AP: WASHINGTON, DC - People who participate in the arts, even if only reading literature, are twice as likely to volunteer in their communities as those who don’t, according to a new study released Wednesday.
The study by the National Endowment for the Arts is the first to measure the connection between arts and civic engagement. It found that 51 percent of people who regularly visited art museums, plays or concerts also did volunteer work, compared 19 percent of the non-attendees. (emphasis added - CHANGE)
Literary readers also were active in their communities, with 43 percent volunteering compared to 16.4 percent of nonreaders.
“Healthy communities depend on active and involved citizens,” said Dana Gioia, who chairs the NEA. “The arts play an irreplaceable role in producing both those citizens and those communities.”
The report was based on information from the 2002 NEA Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, which interviewed 17,135 people age 18 and older about their activities in a 12-month period.
It also found:
- Readers and arts participants exercise at nearly twice the rate of those who don’t. They also are more likely to engage in outdoor activities such as camping, hiking or canoeing.
- Literary reading among younger adults has dropped dramatically. While adults aged 18 to 34 had the highest reading rate among all adult age categories in 1982, today they have the lowest rate among adults under 65.
- Performing arts attendance by young adults is waning. For example, nearly 16 percent of young adults attended a jazz concert in 1982, but by 2002 this rate dropped to less than 11 percent.
“A red flag in this report is that many younger Americans are surrendering these valuable engagements,” said Jonathan Katz, CEO of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, in the report.
“It will be the job of everyone, not just the arts sector, to win them back to the arts, back to education, and back to civic activity,” he said. (emphasis added - CHANGE)
The study can be found at:
