There is a crucial disconnect between how the sector evaluates the impact of culture and using it to influence policy. It’s time to reset the wheel, say Ben Walmsley and Emma McDowell.
In a constantly changing landscape, the ability to understand and respond to audiences’ changing preferences and behaviours is vital. Anne Torreggiani shares findings from the first wave of The Audience Agency’s COVID-19 Monitor.
Research England will bankroll the partnership between four regional universities and The Culture Capital Exchange following a successful pilot project.
The tendency to overstate impacts through uncritical narratives of success risks undermining the credibility of arguments about why state subsidies for art and culture are necessary, say Leila Jancovich and David Stevenson.
Would we still see the same benefits to wellbeing if we took art and culture out of ‘culture on referral’ programmes and sat people in a room together? Dr Robyn Dowlen uncovers gaps in the evidence base.
UK Music launches a plan to keep up the momentum, as research shows the gains are concentrated in entry level positions rather than middle or senior management.
UK Music has published its industry-wide ten-point plan for a diverse music ecosystem. But it’s actions, not words, that will bring about lasting change, says Ammo Talwar.
ACE has welcomed projections that the sector will recover to pre-Covid levels by 2022. The “bounce back” relies on only the most economically productive organisations surviving.
Practitioners have seen with their own eyes how arts and health interventions can make a real difference to young people’s mental health – but can they prove it to those holding the purse strings? Katherine Taylor explains how a new evaluation framework is promising to help them do just that.
A DCMS-commissioned study cites strong evidence that "can be trusted to guide policy" on arts interventions in some areas of health and wellbeing - but not others.
When Professor Stephen Clift published a critique of an academic review of the impact of the arts on health outcomes, he was accused of not being ‘collegiate’ or constructive. Has the field of arts and health become too self-congratulatory?
DCMS and the University of Bristol publicised the research findings as proof that 'singing is no riskier than speaking'. That's not quite what the study says.
Without financial support, small organisations will make little progress in diversifying their income streams as they lack the resources to develop fundraising strategies.
Indoor performance pilots with the London Symphony Orchestra will shape further reopening plans amid concerns about the safety of singing, brass and wind instruments.
Conventional monitoring and evaluation isn’t always helpful in community settings, but with some creative thinking, it can become a valuable part of the artistic process. Sarah Cassidy explains how a new technique can transform the outcomes.
News Comment: Sharp actions, at pace, with respect
UK Music has published its industry-wide ten-point plan for a diverse music ecosystem. But it’s actions, not words, that will bring about lasting change, says Ammo Talwar.