thinking about where your organization is, what they need to do, and what they don’t need to do.
