From the report abstract:
"In the fall of 2015, Intermedia Arts joined with Animating Democracy at Americans for the Arts to sponsor a CSA&C study designed to learn more about where community arts training is currently taking place and where there may be future interest.
The research was undertaken from September 22 to October 9, 2015 by The Center for the Study of Art & Community. The study cohort was comprised of leadership from 423 local arts agencies who had previously indicated their interest and/or involvement in community arts programming in the 2015 Americans for the Arts local arts agency census. The response rate for the 18-day study was a relatively high 34%.
The survey consisted of three sets of Likert scale questions each with multiple items, and five questions soliciting narrative responses. There were three general areas of inquiry. These were:
Organizational Activity: The level of community arts support and activity undertaken by responding organizations.
Community Activity: The level of community arts activity and support in the responding organizations constituent communities.
Interest Level: Respondent interest in future community arts programming as well as support in areas such as training, funding, partnerships, and programming."
There were several key findings.
First, there is a need for and high interest in training for individuals working at the intersection of the arts and community development, yet there is a corresponding low level of awareness about existing resources. Second, among the local arts agencies in the study cohort, there is an emerging tendency to emphasize community development. Third, cross-sector relationships are increasingly common for arts agencies, involving both art and non-art sectors. Fourth, there is an existent and growing interest in the integration of the arts into the functions of municipal government.
