Californians Most Likely to Attend Arts Activities

ATTN: Arts, Features, Music Editor
For Immediate Release: Nov. 10, 1998 #98052
Media Related Inquiries Contact:
Marlon Villa, (415) 422-2697, [email protected]

Californians More Likely to Attend Arts Activities Than Other Americans According to University of San Francisco-CSPPA Arts Survey

SAN FRANCISCO ó Californians are more likely to attend arts events and activities compared to other Americans, according to a just released survey conducted by the University of San Francisco and the National Endowment for the Arts. Bay Area residents, the poll found, are most likely to have attended an art event. San Diego residents were second, according to the survey.

Based on survey results, there were approximately 50 million adult admissions to arts events during the one-year period ending in October 1997.

The first-ever comprehensive arts survey for California ó California Survey on Public Participation in the Arts (CSPPA) ó found that:

Fifty-six percent of adult Californians attended at least one of eight types of arts activities during the year from Summer 1996 to Fall 1997, compared to 51 percent in the rest of the United States. This means that more than 13 million adult Californians participated in at least one of the following activities ó jazz concerts, classical concerts, operas, plays, musicals, ballets and other dance activities and art museums and galleries during the year. The number jumps to about 17 million if attendance at arts and craft fairs and visits to historic parks and neighborhoods or touring historic buildings are added.

The CSPPA Survey includes responses from a random telephone sample of 2,476 respondents from across the state. Respondents are also divided into six different California regions, providing a more detailed looks at geographic differences in how Californians participate in the arts.

The survey was sponsored by the Institute for Nonprofit Management at the University of San Franciscoís College of Professional Studies and was directed by Richard J. Orend, INOM director of research. The project was done with the National Endowment for the Arts National Survey on Public Participation in the Arts, which provide data for comparison to national results.

CSPPA asked respondents about their: 1) attendance at live art events; 2) participation in the arts through broadcast and recorded media; and 3) desire to increase participation levels in the eight core arts activities.

Results show some significant differences across six geographic regions of the state. Bay Area residents (63.2 percent) and San Diego residents (61.5 percent) are most likely to have attended one or more events in the year. Central Valley residents, including an area from Bakersfield to Redding, are least likely to have attended an event (41.9 percent). The other three regions of the survey ó Los Angeles County (54 percent), the Los Angeles suburban counties (57 percent) and the mountain, coastal and northern counties (55.4 percent) were closely grouped.

The proportion of Californians who pursue each of the eight core activity types is similar to the rest of the country. The most popular activity is visiting art museums and galleries. About 40 percent of adult Californians ó 9 million people ó visited a museum or gallery during the year. Next popular was attending musicals (26 percent), least popular were operas (7 percent) and ballets (6 percent).

Plays (17 percent), classical music concerts (16 percent) other types of dance performance (15 percent) and live jazz performances (14 percent) were in the middle and very similar in terms of numbers of participants.

The survey also touches on the areas of desire for increased participation. About 75 percent of those surveyed identified one or more core activities they would like to do more. Of these, half (or 9 million people) said they had not participated in a specific arts activity during the last year but had been an audience via TV, radio or recordings. They represented new or renewed live audience potential, said Orend. Another quarter (4.5 million) had participated but would like to increase their participation in one of the eight activities. These figures, said Orend, suggest an enormous potential audience, even if each interested person attended only one additional time.

These optimistic figures, however, should be tempered by results on questions about barriers to increased participation, according to Orend. About two thirds of the respondents who wish to increase participation said they lack the time, which often means that other activities like family needs or simply the choice of other types of leisure pursuits take precedence over the chosen arts activity. These kinds of choices may be difficult to overcome by the arts community, making changes in attendance behavior more unlikely than simple desire to do more may suggest, Orend said. Other barriers include cost, availability and location.

For additional information call (415) 422-2164.

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