Yesterday the NEA released the 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. This is the NEA’s largest national study of adults’ participation in the arts.

From the Museum Association of New York:  “The new study finds a notable decline in theater, museum and concert attendance and other “benchmark” cultural activities between 2002 and 2008 for adults 18 and older, and a sharper fall from 25 years ago. The drop was for virtually all art forms and for virtually all age groups and levels of education.  Between 2002 and 2008, percentages fell for movie-going from 60 to 53.3, for jazz from 10.8 to 7.8, for museums/galleries from 26.5 to 22.7.  Other categories with lower attendance include ballet, opera, musical and nonmusical theater, and art/crafts fairs and festivals.  Visits to parks/monuments/historical buildings fell from 31.6 percent in 2002 to 24.9 percent last year.

The survey was conducted in partnership with the United States Census Bureau and has been conducted five times since 1982.  The conversation will focus on how these findings should inform the arts community’s work going forward, as well as how the survey should be expanded and refined in the future.”
Related to this, in recent weeks I have read and heard that many museums have found that their visitation actually increased in 2009.  However, many museums and cultural heritage organizations continue to struggle with basic funding.  MANY encourages museums and other cultural heritage organization to contact local media outlets to highlight their recent experiences during current economic crisis.   The Albany Institute of History and Art, located in Albany, NY, recently did just that and a story about their current situation was covered by local TV station WNYT, News Channel 13.