SMU Launches 'Cultural Data Project', New National Center for Arts Research

SMU announced today that its Meadows School of the Arts and Cox School of Business are leading a collaboration with the Cultural Data Project (CDP) and numerous other partners to create a National Center for Arts Research (NCAR) at SMU. The center, the first of its kind in the nation, will analyze the largest database of arts research ever assembled, investigate important issues in arts management and patronage, and make its findings available to arts leaders, funders, policymakers, researchers and the general public. The vision of NCAR is to act as a catalyst for the transformation and sustainability of the national arts and cultural community.

"In today's competitive environment, arts and cultural organizations, from museums to orchestras, need to do more than create great works of art. Arts organizations must have a more research-driven understanding of their markets and industry trends in order to more deeply engage existing audiences and reach new ones," said José Bowen, dean of the Meadows School of the Arts. "As an arts school and research entity, SMU's Meadows School is uniquely positioned to not only serve as a hub for this critical data, but to apply our expertise to develop new insights that can be shared with arts organizations around the country."

The CDP, based in Philadelphia and formerly part of the Pew Charitable Trusts, collects extensive data from thousands of arts organizations in the United States. By combining and analyzing CDP data and data from other national and government sources such as the Theatre Communications Group, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Census Bureau and the National Center for Charitable Statistics, the new National Center for Arts Research will create the most complete picture of the health of the arts sector in the U.S. The goal of the center is to become the nation's leading source of expertise on: 1) arts attendance and patronage, 2) understanding how managerial decisions, arts attendance and patronage affect one another, 3) the impact of the arts on communities across the U.S., and 4) the fiscal trends and fiscal stability of the arts in the U.S.

The new collaboration will also draw on the academic expertise of Meadows and Cox faculty in the fields of arts management, marketing and statistics. Dr. Zannie Voss, chair and professor of arts management and arts entrepreneurship in the Meadows and Cox schools, will serve as NCAR's director andDr. Glenn Voss, the Marilyn R. and Leo F. Corrigan, Jr. Endowed Professor of Marketing at Cox, will serve as research director.

"The research and analysis at NCAR will result in an in-depth assessment of the industry that allows arts and cultural leaders to make more informed decisions and improve the health of their organizations," said Zannie Voss. "Findings will serve as a catalyst for discussion within the arts about how to collectively seize opportunities and address critical issues."

NCAR will maintain a website with an interactive "dashboard," created in partnership with IBM, which will be accessible to arts organizations nationwide. Arts leaders will be able to enter information about their organizations and see how they compare to the highest performance standards for similar organizations in areas such as community engagement, earned and contributed revenue, and balance sheet health. The website will also foster public discussion of best practices and solutions and offer a dedicated YouTube channel for video responses, as well as an online resource library with helpful tools and templates. Nationally prominent leaders in the arts will be invited to serve as Center Fellows, who will share expertise and focus research attention on critical issues in the field. NCAR also will publish an online "state of the arts" report each year and hold a symposium to discuss significant findings.

NCAR is able to pursue analysis of this unprecedented collation of data because a number of national partners have provided access to different types of information.

The Cultural Data Project collects data from more than 14,000 cultural organizations in 12 states and the District of Columbia about their finances, programs and operations. The CDP database enables arts and cultural organizations to enter their own financial, programmatic and operational data into a standardized online form, and then use the CDP to produce a variety of reports designed to help increase management capacity, identify strengths and challenges and inform decision-making. They can also generate reports to be included as part of the application processes to participating grantmakers.

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