Recent research has increased our understanding of young audiences, their needs and interests. Around 200 New Audiences projects, funded by Arts Council England, have built on this knowledge, with some programme funding strands prioritising work with young people.
New Audiences has accumulated an archive of projects illustrating arts and schools? partnerships, and projects involving groups from early years to the 18-30 age bracket. This month we are looking at some notable action research projects which aimed to engage teenagers outside school.
Psychological barriers
Many New Audiences projects were asked to respond specifically to issues raised in ?Crossing the Line?, a joint Arts Council England/Gulbenkian Foundation publication by John Harland and Kay Kinder (1999). They examined why young people?s attendance at cultural venues declines as they enter their teens. Despite very real physical barriers to attendance of cost, travel and lack of time, psychological barriers were found to be paramount.
?Evidence from New Audiences confirms that arts venues are not on the ?leisure map? of most young people, and that both the art venue and the art product are too unknown. Taken together, the arts experience presents a risky and challenging experience, not worth the bother.? comments Steve Harris of Cultural Intelligence, the independent researchers evaluating the New Approaches to Presentation strand.
New Audiences projects backed up the findings of Kinder and Harland?s research. They confirmed the need for arts venues to consider how to sustain and manage the special welcome they extend to young people for a one-off project, how their artistic programmes can reflect an engagement with artists and artforms which already attract young people, and how they can foster creative dialogue between ?high? arts and ?popular? culture.
Spreading the word
?How Much?? was a £300,000 action research project carried out in 1999 and 2000. Managed by Sheffield Theatres, the project tested the impact of programming, price and promotion on young audiences. It revealed that although discounts and value for money are proven incentives to ticket-buying, price ?was not an absolute constraint?. More significant is that young people are uncertain about what they will get for their money. Using season brochures, a new website and partnerships with local organisations, 21 productions achieved ticket sales of around 32,000 and raised the percentage of young people in the audience from 7% to 41%. Sheffield Theatres produced a special publication, ?How Much?, details of which can be found at www.newaudiences.org.uk.
Another example of innovatory marketing was Southwest Arts Marketing?s Plymouth-based project Txtm8. It established a free information service, delivered by text-message, to market arts and leisure activities to young people who go out for the evening without any fixed plans. It both encouraged a swift response and enabled venues in Plymouth to offer discounted prices on unsold seats. More than 800 people registered for the service. Venues extend their databases, resulting in a take-up of between 0.5 and 16%.
Reaching out
Re-locating arts work to familiar, non-arts venues was another key idea for several organisations. This was particularly successful in club venues, with performances including contemporary dance, Indian classical music and world/roots music. Projects using new technology or artforms favoured by young audiences attracted a much higher percentage of young people to their venues.
Modern Art Oxford (formerly The Museum of Modern Art Oxford) used new marketing initiatives and student representatives to publicise its Audible Light exhibition. 78 students were recruited as active distributors of event information. The special view also included a DJ programmed in their café space ? a technique also used by Generator in their DJs in Art Galleries project. This helped to break down the psychological barriers which can cause young people to see arts venues as culturally exclusive.
Peer marketing and advocacy
Word of mouth is frequently cited as one of the most important factors in marketing successfully to young people. Young people interested in the arts ? whether as participants or attenders ? can also become advocates, programmers and ambassadors to their peers. New Audiences documents many cases where involving young people in programming and promotion established their ownership of cultural activities. The Lancashire and Cheshire Young Promoters Scheme organised a series of professionally-run training workshops in venue management, marketing, health and safety and box office management. This equipped 40 young people aged 12 ?19 with the skills to bring live theatre into their communities. Despite having virtually no prior experience of seeing live theatre, they managed and hired a live show of their choice.
Discussion continues over the comparative effectiveness of drawing young people into arts events which are already programmed, and offering young people the space, time and resources to be creative in ways which are most relevant for them. Steve Harris points out that ?most arts development initiatives for young people attempted to stimulate interest through some form of participation, and are more effective where scrupulous consultation and a recognition of the need for relevance is achieved.?
Feedback to Essential Audiences can be sent to audiences@artsprofessional.co.uk
Essential Audiences is compiled and written by Catherine Rose. For more information about the New Audiences Programme, contact the Arts Council England, 14 Great Peter Street, London SW1P 3NQ. t: 020 7973 6497 f: 020 7973 6791 e: newaudiences@artscouncil.org.uk textphone: 020 7973 6564
Beyond the Page
Find extra information, analysis, downloadable reports, summaries and resources at http://www.newaudiences.org.uk