Publisher's Synopsis
In the 1990s arts policy research was a fledgling enterprise. Many issues were uninvestigated, alternative research methods were underutilized, and researchers struggled amidst limited support systems. Arts policymakers treated research either with relative indifference or as a source of pre-determined political ammunition to reinforce claims for increased public support. But the culture wars of the early 1990s awoke policymakers and foundation officials to the need for a broader base of inquiry that anticipates trends and scenarios which shape systems of creation, dissemination, and support in the arts.
Pankratz, Morris, and their contributors reflect this forward-looking spirit. They document how policy forums, foundation support, and research centers have built an arts policy community in the United States. They also show how renewed stress on the public purposes of the arts, a broadened definition of the arts sector, and technological, demographic, cultural, and social trends have presented the research community with new roles for informing policymakers. The book's provocative chapters, prepared by distinguished leaders in arts research and policy, bring fresh perspectives on how policy-sensitive knowledge can prepare artists, administrators, and policymakers to wisely meet the inevitable challenges of the arts in a new millenium. Important reading for arts administration educators and those involved with arts administration/public arts policy, arts reseachers and scholars in cultural policy, grantmakers in the arts, directors of public arts agencies at all levels, and directors of arts service organizations.
