Impact Update 6, May 2006

This newsletter reviews the content that has been added to the Impact Database since the end of February 2006. 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, of course, be obtained from the database.

We encourage users and their networks to use the facility to submit their own research, which will then be considered for inclusion. Research should relate to the main themes of the database (listed in the Advanced Search section) and should have stated aims/objectives, methodological approach and findings/conclusions.

Arts, Culture and Education Critical links: learning in the arts and student academic and social development, edited by Deasy (2002), provides a comprehensive research compendium on the role of arts learning in assisting the development of critical academic and social skills. Ruppert (2006) builds on the studies cited in this compendium to give a description of what current research says about the social and academic benefits associated with students' arts learning experiences. In their ‘Research-note: promoting intercultural education through arts education’ (Intercultural Education 17(1)), Lopes da Silva and Villas-Boas (2006) examine how visual art education can be used to promote respect between different ethnic groups and contribute to the integration of ethnic minority students in classrooms.

Arts, Culture and Inclusion In ‘Social inclusion, the museum and the dynamics of sectoral change’ (Museum and Society 1(1)) Sandell (2003) looks at processes of change in the museum sector and the approaches that might be deployed to better understand, initiate and sustain sector-wide change, while contributing to social inclusion. Through a number of case studies, Gould (2005) explores the role of arts and cultural activities in the inclusion and integration of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. Kawashima (2006), in ‘Audience development and social inclusion in Britain. Tensions, contradictions and their implications for cultural management’, compares the terms "audience development" and "social inclusion", and examines possible conflicts in their use and the impact these might have on cultural management, especially in the museum sector (International Journal of Cultural Policy 12(1)).

Arts, Culture and Society Guetzkow (2002), in a working paper for the Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies (Princeton University) entitled ‘How the arts impact communities: an introduction to the literature on arts impact studies’, provides an introduction to the literature on arts impact studies and discusses key theoretical and methodological issues involved in studying the impact of the arts on communities.

Two studies address both the social and the economic impact of culture. Long & Owen’s (2006) study of the Yorkshire arts festival sector offers an analysis of the contributions of the sector to the regional economy and social and cultural life, and attempts to create a general methodology for arts festival organisations to benchmark their own activities against other comparable festivals, as well as assessing potential for joint marketing initiatives. Markusen and Johnson (2006) chart the contributions of 22 Minnesota-based artists' centres to the careers of individual artists and their artistic development, as well as to the development of their communities and local economies.

Community development is also the topic of Making exact change. How U.S. arts-based programs have made a significant and sustained positive impact on their communities, in which Cleveland (2005) carries out a field study to investigate the impact of community arts programmes on their local communities.

Finally, Keaney (2006) explores how participation in the arts and heritage contributes to civic life in the UK, in her study From access to participation. Cultural policy and civil renewal.

Arts, Culture and the Economy Two studies assess the economic impact of creative industries on specific regions. In Creative New York Keegan, Kleiman, Siegel and Kane (2005) aim to provide a full picture of the city's creative core through an analysis of U.S. census data, interviews with leaders in the creative industries, creative workers, economists, officials, patrons and other stakeholders. A joint study carried out by the IRIS Group, Wendy MacDonald & Associates and JP Consulting (2006), offers an analysis of the economic and employment impacts of cultural activity in Prince Edward Island (PEI) and the Charlottetown area (Canada).

Cohen, Schaffer and Davidson (2003) address the methods and findings of "Arts and economic prosperity", a study quantifying the economic impact of non-profit arts organisations and their audiences in 91 communities throughout the USA (Journal of arts management, law and society 33(1)).

A number of studies critically examine the value of such economic impact studies. Sterngold (2004), in his article ‘Do economic impact studies misrepresent the benefits of arts and cultural organizations?’ (Journal of arts management, law and society 34(3)), argues that attention would be better directed towards the ways in which arts and culture enrich quality of life and contribute to social capital, as conventional economic impact analysis does not provide any real evidence. A similar conclusion is reached by Tepper (2002) in ‘Creative assets and the changing economy’ (Journal of arts management, law and society 32(2)). Frey’s (2005) working paper ‘What values should count in the arts? The tension between economic effects and cultural value' focuses on the distinction between economic impact studies and "willingness to pay studies" and discusses their consequences for decision making in the arts. Finally, Throsby (2004) argues that a structural model of the cultural sector, examining the relationship between its elements and with the rest of the economy, can be of more value for the study of the economic contribution of arts and culture (‘Assessing the impacts of a cultural industry’, Journal of arts management, law and society 34(3)).

A number of studies looking at both the economic and the social impact of arts and culture have been profiled in the Arts, Culture and Society section above.

Major Cultural Events In ‘Perceived impacts of festivals and special events by organizers: an extension and validation’ (Tourism management 25) Gursoy, Kim and Uysal (2004) discuss the development of a standardised survey instrument to measure organisers' perception of the impact of festivals and special events on local communities.

Major Sporting Events Kim and Petrick (2005) use two separate surveys to assess the influence of the FIFA 2002 World Cup in Korea on Seoul residents’ perception of the positive and negative impacts of the event, and the stability of these perceptions over time, in ‘Residents' perception on impacts of the FIFA 2002 World Cup: the case of Seoul as a host city’ (Tourism Management 26).