CPC News - 2004
New book tracks cultural policy where it really happens: at the state level
New study maps cultural participation among African American and Hispanic populations in Chicago
Wallace Foundation funds participation in the arts study
CPC publishes second book: Mapping State Cultural Policy: The State of Washington
CPC request for faculty research proposals, deadline March 31, 2004
Emerging Scholars in Cultural Policy Conference announcement
Cultural Policy Center Winter 2004 Workshop Series
Cultural Policy Center's research continues to flourish with help from Harris grant
Press Releases and Media Appearances
New book tracks cultural policy where it really happens: at the state level
Based on media coverage of government funding for culture – most memorably, the controversy over the National Endowment for the Arts in the early 1990s – one might imagine that all public money for arts, humanities, and heritage come from the federal government.
In fact, most support for cultural activities happens at the state level. Yet up until now, there was little knowledge about how this system of support works and what its consequences are for the cultural life of citizens.
In 2001, the Cultural Policy Center (CPC) received a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts to study the complex network of state-level programs that fund culture. A team of researchers led by J. Mark Schuster, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and visiting professor at the Cultural Policy Center in 2003-04, selected Washington State for a pilot study.
The result is Mapping State Cultural Policy: The State of Washington, a comprehensive overview and analysis of one state’s cultural policy system. The study’s findings were startling. For example, while the Washington State Arts Commission and other agencies specifically mandated to encourage cultural activity played a large role, so did more unexpected government agencies and non-governmental organizations. The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Agriculture, even the Department of Transportation were all involved in activities that could be described as cultural policy.
The study also found a stark divide between the prosperous urban population in the west and the struggling rural population in east. “Cultural policy has not been clearly responsive to the differing needs of the eastern and western parts of the state,” Schuster wrote, “though humanities policy and heritage policy have been more conscious of these differences than has arts policy.”
To mark the publication of the study, the CPC hosted a conference at the University of Washington in Seattle on February 13. The conference was attended by agency directors and policymakers from throughout Washington.
On May 24, the CPC held a downtown forum, “State Cultural Policy: What Is It? Does Illinois Have One? Should It?” to generate interest in a similar study here. The CPC plans to initiate five to six similar studies in other states, possibly including Illinois. The goal of the project, said Larry Rothfield, CPC Faculty Director, is to “provide a typology of state-level cultural policy environments, so that policymakers can look at similarly organized states for hints about how they might coordinate, collaborate, and innovate.”
Mapping State Cultural Policy: The State of Washington retails for $20 and can be ordered through the CPC’s website, http://culturalpolicy.uchicago.edu/publications.html
You may peruse its pages in pdf form by visiting our Publications page.
New study maps cultural participation among African American and Hispanic populations in Chicago
Do African Americans visit the Art Institute? Do West-siders make the trek to the DuSable Museum? Do wealthy, educated Latinos attend the symphony? It's impossible to answer without guessing because no comprehensive data on minority participation exists even after ten years of programming intended to diversify audiences. Now, thanks to a $128,000 grant from the Joyce Foundation, researchers at the Cultural Policy Center (CPC) hope to add some hard numbers to the conversation. "Mapping Cultural Participation: A Study of African American and Hispanic Participation in Chicago Cultural Institution,” will be led by Professor Robert LaLonde, Professor Colm O'Muircheartaigh, and CPC Executive Director D. Carroll Joynes. Unusual for an academic study, the team also includes a community fellow, Julia Perkins of MBMD Consultants, an expert on increasing arts participation among people of color. With Perkins' assistance, the team hopes to recruit Chicago's 14 largest cultural organizations and 16 smaller community groups to participate in the study. Chicago's population is divided roughly in thirds (36 percent African American, 31 percent white, 26 percent Latino), but according to the CPC's preliminary research, participation at major cultural institutions remains stubbornly white – around 90 percent. To tease out subtleties in this stark situation, the team will cross-reference institutions' membership lists (with member names removed) with data from census tracts, which are just three or four blocks wide. After creating a detailed map of the city showing cultural participation, race, and other demographic information, the researchers will look at areas where participation is unexpectedly high or low. The goal is to understand whether race is the primary factor in determining participation or if socio-economic factors such as household income, educational level, or geography also come into play.
“A study like this has never been done in Chicago before, so it's really significant," said Perkins. "Some cultural institutions in the city are already very directed in their efforts to engage people of color, but others don't have the resources, especially smaller institutions. We hope this study will help them bridge the gap."
Wallace Foundation funds participation in the arts study
Since 1999, the Wallace Foundation has given more than $43 million to art organizations in order to make art and culture part of people's everyday lives. Now, researchers at the Cultural Policy Center (CPC) will try to find out which efforts worked, which didn't, and why. With a $340,000 grant from Wallace, a CPC research team will study 60 arts organizations that received funding from two Wallace programs: Leadership and Excellence in Audience Development (LEAD) and Leadership and Excellence in Arts Participation (LEAP). The study, "Practices That Work: Increasing Participation in the Arts" will investigate how arts organizations sought to build audience participation by broadening (attracting people who already enjoy the arts), deepening (increasing) members' level of commitment), or diversifying (attracting completely new groups of people). The study's wide-ranging research team will include both academics and practitioners: Diane Grams, Cultural Policy Center Associate Director; Susan George, Research Associate at the Harris School; David Karraker, independent consultant; Steven Smith, Associate Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Washington; and Margaret Wyszomirski, Director of the Graduate Program in Arts Policy and Administration at Ohio State. Team members bring expertise in psychology, organizational development, and social networks, as well as cultural policy and arts administration.
The researchers will gather information through phone interviews and videotaped in-person interviews at art organizations around the country. The goal is to develop thematic case studies on sets of practices that work together to change the face of who is participating in the arts and how. The findings will be published in a book targeted at a wide audience, including academics, practitioners, and board members. The book will include thematic case studies, full-color photographs, and a DVD containing interview excerpts and footage of arts activities.
"This is a major opportunity for the Center to effect policy, particularly on an organizational level," said D. Carroll Joynes, CPC executive director. "As a result of this study, both foundations and arts organizations throughout the country will have access to rich, detailed information illuminating how specific strategies and tactics have proven useful and the factors necessary to make it possible for others to replicate them."
CPC publishes second book: Mapping State Cultural Policy: The State of Washington.
The Cultural Policy Center at The University of Chicago announces the publication of its second book:
Mapping State Cultural Policy: The State of Washington, edited by J. Mark Schuster with essays by David Karraker, Susan Bonaiuto, Colleen Grogan, Lawrence Rothfield, and Steven Rathgeb Smith.
The 232-page book is available for $20 plus $6 postage and handling discounts are available on orders of 18 or more.
You may peruse its pages in pdf form by visiting our Publications page.
CPC request for faculty research proposals, deadline March 31, 2004.
The Cultural Policy Center (CPC) is currently accepting proposals from University of Chicago faculty interested in recruiting Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs) for cultural policy related projects scheduled to be underway during the next academic year. These assistantships are paid for by the Cultural Policy Center. Please visit the Research page, Application for Faculty Research Proposals, for details and application information. The deadline for faculty proposals is March 31, 2004.
Emerging Scholars in Cultural Policy Conference announcement.
The Cultural Policy Center (CPC) at The University of Chicago hosts the inaugural Emerging Scholars in Cultural Policy Conference on May 21 & 22, 2004, at the Harris School of Public Policy. Organized by CPC graduate research assistants, the conference is intended to foster community among cultural policy scholars and build a long term research agenda for the cultural policy field. The conference will provide a forum for discussing and critiquing cultural policy research undertaken by graduate students at some of the leading U.S. policy centers.
Invited student panelists from Princeton, Columbia, Ohio State and The University of Chicago will present their work to colleagues, faculty, and policy practitioners to elicit valuable feedback. A sampling of topics include: an exploration of migration patterns as a function of arts and culture an analysis of the relationships between the size of a metropolitan area.s creative workforce and its economic performance a study of the relationship between participation in the arts and perception of its benefits over the life-course an investigation of the association between organizational structure and effectiveness among cultural policy research centers an evaluation of the accuracy of current economic impact analyses in the arts and cultural sector an examination of the tension between broader public access and the pursuit of traditionally specialized public television programs and a comparative study of amenity offerings and their effect on urban development.
Call for abstracts is now complete. Deadline for receipt of papers: April 26, 2004
Student presenters must submit their research papers to emergingscholars2004@yahoo.com by 5pm.
Deadline for conference registration: Friday, May 7, 2004.
Registration is required for all conference attendees. Please RSVP to emergingscholars2004@yahoo.com to reserve a space. Following your registration, you will receive an email confirming your attendance and providing other information as necessary.
Please visit the Conference Website for further details
Cultural Policy Center Winter 2004 Workshop Series
The University of Chicago’s Cultural Policy Center is pleased to host a group of dynamic presenters for its 2004 cultural policy workshop series. The series is one of several programs the Cultural Policy Center provides with the aim of fostering research and public dialogue about the practical workings of culture. The workshop series assembles visiting and attending faculty, academic and non-academic speakers, and graduate students to discuss their research and findings in a semi-public forum. Presentations cover subjects across a wide range of disciplines allowing for a rich diversity of perspectives and interpretations.
Occurring bi-weekly, the 2004 winter workshop series includes four speakers. Each speaker has a different academic background and applies a unique research methodology to his/her work. Topics include: an analysis of the relationship between social capital and support of the arts; an examination of public conflict over artistic and cultural expression; an assessment of the network structure of photographers careers; and a comparative study of local art-production networks.
According to Associate Director of the Cultural Policy Center Diane Grams, “There is no overriding cultural theme to the 2004 winter workshop series; it has, however, been structured to highlight different approaches to research. As typical, half of the workshop’s faculty speakers are guests to the University of Chicago. The others are involved in research at the University of Chicago.” In this way, “students and faculty can gain exposure to techniques and methodologies outside of those typical to the Harris School of Public Policy.”
Assistant Harris School Professor Jeffrey Milyo kicks off the workshop series by describing how empirical findings derived through statistical modeling dispute the link between social capital and public funding of the arts. Milyo's research is the outcome of a $5000 faculty award presented by the Cultural Policy Center last summer. Next, Steven Tepper, deputy director of the Princeton University Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, talks about the results of his content analysis of news reports on conflict. His research diverges from the positivist orientation of Milyo's work by applying a sociological perspective that examines the causal effects of norms, values, and language on community.
Katherine A. Giuffre , Colorado College Assistant Professor and Diane Grams, Associate Director of the University of Chicago’s Cultural Policy Center, round out the winter workshop series. Each presents micro-level research which departs from the more typical macro-focused examinations undertaken by the Harris School of Public Policy. Giuffre and Grams both use network analysis as the methodological underpinning of their work. Through this technique, Giuffre defines artist career paths and maps them to specific career trajectories; Grams, meanwhile, illustrates how the social linkages embedded within local communities that create art correspond to notions of identity.
The Cultural Policy Center hopes you can be a part of its 2004 winter workshop series, sharing your ideas in the workshop’s open forum of debate and discussion.
By Nadav Enbar, CPC Graduate Research Assistant.
Cultural Policy Center's research continues to flourish with help from Harris grant
To read this article printed in The University of Chicago Chronicle on January 8, 2004, click here.
Press Releases and Media Appearances
- Cultural Policy Program supports new research that measures arts, culture, March 29, 2001
- Center visiting professor J. Mark Schuster appeared on Chicago Public Radio WBEZ program Odyssey hosted by Gretchen Helfrich on January 31, 2002 to discuss "Contingent Valuation" (with Richard Carson and David Schkade). Click here to listen to the program(requires Real Player).
- Center faculty director Lawrence Rothfield appeared on Chicago Public Radio WBEZ program Odyssey hosted by Gretchen Helfrich on October 24, 2001 to discuss "The Humanities in Public Life" (with Earl Shorris and Eileen Mackevitch). Click here to listen to the program(requires Real Player).
- Center steering committee member and Dana Feitler Director of the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art Kimerly Rorschach appeared on Odyssey on January 28, 2002 to discuss "Museums In Public Life" (with Steven Conn and Ivan Karp). Click here to listen to the program (requires Real Player).
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