Impact Update 14, May 2008

This newsletter reviews the content that has been added to the Impact Database since the end of February 2008. As always, many of the studies are recently published but we also include earlier research that is relevant to the themes of the database. Full bibliographical details of the references highlighted below can be obtained from the database.

We continue to encourage users and their networks to use the online facilities of the Database to submit their own research, which will then be considered for inclusion. Alternatively, please contact us at impact@ccpr.arts.gla.ac.uk . Research should relate to the main themes of the database (as listed in the ‘Advanced Search’ section) and should have stated aims/objectives, methodological approach and findings/conclusions.

Arts, Culture and the Economy

The British Arts Festivals Organisation (BAFA) has published its latest survey of the UK arts festival sector, carried out by sam and the University of Brighton (2008). Findings of the study, which assesses the sector’s economic, social and cultural contribution in the UK in 2006-2007, show e.g. that UK festivals overall spent £41.8m, while BAFA member festivals received 7.6m attendances, generated £12.9m in ticket sales revenue, leveraged a total of £21.3m in funding, provided 395 permanent paid positions, 1,400 seasonal paid positions, 3,900 voluntary positions and 50,530 opportunities for artists (Festivals mean business 3. A survey of arts festivals in the UK).

Fine arts and innovation, a working paper for the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA)) by Oakley and Sperry (2008), looks at changes in working practices of fine arts graduates since the 1930s, and asks what those changes tell about how fine artists and their skills are being absorbed into the wider economy and have impacted on innovation. The study is based on a cohort study of fine art graduates from the University of the Arts in London, since the 1930s.

The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) has published a report called Demonstrating the case for culture (2007), which uses a description of 9 different cultural projects to show how cultural projects can contribute to the economic and social development of the places they are located in, and to explore the sorts of evidence which can be collected to demonstrate this. It argues that the case studies involved provide strong evidence that projects and activities in the cultural domain contribute to the wider regional economic objectives.

The Economic value of urban design. Final report, by AMION Consulting and Taylor Young (2007) for the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) and RENEW Northwest assesses what constitutes good design, identifies the potential benefits associated with it and develops an Impact Assessment Framework to assess its value. The study concludes that there is strong evidence that economic, social and environmental returns increase with better design.

Frontier Economics (2007) has undertaken a study for the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which looks at the practical issues involved in analysing the economic impact study of live music. The report also addresses the theoretical and practical development of a cost-benefit framework to be used as the basis for such a study (The feasibility of a live music economic impact study).

Bolton’s museum, library and archive services. An economic valuation, a study carried out by Jura Consultants and Scotinform (2005), uses a contingent valuation technique to demonstrate the consumer surplus of Bolton’s museums, local libraries and its central archive, and concludes that these services were valued by users and non-users at £10.4m, that they generate 1.6 times the value of public funding they receive, and that the majority of their value comes from the direct benefit enjoyed by users as opposed to non-users.

Finally, two Liverpool-based economic impact studies have been included in the Impact Database. Doing business in the European Capital of Culture. A profile and initial assessment of impact on the Merseyside and North West business base, by Phythian-Adams, Sapsford and Southern (2008), assesses the impact of Liverpool’s designation of European Capital of Culture (ECoC) 2008 on businesses in the Merseyside and North West England. An older report by the Mersey Partnership (2005) measures participation in the Liverpool Biennial 2004 and evaluate the event’s economic impact. (Market Research Study Report. Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art Limited).

Arts, Culture and Health

Daykin et al. (2008) have carried out a literature review to explore the evidence for the impact of performing arts on the health and well-being of young people in non-clinical settings. They found evidence of positive outcomes following performing arts interventions, including positive changes in reported behaviour and improvements in social skills and interaction among at risk young people (‘The impact of participation in performing arts on adolescent health and behaviour: a systematic review of the literature’. In: Journal of Health Psychology 13(2): 251-264).

Nicholson et al. (2008) have published the results of an evaluation of a group music therapy program for marginalised parents and their young children, which used musical activities to promote positive parent-child relationships and stimulate children’s behavioral, communicative and social development. The findings included significant improvements in therapist-observed parent and child behaviour, as well as parent-reported irritable parenting, educational activities in the home, parent mental health and child communication and social play skills (‘Impact of music therapy to promote positive parenting and child development’. In: Journal of Health Psychology 13(2): 226-238).

Arts, Culture and Education

The Dana Foundation has published the preliminary findings of a consortium of cognitive neuroscientists that address the question why arts training has been associated with higher academic performance, in Learning, the arts, and the brain. The Dana Consortium report on arts and cognition (2008). It indicates that interest in performing arts leads to a high state of motivation, producing the sustained attention necessary to improve performance and the training of attention that leads to improvement in other domains of cognition. Specific links were found between high levels of music training and the ability to manipulate information in both working and long-term memory.

Arts, Culture and Audience Development

Assessing the intrinsic impacts of a live performance, by Brown and Novak (2007), attempts to develop a simple measurement tool to assess the short-term benefits of performing arts programs on their audience. They argue that the intrinsic impacts derived from attending a live performance can be measured, and that different types of performances create different sets of impacts.

Arts, Culture and Regeneration

Ferrari and Adamo (2006) use a case study of an international jazz festival in a small Italian town to study how the image of a destination can be influenced and modified by an important event. The findings of their research show that the festival has been successful in repositioning the town from a traditional seaside resort to a vibrant festival town, appealing to newer, younger and more diverse markets (‘Event marketing and destination image: residents’ perceptions.’ In: Ali-Knight and Chambers (eds.), Case studies in festival and event marketing and cultural tourism. Pp. 25-53).

Arts, Culture and Society

Hill Strategies Research (2008) has published a report exploring the statistical evidence on the relationship between cultural activities and specific social phenomena (Social effects of culture: exploratory statistical evidence. Statistical Insights on the Arts 6:4). It found that there is a potential relationship between visiting art galleries and reading books and positive social engagement, while this relationship was far smaller in the case of performing arts attendance, and even less for movie theatre attendance.

Promoting mental health and wellbeing through community & cultural development: a review of literature focussing on community festivals and celebrations, by McQueen-Thomson, James and Ziguras (2004), assesses the evidence-base for the impact of community celebrations on community development, health and wellbeing. The study found a significant body of research indicating that celebrations or festivals can promote community co-operation, bring new talents to a community and develop existing talent, promote awareness of community issues, reduce the isolation of individuals and groups and promote economic and social development. However, it also found that these studies were mostly overly anecdotal and based too heavily on the opinions of participants or organisers of the community activities.

A working paper by Dayton-Johnson and King (2003) makes a social cost-benefit analysis of the 2002 Stan Rogers Folk Festival in rural Nova Scotia. The study concludes that the net social benefit of the festival was positive and exceeded the subsidies received, although the viability of the festival was found to be not entirely robust and dependent on the magnitude of various unmeasured non-use values. The authors argue that social cost-benefit analysis can be applied to publicly-subsidised cultural activity, and is in fact superior to impact analysis (Subsidising Stan: Measuring the social benefits of cultural spending).

Major Cultural Events

Glastonbury Festival 2007 economic impact assessment, by Baker Associates (2007) calculates the economic impact of the 2007 Glastonbury Festival and its off-shoots. Total estimated gross impact linked to the 2007 Glastonbury Festivals was more than £73m, while the net impact was estimated at £35.8m for the Mendip District economy; £2.4m for Bath and Bristol; and around £10.9m for the rest of the South West.

The Ascent of Manchester: An independent evaluation of the first Manchester International Festival: 28 June - 15 July 2007, by Morris Hargreaves McIntyre and Arts About Manchester (2008), evaluates the Festival’s achievements against its set aims, objectives and targets, addressing both the economic and social impacts of this major event.

Finally, Edwards, Moital and Vaughan (2004) have looked at the impacts of EXPO’98, hosted in the city of Lisbon, as perceived by key players in the city’s tourism sector. They found that the local tourism sector responded positively to opportunities arising from hosting the EXPO, that Lisbon has since emerged as a player in the European city break market, and there is a noticeable increase in self-confidence and belief in abilities (‘The impacts of Mega-events: the case of EXPO’98 - Lisbon.’ In: Long and Robinson (eds.), Festival Tourism: marketing, management and evaluation. 196-215).

New research

Arts About Manchester (AAM) is carrying out an assessment of the Chester Festivals, in order to evaluate the year’s programme of events. The study incorporates an assessment of the impacts on the cultural and visitor economy, arts engagement, social and community inclusion (Chester Festivals Evaluation).