The Impacts of Arts in the Community - Coursework Example

The Impacts of Arts in the Community Student’s Name Professor Subject University/Institution 7th April, 2012. Contents Contents 1 Abstract 4 Aims and Objectives 6 Section 2 6 Literature Review 6 Arts in improving the economic conditions of a community 7 Arts in raising environmental awareness in the community 8 Arts in increasing community cohesion, tolerance and understanding 8 Arts in preserving the community’s culture 9 Section 3: 10 Methodology 10 Method 11 Data Analysis 12 Section 4 12 Results &Discussion 12 Direct Involvement of Individuals in Arts 13 Audience Involvement in Community Arts 14 Arts Organizations in the Community 15 Section 5 16 Conclusion 16 Section 5 17 Suggested Future Research on Impacts of Arts in the Community 17 While many reports including this report tend to overly emphasis on the positive impacts of arts in the community and owing to the fact that 5% correspondents to the questionnaires polled that they could not feel the benefits of arts and the presence of art organizations in the community, there is need for research to be conducted on the negative impacts of arts in the community. For instance, one of the underlying assumption of this research is that when there are arts organizations in the community, they in turn attract tourist who spend their money in the community arts organizations and hence better pay for people from the community working in the arts organization, there is no certainty that such affluent people attracted to the community are not deviant and would not impact negatively to the community for instance erosion of cultural value of the community and hence the need for further research. 17 References 18 APPENDIX 1 19 Sample Questionnaire 19 Graph 1; 20 Abstract In response to the economic and social impacts of arts in the community at the local levels, arts continue to transform communities as a community continues to engage in arts and arts organizations. The process of arts transforming the community is in most cases viewed from the economic side as arts contributing to the improvement in the economy of the community without the regard that arts and arts organizations in the community at the local level can also bring in other impacts for instance social and cultural impacts. Therefore, the need for the overall holistic approach into the impacts of arts in the community forms the bone of contention of this research paper as the paper discusses the impacts of arts in the society based on the data drawn from the responses of respondents to questionnaires and also data collected through direct observation. Section 1 Introduction As communities seek new ways to innovate and employ arts, people are also becoming more interested in their investments in arts. Understanding the impacts of arts in the community has been a subject of debate among researchers who are interested in finding out the economic value that arts create in the community in addition to determining the social impacts that arts also create in the community for the overall benefit of capturing the holistic overview of how arts contributes to the society in general. In this regard too, the topic, impacts of arts in the community is of interest to arts stakeholders for instance the community, the government and non – governmental organizations in order to determine their future spending in funding arts projects and also supporting the arts programs. There have been various claims on the impacts of arts to the community but these claims have not been properly researched for instance the ubiquitous value of economic gain to the community that arts has been known to contribute to the community. Other values created by arts will be comprehensively tackled in the paper for instance, what value does arts create in an individual who participates in arts organizations, activities or is an artist and owing to the fact that an individual’s activities in arts aggregates to the community at large? What benefits does the community gain when arts organizations are in the hearts of the communities? This paper therefore, comprehensively covers the impacts of arts in the community. Aims and Objectives To investigate the mechanisms through which arts contributes to social capital and draws people together in arts activities and hence community cohesion. To contribute knowledge on how various artistic inputs in the community increases connection in the community through the community gaining a sense of pride. To give reasons as to how community arts creates avenues that are a major investment opportunity for others who may be drawn to the community through its artistic work and hence the impact of arts in the community. To draw reasons as to why arts is important in the community through achievement of the outcomes of the aims identified above. Section 2 Literature Review Literature review refers to the review of what other writers have written in regard to the subject of study and hence the method that is adopted by the study for literature review is the analysis of extant literature whereby literature on the impacts of arts in the community drew from the various extant articles by other researchers. The rationale for the chosen method of literature review on this study is based on the fact that there have not been a universally accepted method of conducting research on the impacts of arts in the community more so the social impacts of arts in the community and which the paper encompasses both the economic and social impacts of arts in the community and also, the need for the paper to adopt a more specific approach in literature review. This is because when measuring impacts a certain activity may have on the community, it is a subjective and a complex subject in the context of the community. A total of 3 articles have been used in this paper for literature review, two of which are drawn from Australia and one from U.S.A. Therefore, the literature review for this paper will take the form of an annotated bibliography. The articles are however confined to a period of 2004 - 2009. However, it is not within the scope of this paper and the papers that are reviewed in writing this report to discuss policies adopted by the government relating to the social impacts of arts in the community. Article 1: Dunphy, K. (2009). Developing and Revitalizing Rural Communities through Arts and Creativity. Cultural Development Network, Victoria, Australia. Prepared for the Creative City Network of Canada, March 2009, Accessed from http://www.culturaldevelopment.net.au/downloads/RuralCommunities_KimDunphy.pdf The article emphasizes on the importance of arts to contributing to the community wellbeing more so communities in Australia that are considered rural and cut off from access to roads and other important services that collectively contribute to community’s wellbeing. While the author acknowledges that arts can no doubt impact on the community and create positive impacts to the community, the author acknowledges that there has been little research into this field of study but this has not underestimated the growth of arts in the community. The major findings of the paper as to the contribution of arts in the community are as follows; Arts in improving the economic conditions of a community Many people view arts contributing to the community in economic terms especially economic geographers and economists. Government in addition has been drawn by the economic prosperity of arts in the community into investigating the economic impacts of arts in the community. Arts play a major role in community’s economies through creation of job opportunities for the locals. For instance, the presence of arts organization for instance a museum, the locals can easily find jobs in such an organization. Other benefits that are realized by arts in the community include business growth for instance the presence of supporting industries in the community for instance banks to serve the needs of tourists who come to visit arts organizations in the community (Dunphy, 2009, pp. 3). Arts in raising environmental awareness in the community The presence of artists in the community and the community involvement in arts activities through its members does not necessarily make an impact in the community to happen but nonetheless contribute to the impact being felt in the community. Through this, the author of the article also ascertains that arts can play a major role in sustaining the environment of the community through artist’s performing arts and coming up with visual arts that are geared towards informing people on how to sustain the environment at large. Arts projects can also be used to mobilize the community in raising or increasing awareness for the need of the community to conserve the environment and also increase the chances of community regeneration and cohesion through collaborative participation of the community in such projects (Dunphy, 2009). Arts in this sense is seen as an avenue through which people are able to express themselves and through this expressions in arts, the community can learn to understand one another and hence tolerance. Arts in increasing community cohesion, tolerance and understanding Participation of the community in arts organizations also provides an avenue through which community’s cohesion is enhanced. Arts collectively contribute to community cohesion through creation of tolerance and developing understanding among community members (Dunphy, 2009). Arts are considered to be an avenue through which communities can engage in civic activities and for arts a tool through which the community communicates their decisions for instance to the government. Arts in preserving the community’s culture Apart from the economic and social impacts of arts and arts being a tool through which the community communicates to the relevant authorities, it is also the avenue through which culture of a community is preserved. In addition, a community discovers its identity through its artistic expressions. Article 2: Kelly, L. (2006). Measuring the Impact of Museums on their Communities: The Role of the 21st Century Museum. Conference paper. The rationale for choosing the paper is that the paper deals with the presence of arts organizations in the communities. The paper used the case study approach whereby 3 museums were selected for conducting the research in such a way that there was a metropolitan museum that was within the city of Sydney, a regional museum and a museum that has been established through the efforts of the indigenous community (Kelly, 2006, pp.2). The benefits reported to be created through the presence of arts organizations in the community include improved social benefit to an individual through participation in arts organizations, improved interaction of the individual in the community and hence community cohesion, individual’s enhancement of the sense of belonging in the community and provision of job opportunities (Kelly, 2006, pp.6). The value created to the community by the presence of arts museums (arts organizations) in the community includes, the presence of auxiliary services for instance banks, increased tourists visits to the community, community cohesion and integration created through the community involvement in arts activities and creation of a sense of pride in the community among other benefits created to the community. The paper therefore shows the reciprocal relationship between museums and individuals in creating value to the community. Article 3: Claussen, K. (2004). Creative Community Development: A Look at how Community – Based Art Organizations Contribute to Community Development. Equitable Sustainable Community Development, Soc 370, Term Paper. The paper considers arts and arts organizations to be an integral part of the community for arts are a strong tool through which stronger communities are realized. The key emphasis on the paper for the impacts of arts in the community cements the ideas that arts improves the community’s social networks by bringing people together, builds relationships in the community and creates a sense of togetherness in the community among other impacts of arts in the community. For instance, when people engage in arts activities, they do so as one and this enhances their togetherness as a community (Claussen, 2004, pp.3). To conclude on the literature review, undisputed evidence shows that arts no doubt impacts on the community with many people arguing on the economic impacts of arts in the community (Claussen, 2004, pp. 5). In addition, people also tend to miss an important aspect of arts in the community which is not attributed to the finances of the community but the way arts contribute to creative, stable and positive community. Section 3: Methodology Methodology involves the method of data collection for the study which is supplemented through by the existing findings through the review of the articles that have been used for the literature review. Method The methodology used in this paper includes use of questionnaires. The methods was used concurrently since no method was satisfactory on its own and hence by using the two methodology approaches, there was a deeper understanding of the multidimensional outcome of the social impacts of arts in the community. The participants were randomly selected from the community and included 51 residents in the community, 32 of whom were females and 19 were males. Out of the 32 females, 12 were artists involved in arts and out of the 19 males, 8 were also artists. The other 31 participants to the questionnaires were the residents of the community to which the impact of arts in the community was being studied. The questionnaires were similar for the participants and the participants were ethically requested to participate in the study through a meeting that was held in the community where the participants were informed to give their consent and that they would be participating in the study through filing out the questionnaires. Participant observation involves the researcher to be wholly involved as part and puzzle of the research and hence participate directly in the research. This included, participating in the community arts activities and also performing some activities in the arts organizations. This method of data collection, allowed the researcher to collect first hand information on the impacts of arts in the community as the experience for instance when reporting on the benefits that accrue on the individual as a result of participating in arts activities was personal. The participants were drawn metropolitan region which is in the western region of Sydney city. The Metropolitan Region serves an average 150,000 people. Data Analysis 95% of those who participated in filling out the questionnaires polled in favor of arts impacting in the community in a positive way that is there were in favor of arts and arts organizations in the community. The respondents cited community cohesion through involvements in arts activities, economic gains to the artists in the community and the community at large through selling of artistic works to tourists visiting the community and sprouting of supporting services like banks as a result of presence of arts organization in the community as some of the benefits. The other 5% were not sure of how arts can bring economic gains to artists citing some factors like the change in culture of people and therefore what may seem like a nice piece of art work to a certain individual may not be the same to someone else. In addition, in regard to the economic benefit the community can gain from arts, the 5% who filled otherwise to the questionnaires believed that the economic benefit to the community has to be tangible benefits and not supporting services. The analysis is indicated in the graph 1 in the appendix section; All the artists respondents unanimously responded “yes” to questions regarding whether arts has any benefits to the community and whether there were any economic benefits of arts to artists. Section 4 Results &Discussion While there is a degree of overlap between the findings of the research, generally all the respondents seemed to have felt that arts impacts positively in the community with a few who felt otherwise and it was established that those who felt that arts had no impact in the society did so because they believed that they could not actually feel the benefits. From the questionnaires it was evident that the respondents both the artists and the general respondents from the community felt that the impacts of arts in the community could be classified under the following categories, material outcomes, economic impacts, social impacts and cultural impacts. However, these impacts were either felt by the artists themselves, the community at large through direct involvement in the arts organizations or activities or were brought about by the presence of arts organizations in the community. Therefore, the discussion as a result of this study will be divided into direct involvement of individuals in arts, audience involvement in community arts and arts organizations in the community in order to clearly assess whether the objectives of the research paper have been met. Direct Involvement of Individuals in Arts Among the material gains or outcomes cited by individuals who were directly involved in arts (artists) was that arts provides an opportunity to the individual to volunteer in the community. For instance, through the literature review, it is evident that arts can be sued to raise environmental issues in the community through the use of the language that artists understand best; arts. Therefore artists are mobilized by their talents to contribute and volunteer to the community. Through arts, artists are also able to self express their ideas through paintings and graffiti among others. An artist conveys his/her feelings through his/her artistry work in addition to keeping the artist busy in such a way that young artists in the community have fewer chances of engaging in risky and deviant behavior (Cohen, 1994, pp. 5). In regard to economic impacts created by arts to an individual is the economic benefit that artists gain when they sell their work either to locals in the community or to tourists who come to visit such communities due their richness in arts. For instance, out of the 51 respondents to the questionnaires, 20 were artists who unanimously voted yes to arts contributing positively to the society and also arts as a way through which they earn money. Arts are also an avenue through which an artist can curve a niche of identity in the community and the world as a whole. People in the community always identify artists in respect to their work in arts. An artist’s works aggregates to the community through creation of social capital to the community. When artists participate in arts activities in the community, they draw tourists to come and visit the community and hence creation of social capital. It is also through arts that various organizations and individuals have a chance to meet and connect with one another and thus individual participation in arts creates or results to material social, economic and cultural outcomes. Audience Involvement in Community Arts The audience refers to the consumers of arts and the also the people who benefit from arts organizations in the community. Art is entertaining and hence some of the material outcomes created by arts to the audience are that arts help in relieving stress. In addition, when people gather to witness arts activities in the community and participate in them, the community gains cohesion since diverse individuals from the community are brought together through arts (Cohen, 1994, pp. 25). Economic outcomes created through audience involvement in arts include revenue which is collected from the audience as charges to arts organizations, the audience may also buy an artists’ work in arts events and those which may be displayed in arts organizations for instance in art galleries and art exhibitions. In cultural sense, artistic work and arts organizations in the communities results in the community gaining a sense of pride in their community. Another cultural aspect brought about by arts in the community is tolerance that is created among the audience, for instance, if a community is made up of different ethnic groups and there is only one art organization in that community, all the various ethnic groups making the community have to share the arts organization and hence tolerance (DiNoto, & Lawrence, 1993, pp. 16). Social outcomes created through audience involvement in arts overlaps with material outcome of community cohesion that the community gains when it involves in arts activities. Cohesion is realized through people coming together in the community to witness art activities and also work in art organizations. Arts Organizations in the Community Arts organizations whether governmental or non – governmental are the platforms through which artists in the community can practice their skills. The organizations also offer the artists grounds upon which they meet other artists and learn from them. Economic impacts brought about by arts organizations in the community includes increasing the chances of the community in participating in arts activities and hence more revenue to the community from the charges from the audience. The presence of an organized arts organization in the community increases the likelihood of arts activities in the community and hence more revenue in terms of fees. Many researchers have tempted to favor studies dealing with the economic impacts of arts in the community and hence researchers ascertain that apart from the economic benefits that artists and the community get from arts, other economic impacts of arts in the community involves the increase of the community’s attractiveness to tourists. When tourists come to visit a community when attending arts activities or visiting arts organizations in the community, they spur investment opportunities in the region for instance banks and other supporting investments that makes a community a hub for business (DiNoto, & Lawrence, 1993, pp. 45). Cultural outcomes brought about by arts in the community involve the improvement of the community image and also the status. For instance, some communities are identified by their ornaments and hence they gain their identity and image in ornaments. Presence of arts organizations in the community creates a place where youths who are talented can showcase their artistic work and hence helps in reducing the chances of such young people in engaging in deviant behaviors for the youth will engage in positive activities in arts and this is made possible through the presence of arts organizations in the community. Section 5 Conclusion Through the research findings in this paper, undisputed evidence shows that arts impacts in the community through material outcomes created to the individuals and community at large, cultural outcomes, social and economic outcomes. The paper has also gone further in showing that when the topic of impacts of arts in the community is the subject of discussion, economic outcomes are not the only positive outcomes of arts in the community for social and cultural outcomes which are mostly ignored are also among the impacts of arts in the community. Section 5 Suggested Future Research on Impacts of Arts in the Community While many reports including this report tend to overly emphasis on the positive impacts of arts in the community and owing to the fact that 5% correspondents to the questionnaires polled that they could not feel the benefits of arts and the presence of art organizations in the community, there is need for research to be conducted on the negative impacts of arts in the community. For instance, one of the underlying assumption of this research is that when there are arts organizations in the community, they in turn attract tourist who spend their money in the community arts organizations and hence better pay for people from the community working in the arts organization, there is no certainty that such affluent people attracted to the community are not deviant and would not impact negatively to the community for instance erosion of cultural value of the community and hence the need for further research. References Claussen, K. (2004). Creative Community Development: A Look at how Community – Based Art Organizations Contribute to Community Development. Equitable Sustainable Community Development, Soc 370, Term Paper. Cohen, R. (1994). Arts in the local economy: final report. Washington: National Assembly Local Arts Agencies. DiNoto, M. J. & Lawrence, H. M. (1993). "Small Economy Estimates of the Impact of the Arts." Journal of Cultural Economics 17:41-54 Dunphy, K. (2009). Developing and Revitalizing Rural Communities through Arts and Creativity. Cultural Development Network, Victoria, Australia. Prepared for the Creative City Network of Canada, March 2009, Accessed from http://www.culturaldevelopment.net.au/downloads/RuralCommunities_KimDunphy.pdf Kelly, L. (2006). Measuring the Impact of Museums on their Communities: The Role of the 21st Century Museum. Conference paper. APPENDIX 1 Sample Questionnaire 1. What are some of the benefits that arts create to an individual who actively engages in arts activities and organizations in the community? 2. Apart from the economic benefits that artists gain when they sell their artistry work to tourists and the community at large, are there any other benefits that artists gain from arts? 3. Does the audience benefit from the presence of arts organizations and also arts activities in the community? 4. If yes, how does the audience benefit from such activities? 5. Do arts contribute to community cohesion? 6. If yes, how do arts contribute to community cohesion? 7. In light of globalization, what is the future of arts in the community? Graph 1; Key Blue: 95% in favor of arts and arts organization in the community Red: 5% against arts and arts organizations in the community Read More

The rationale for the chosen method of literature review on this study is based on the fact that there have not been a universally accepted method of conducting research on the impacts of arts in the community more so the social impacts of arts in the community and which the paper encompasses both the economic and social impacts of arts in the community and also, the need for the paper to adopt a more specific approach in literature review. This is because when measuring impacts a certain activity may have on the community, it is a subjective and a complex subject in the context of the community.

A total of 3 articles have been used in this paper for literature review, two of which are drawn from Australia and one from U.S.A. Therefore, the literature review for this paper will take the form of an annotated bibliography. The articles are however confined to a period of 2004 - 2009. However, it is not within the scope of this paper and the papers that are reviewed in writing this report to discuss policies adopted by the government relating to the social impacts of arts in the community.

Article 1: Dunphy, K. (2009). Developing and Revitalizing Rural Communities through Arts and Creativity. Cultural Development Network, Victoria, Australia. Prepared for the Creative City Network of Canada, March 2009, Accessed from http://www.culturaldevelopment.net.au/downloads/RuralCommunities_KimDunphy.pdf The article emphasizes on the importance of arts to contributing to the community wellbeing more so communities in Australia that are considered rural and cut off from access to roads and other important services that collectively contribute to community’s wellbeing.

While the author acknowledges that arts can no doubt impact on the community and create positive impacts to the community, the author acknowledges that there has been little research into this field of study but this has not underestimated the growth of arts in the community. The major findings of the paper as to the contribution of arts in the community are as follows; Arts in improving the economic conditions of a community Many people view arts contributing to the community in economic terms especially economic geographers and economists.

Government in addition has been drawn by the economic prosperity of arts in the community into investigating the economic impacts of arts in the community. Arts play a major role in community’s economies through creation of job opportunities for the locals. For instance, the presence of arts organization for instance a museum, the locals can easily find jobs in such an organization. Other benefits that are realized by arts in the community include business growth for instance the presence of supporting industries in the community for instance banks to serve the needs of tourists who come to visit arts organizations in the community (Dunphy, 2009, pp. 3). Arts in raising environmental awareness in the community The presence of artists in the community and the community involvement in arts activities through its members does not necessarily make an impact in the community to happen but nonetheless contribute to the impact being felt in the community.

Through this, the author of the article also ascertains that arts can play a major role in sustaining the environment of the community through artist’s performing arts and coming up with visual arts that are geared towards informing people on how to sustain the environment at large. Arts projects can also be used to mobilize the community in raising or increasing awareness for the need of the community to conserve the environment and also increase the chances of community regeneration and cohesion through collaborative participation of the community in such projects (Dunphy, 2009).

Arts in this sense is seen as an avenue through which people are able to express themselves and through this expressions in arts, the community can learn to understand one another and hence tolerance. Arts in increasing community cohesion, tolerance and understanding Participation of the community in arts organizations also provides an avenue through which community’s cohesion is enhanced.

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