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Header: Paul Gerrior in Krapp’s Last Tape at Cutting Ball Theater. Photo by Rob Melrose.

Theatre Bay Area Datapoint

Welcome to the Theatre Bay Area DataPoint, the one-stop source for all of the information Theatre Bay Area has collected and generated to inform the field and other interested parties. If you have questions about any of the reports generated by Theatre Bay Area, please email Clay Lord at clay-at-theatrebayarea-dot-org. Thank you!

New from the NEA -- Audience 2.0: How Technology Influences Arts Participation
Full Report
Check out this 150-page report on how audiences are using technology to experience the fine arts at home. (PDF via nea.gov)

NEW! Taking Your Fiscal Pulse - California, Spring 2010
Full Report
Using data from TCG's biannual Fiscal Pulse survey for 202 California arts organizations, Theatre Bay Area's Clay Lord has written a report on the current fiscal state of the arts in the state. This report was a co-commission with the California Theatre Network, and was supported by the California Arts Council. You can read the high-level findings in the linked press release, or delve into the full report. (PDF)
Related: Audio of "Innovating Through A Crisis" | Taking Your Fiscal Pulse (2009)

"Individual Membership/Community Survey"
This spreadsheet shows the data gathered from Theatre Bay Area's Individual Membership/Community Survey, which explored how important community as a concept was to our individual members and what we at Theatre Bay Area can provide. (PDF)

"Assessing the Intrinsic Impact of the Bay Area Free Night of Theater Program"
Final Report | Summary PowerPoint | Press Release
This report was released June 9, 2009. The work was commissioned by Theatre Bay Area thanks to a generous grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and looked at the intrinsic impact of live theatre experiences on Bay Area audiences. Over 80 theatres participated, and the final study looks at the twenty of those theatres with sample sizes large enough to analyze. This preliminary work will hopefully be expanded in future years to allow for more companies to take advantage, and to clarify the practical applications of intrinsic impact work - specifically its ability to quantify the formerly unquantifiable aesthetic experience. If you have questions about the study or would like to learn how to participate in future work, please email the project manager, Clay Lord, at clay@theatrebayarea.org.

Other Materials

"Free Night of Theater Best Practices Guide"
This 50-page guide to Free Night of Theater, written by Theatre Bay Area's Clayton Lord, covers many of the best practices discovered during the first four years of Free Night. Compiled from interviews and surveys with participants across the country, this guide was made possible by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. (PDF)

"Free Night of Theater 2008 Final Survey Report"
This report was released June 23, 2009. This work was conducted by Shugoll Research, and is the fourth year of surveying surrounding the Free Night of Theater program. The report was commissioned by Theatre Communications Group, with funding provided by Theatre Bay Area thanks to the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. (PDF)

Audio of "Innovating Through a Crisis"
A free teleconference co-hosted by Theatre Bay Area and TCG, and underwritten by the Hewlett Foundation, discussing the current financial reality and what theatre companies of various sizes are doing about it.

Taking Your Fiscal Pulse (2009)
Currently, we're spotlighting the Theatre Bay Area/TCG co-publication of Taking Your Fiscal Pulse: a report on the fiscal health of the San Francisco Bay Area theatre community. This report was released on Monday, April 27, 2009, and was made possible by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Written by Clayton Lord (Theatre Bay Area) and Christopher Shuff (TCG). You can also download a press release as either a PDF or a DOC file.

Demographic data summary (supplied by Enertex Marketing)
This Excel document provides a snapshot of the demographics of theatregoers in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was compiled as part of the Big List project. It incorporates data from over 100 Bay Area theatre companies. Compiled by Enertex Marketing.

Theatre Bay Area Constituent Survey 2008
This PDF summarizes data gathered from over 2,000 constituents of Theatre Bay Area in all parts of the field. Theatre Bay Area plans to use this information, as well as focus groups in the coming year, to reassess how we are offering, explaining and advertising our services to our membership in an effort to make our organization more transparent and useful. Written by Clayton Lord.

Free Night of Theater report 2007
This PDF showcases Free Night of Theater in the Bay Area. Written by Clayton Lord.

Other Studies

Below, we've listed some studies from the field at large that we feel should be disseminated. Theatre Bay Area takes no credit for these studies, and cannot vouch for the results (although by posting them, we are saying we think they're pretty solid.)

Arts Participation 2008: Highlights from a National Survey - The NEA just released this report on arts participation across America.

Critical Issues Facing the Arts in California - A working paper written by the James Irvine Foundation in response to research commissioned by Irvine from AEA Consulting on issues facing the arts in California.

Assessing the Intrinsic Impact of Live Performance - commissioned from WolfBrown by the Major University Presenters consortium. This paper, the first foray into intrinsic impact research, looks at 14 presenters across the country in multiple art forms.

Projected Demographics in 5 Bay Area Counties - a look at the incredible demographic change the Bay Area can expect in the next 50 or so years, prepared by Vanessa Camarena-Arredondo, Arts & Culture Program Fellow at The San Francisco Foundation.

Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the Debate about the Benefits of the Arts - commissioned from the RAND Corporation by the Wallace Foundation. This study has important policy implications for access to the arts, childhood exposure to the arts, arts advocacy, and future research on the arts. (2004)

Strategies for Sustaining Arts and Culture in the Metropolis - commissioned from the RAND Corporation by the Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. This research brief draws from an analysis of eleven metropolitan areas to develop a new framework for evaluating arts support systems, and uses it to assess Philadelphia's arts sector.

Los Angeles 2008 Market Segmentation Study - commissioned from Target Resource Group by the LA Stage Alliance. This study looks at leveraging cooperation between over 100 organizations to develop a comprehensive audience segmentation model for the Los Angeles area.

The Arts and State Governments: At Arm’s Length or Arm in Arm? – commissioned in 2006 by The Wallace Foundation as part of its State Arts Partnerships for Cultural Participation (START) initiative, this report uses case studies in Maine and Montana to show how arts agencies can effectively seek increased state government support.

Increasing Arts Demand Through Better Arts Learning – This report summarizes recent Wallace-commissioned research into “coordinated approaches” to increasing arts demand in six different cities and the policy implications that have begun to result. (2009)

Motivations Matter: Findings and Practical Implications of a National Survey of Cultural Participation – This 2005 national survey from the Urban Institute breaks down audience motivation for attending performance by discipline, providing insight into how marketers can increase participation.

Crossover: How Artists Build Careers across Commercial, Nonprofit and Community Work – The James Irvine Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Leveraging Investments in Creativity co-sponsored this study that shows that artists in a metropolitan area bolster the economy and the quality of life, valuable information for arts advocates.

An Unfinished Canvas: Arts Education in California – A Hewlett Foundation and SRI International 2007 study that revealed that schools fail to meet state standards for arts education. Also of interest are the numerous follow-up studies undertaken by the Hewlett Foundation, all under the name “An Unfinished Canvas.”

The Arts: a Competitive Advantage for California II – the 2004 follow-up to a previous study by the California Arts Council that looks at how the arts are benefiting the state as a whole.

NEA Artists in the Workforce 1990-2005 – A survey incorporating 2008 Census data looking at artists’ demographic and employment patterns, analyzing the trends and identifying areas of strength and weakness in the arts community and the general welfare of those who comprise it.

Communicating Value: Re-framing Arts and Culture Data – An RMC Research report funded by the Rockefeller Foundation that looks at how cultural data can be collected most efficiently and presented most effectively.

Investing in Creativity: A Study of the Support Structure for U.S. Artists – Conducted in 2003 by the Urban Institute, this study identifies strengths and weaknesses in support for artists, and examines how we can maximize it.

The Geography of Participation in the Arts – The NEA commissioned this 1997 study of nine different states, including California, and how they vary in arts participation rate. It also examines possible reasons for these geographic differences.