National Endowment for the Arts Awards Contract to JBA

JBA will research public engagement with the arts through a new contract with the National Endowment for the Arts. With its partner, the Urban Institute, JBA will analyze data and report on the role of personal tastes and preferences in arts participation and on arts participation via digital media.

Researchers will analyze data from three nationally representative data sets (Survey for Public Participation in the Arts, Annual Arts Basic Surveys, and General Social Survey) to inform how policymakers, funders, arts organizations, and art practitioners craft opportunities for the American people to engage in the arts. Reports will detail engagement levels and trends in various art forms and modes of participation. 

The goal of the National Endowment for the Arts is to strengthen the creative capacity of the nation’s communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation, including cultivating public engagement with, and access to, various forms of art across the nation. This requires systematic research on the economic, political, cultural, demographic, socioeconomic, geographic, and related factors affecting participation in the arts.