Research

Working together to articulate cultural value

Audience at a gig - arms waving

01 Apr 2020

When the coronavirus crisis ends and government is prioritising what happens next, nothing will be more important than being able to articulate cultural value. Ben Walmsley and Anne Torreggiani explain how the new Centre for Cultural Value will support funders, policymakers and the cultural sector to make more effective use of research and evaluation.

Covid-19: Charities face £4bn 'black hole'

31 Mar 2020

Thousands of arts, culture and heritage charities improve communities, wellbeing and isolation – "functions that are particularly important during this crisis".

Health and wellbeing

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Culture of censorship’ as arts workers fear backlash

20 Feb 2020

ArtsProfessional’s Freedom of Expression survey reveals gagging orders, bullying and a culture of fear are causing arts and cultural workers to stay silent.

Human resources

NPOs carbon emissions: new report reveals good intentions but little change

23 Jan 2020

Research on NPOs’ environmental impact shows a shared commitment to sustainability - but the hard data suggests little has changed.

Environmental sustainability

Arts and dementia work failing to reach South Asian communities

16 Jan 2020

There is “an urgent need” for funders and arts organisations to develop more culturally appropriate approaches, says a new report.

Health and wellbeing

Wooing the young billionaires

A person taking a photo of a presentation with their smartphone

02 Jan 2020

With arts philanthropy static in the UK and declining in the US, what needs to be done to persuade the next generation of mega-rich donors to support culture? Michelle Wright examines the challenges ahead.

ACE treads carefully with ‘intrusive’ new social class metric

17 Dec 2019

Arts Council England will begin collecting data on the socio-economic background of its NPO workforce next year, but will need to overcome perceptions that doing so is “alien, intimate and intrusive”.

Human resources

New national agency to study ageing and creativity

11 Dec 2019

A three-year project will research ways to support later-life creativity and creative technology solutions for an ageing population.

Governments opt out of international creativity tests

28 Nov 2019

Maths, science and reading will continue to be assessed against international standards, but DfE says testing young people's creative thinking is "not the best use of resources".

Children and young people

Grants model of arts funding must change, Creative Scotland told

19 Nov 2019

A review of international approaches to funding culture concludes that “change is inevitable”.

What do we really know about audience privilege?

A photo of a ballet performance

18 Nov 2019

Research suggests that people living in ‘more deprived’ areas are less likely to engage with cultural activity. But is that true across the board, or are there different patterns between – and within – different art forms? Mark Taylor digs deep to find out.

Audience development

Value of UK music rises to £5.2bn despite Brexit fears

18 Nov 2019

Employment hits an all-time high and Britney Spears delivers a boost to the Yorkshire and Humber economy.

And they’re off…

A photo of the Houses of Parliament in London

01 Nov 2019

How many of us working in the arts are keeping quiet about how we really feel, asks Amanda Parker.

£2m study into ‘scaling up’ arts and health interventions

Photo of dance thearpy

01 Nov 2019

A research team of artists, scientists and clinicians will investigate “the impact and scalability of arts interventions” on the physical and mental health of more than 800 patients.

Cultural commissioning

Health and wellbeing

Asking nicely

Photos of a transparent donations box and a multi-coloured contactless donations box

31 Oct 2019

As part of a fundraising strategy donation boxes consistently fail to fulfil their potential, but does it have to be this way? Bernard Ross explains what’s going wrong – and the research exploring how to put it right.

Exit interview: Things I’ve learned about the cultural sector

31 Oct 2019

As she steps down as Editor of the cultural policy journal Cultural Trends, Sara Selwood takes a long hard look at the way the sector has developed – and tells it like it is.

Human resources

Research to investigate censorship in the arts

29 Oct 2019

An ArtsProfessional survey will examine whether fear of “biting the hand that feeds” is affecting freedom of expression within the arts and cultural sector.

York is UK’s most culturally vibrant city, finds EU research

A photo of a York Minster cathedral at night

25 Oct 2019

Both Glasgow and Edinburgh were ranked higher than London on a cultural and creative index compiled by the European Commission.

Local authorities

North/South divide widens in creative industries employment

Photo of London West End

10 Oct 2019

New analysis of employment and productivity in the creative industries concludes “it is unlikely that the rest of the UK would catch up” with London in less than 20 years, “even with an ambitious and effective set of policies”.

DCMS reports drop in arts engagement

Photo of exhibition

07 Oct 2019

New figures show a continuing trend of disabled adults engaging with the arts – but an ongoing decline in creative pursuits among children.

Audience development

Children and young people

Pages