Sunil Iyengar

The 22nd International Conference on Cultural Economics hummed along nicely—with one conspicuous absence. Victoria (“Vicky”) Ateca-Amestoy, who died unexpectedly in December 2022, was much missed by the very community she had helped to shape. Over the years, Ateca-Amestoy contributed a series of landmark research papers about arts participation, including cultural heritage … [Read more...] about A Spanish Economist Gifts the U.S. with Insights on Cultural Participation

In this episode, we look at a new research report on racial/ethnic and gender diversity in the orchestra field. A transcript is available on the NEA website. … [Read more...] about Quick Study: Orchestra Diversity Data

With all the attempts to put COVID firmly behind us, it can be tempting to lapse into a pre-pandemic view of the arts landscape in America. To do so would be a mistake: quantitative and qualitative research has shown how arts organizations of all sizes have had to adapt rapidly to new ways of engaging artists, audiences, and learners; how independent artists and performing … [Read more...] about Early Stats from the General Social Survey: How Virtual Arts Participation Fared in 2022  

In this episode, we discuss arts programming in the context of the Surgeon General’s recent advisory on loneliness and isolation. A transcript is available here. … [Read more...] about Quick Study: Arts and the Surgeon General’s Health Advisory

According to results from the 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA), 39.9 percent of U.S. adults, or 101.9 million, worked with indoor plants or gardened for pleasure in the course of a year. Despite population growth, this rate is comparable to the share of Americans who gardened five or ten years before. The consistently high rate of gardening, as a … [Read more...] about How Green Is Your Thumb? Gardening, Crafts Linked with Greater Life Satisfaction Early in Pandemic