At Arts Services Inc., we believe that the arts are for everyone.
Recently, some of the staff spent a couple of days out of the office, taking time to check out a few arts and cultural attractions that are close by. Just a few hours spent exploring the neighborhood made us remember what we too often forget; that beyond the impressive economic impact that the arts have, they also have a profound social impact that is unmeasurable but just as important to the welfare of all Western New Yorkers.
Americans for the Arts, the national arts advocacy organization, recently put together the Arts and Social Impact Explorer which compiles research and case studies on the social impact that the arts can have. We’ve pulled a few of our favorite statistics here in the hopes that you’ll be reminded as we were why everyone deserves to experience the arts.
In a 2001 study from the University of Pennsylvania, researchers found that 40% of people feel more positively about their community after taking part in the arts. The same study also found that 9 out of 10 say that the arts increase connection to community.
A quote from a report by Americans for the Arts says, “Participatory arts projects celebrate local culture and heritage, making marginalized groups more visible and promoting positive community connections.”
A 2016 study of the impact of the arts in Chicago by Anne Gadwa Nicodemus found that following engagement in the arts, 63% of participants indicated that they had become more aware of, and more interested in remedying local challenges.
Arts activities also increase residents’ interest in getting involved in local issues and projects, including discussions of infrastructure. In the same Chicago study, they found that 86% of participants want to be involved in future projects and people living where projects occurred were more than twice as likely to be civically engaged as those whose blocks did not have projects.
The arts also have a profound impact on children and students; a 2018 report from Americans for the Arts cited that low-income students who participate in the arts, both in school and after school are 5x less likely to drop out of school. Students who are highly engaged in the arts are also more than twice as likely to graduate college as their peers.
The arts make also young adults more civically engaged. A 2012 research report from the National Endowment for the Arts found that 78% of young adults who had arts-rich experiences were more likely to vote or participate in a political campaign.
And last but not least, a public opinion poll from 2016 found that 73% of Americans felt that the arts contributed meaning in their lives and were a positive experience in a troubled world. And we could all use a little extra positivity in the world right now, don’t you think?
Thanks for watching and we hope that you feel inspired to get out and experience some of the incredible arts and cultural attractions in your neighborhood. If you’d like to learn more about the social impact of the arts so you can become an arts advocate in your community, visit americansforthearts.org/explorer.
