Over the last two decades, the collective waistline of Americans may have ballooned but apparently not because of any consuming new appetite for the arts.
A recently released report from the National Endowment for the Arts indicates that the percentage of adults attending at least one jazz, classical music, opera, musical, play or ballet performance or visiting an art museum over the course of a year has stayed stubbornly at around 40 percent over the last 20 years. The total number of arts participants has increased, but so has the total U.S. adult population.
The bodies in the audience may have changed over the years, but the faces seem eerily similar. Women, middle-age people, non-Hispanic whites, the college-educated and the affluent continue to be overrepresented for their demographic groups, according to NEA surveys of public participation in the arts taken in 1982, 1992 and 2002.
In presenting its latest survey, the NEA takes an it-could-have-been-worse approach, citing the 2001 terrorist attacks.
“Despite the impact of Sept. 11th on travel and other plans, Americans continued regular attendance at arts events in the 12-month period ending in August 2000,” the agency states. It notes that 81 million people attended at least one of its seven “benchmark” arts event in that period, up from 76 million in 1992.
But given the rise in the adult population over those 10 years, the percentage of those attending arts events declined to 39.4 percent in 2002 from 41 percent in 1992. And in an interview, Tom Bradshaw, NEA director of research, acknowledged that participation levels after 9/11 could have declined from a peak reached sometime earlier in the decade.
Indeed, a 1997 NEA survey showed far higher levels of participation than in the 1982, 1992 or 2002 studies. The 1997 survey indicated that half of adults, or about 97 million people, attended at least one of the benchmark activities during the prior year. But Bradshaw noted that the 1997 survey was a stand-alone telephone poll conducted by a private firm; the others were conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau as supplements to its regular household surveys on other matters.
Bradshaw said the census surveys could have underrepresented arts participation because the questions were assigned a lower priority in the overall poll and “question fatigue” could have set in among respondents. Nonetheless, the NEA does not draw comparisons with the 1997 survey because of its different methodology.
When the 2002 survey included such activities as attending art or craft fairs, visiting historical sites, reading literature, watching or listening to an arts broadcast, performing, and taking an arts class, then the participation rate rose to 76 percent, or 157 million adults. None of the surveys asked participants about attending or listening to rock or hip-hop performances.
A 1998 survey of arts participation conducted by the Urban Institute for the Wallace Foundation suggested the need for a more expansive definition of art offerings and arts venues. The study, titled “Reggae to Rachmaninoff,” held that people are as likely to experience the arts in a community setting — a park, street or church, for example — as in theater, museum or other house of culture.
“When arts organizations connect with their communities and make that connection a priority, it helps to broaden their audiences,” said Lucas Held, a spokesman for Wallace, a philanthropy established by the founders of the Reader’s Digest Association.
Comparing the results of 1992 and 2002 NEA surveys, there are some statistically significant changes. They include:
– Women’s participation rate at jazz performances (10.8 percent) is essentially equal to that of men (10.7 percent), meaning men have lost the lone benchmark activity in which they held a lead. Women represent 52 percent of the total adult population but 69 percent of the crowd at ballets and 61 percent at musicals (which continue to be the most popular of the performing arts).
– The median age of attendees rose by 3 years, to 45, from 1992 to 2002, but the median age for classical music concertgoers rose by 4 years, to 49, making them the oldest group of arts attendees. The median age for jazz was the youngest, 43, although it rose by the most, 6 years. The median age of the country’s total population rose to 35.7 in 2002 from 33.4 in 1992, according to census figures.
– The share of audience of people ages 18 to 34 declined over the decade for many benchmark activities, including classical music, opera, ballet and art museums.
– More people participate in the arts by watching them on television sets or listening to them on radio and records than by attending live events. But despite more offerings available through the media, the rate of such participation declined in all categories from 1992 to 2002.
Audience snapshots: art attendees are usually female, middle age and well-educated
According to the NEA study, the demographics of arts attendance looks strikingly similar, no matter what the discipline. Audiences are dominated by females, whites, and middle-age and affluent adults.
SEX
52.1 percent of the adult population in 2002 were women, but women were overrepresented in all types of audiences. Of the benchmark activities, ballet represented the largest disparity between the sexes.
Makeup of ballet audiences
By percent
68.9 Women
31.1 Men
RACE AND ETHNICITY
Non-Hispanic whites dominated arts attendance rates in all of the benchmark activities in the 2002 survey. Jazz drew the largest number of non-white attendees (23 percent).
Makeup of jazz audiences
77.0 White
13.5 African- American
6.3 Hispanic
3.1 Other
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AGE
The median age of the adult population increased from 42 to 45 between 1992 and 2002. The same happened with arts attendees. In 2002, classical music concertgoers were the oldest, (median age: 49); jazz concertgoers were the youngest (median age: 43).
Makeup of classical music audiences
45-54: 24.9
35-44: 19.9
55-64: 17.0
25-34: 14.0
65-74: 9.3
18-24: 8.8
75+: 6.2
EDUCATION
Attendance rates rise significantly with education levels — and were highest for those with graduate school training.
Makeup of opera audiences
College graduate: 35.6
Graduate school: 29.2
Some college: 24.5
High school graduate: 7.9
Some high school: 2.5
Grade school: 0.4
INCOME
Attendance rates also rise with income. People with incomes below $30,000 are underrepresented in all disciplines.
Makeup of audiences at musicals
$75,000 or more: 38.0
$50,000-$74,999: 21.2
$30,000-$39,999: 9.3
$40,000-$49,000: 8.0
$20,000-$29,000: 6.1
$10,000-$19,000: 5.3
Under $10,000: 3.1
Not reported: 9.0