Publications: Reports

Mapping Cultural Participation in Chicago

The Future of Public Television

Broken Glass: A Community Impact Study of the Chihuly Exhibit in Garfield Park , Chicago

Arts and Culture Workforce Project: Documents Prepared for Advancing Chicago 's Civic Agenda Through the Arts

Mapping Cultural Participation in Chicago
Contact: Wendy Norris, wnorris@uchicago.edu, 773.834.3495

Chicago is internationally known for the excellence of its major cultural institutions, which attract millions of visitors every year. What is the connection between these organizations and the economically, racially, and ethnically diverse population of Chicago ? This study takes a significant step toward answering this question.

Mapping Cultural Participation in Chicago is the first study of its kind of a major U.S. metropolitan area, and draws upon data – ticket purchases, subscriptions, donor lists – from Chicago ’s 12 largest cultural organizations and 49 smaller organizations. Information from the transactions was linked to census data on socio-economic status, race, and ethnicity to provide neighborhood-by-neighborhood maps of participation patterns. The study, funded by a grant from the Joyce Foundation, establishes the first benchmark to enable organizations to assess the future effectiveness of their diversity-building efforts among African-Americans and Latinos.

View the study webpage

View the Executive Summary (PDF)

View the Report (PDF)

The Future of Public Television
The Future of Public Television, a conference report published by the Cultural Policy Center at The University of Chicago, details analyses and perspectives from national public broadcasting and communications professionals who convened at a two-day conference hosted by the Center in Chicago to examine the industry’s challenges and prospective reform.

View the report (in PDF format)

Broken Glass: A Community Impact Study of the Chihuly Exhibit in Garfield Park , Chicago
One presentation at our "Culture and Urban Development" Discussion Series was by University of Chicago political scientist Melissa Harris-Lacewell on her impact study of the Garfield Park Conservatory blockbuster Chihuly show.

View the report of the study’s first phase.

Arts and Culture Workforce Project: Documents Prepared for Advancing Chicago 's Civic Agenda Through the Arts
The Arts and Culture Workforce Project involved students and faculty from The Harris School of Public Policy Studies working with the city of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. A team with the Cultural Policy Center providing research on the national arts workforce for the committee working to Advance Chicago's Civic Agenda through the Arts.

View the range of documents prepared through this project.

Books

Working Papers