scholarly journals Predictors and impact of arts engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic: analyses of data from 19,384 adults in the COVID-19 Social Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hei Wan Mak ◽  
Meg Fluharty ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Coping Styles ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Network Size ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Home Based ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Arts Engagement

Objectives. The global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 heavily affected the arts and creative industries due to the instigation of lockdown measures in the UK and closure of venues. However, it also provided new opportunities for arts and cultural engagement through virtual activities and streamed performances. Yet it remains unclear (i) who was likely to engage with the arts at home during lockdown, (ii) how this engagement differed from patterns of arts engagement prior to COVID-19, and (iii) whether home-based arts engagement was related to people’s ability to cope with their emotions during lockdown. This study was therefore designed to address these questions. Methods. We used data collected in late May from the UK COVID-19 Social Study run by University College London. Multivariate regressions were used for the analysis (N=19,384). Identified confounders included demographic factors, socio-economic position, psychosocial wellbeing and health conditions, adverse events/worries, and coping styles.Results. Four types of home-based arts engagement were identified during the COVID-19 pandemic: digital arts & writing, performing arts, crafts, and reading for pleasure. Our results show that the strongest predictors of the engagement were age, education levels, social support, social network size, and trait emotion-focused or supportive coping styles. In particular, younger adults (aged 18-29), non-keyworkers, people with greater social support, and those with a trait emotion-focused coping style were more likely to have increased arts engagement during lockdown. Arts activities were used as approach and avoidance strategies to help cope with emotions, as well as to help improve self-development. Conclusions. Overall, our study suggests that some people who engaged in the arts during the COVID-19 pandemic were those who typically engage under normal circumstances. However, there were also some heterogeneity across social, cultural and economic groups when comparing normal circumstances and the pandemic. Additionally, this study highlights the value of the arts as coping tools during stressful situations.

scholarly journals Predictors and Impact of Arts Engagement During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analyses of Data From 19,384 Adults in the COVID-19 Social Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hei Wan Mak ◽  
Meg Fluharty ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Coping Styles ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Psychosocial Wellbeing ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Arts Engagement

ObjectivesThe global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 heavily affected the arts and creative industries due to the instigation of lockdown measures in the United Kingdom and closure of venues. However, it also provided new opportunities for arts and cultural engagement through virtual activities and streamed performances. Yet it remains unclear (i) who was likely to engage with the arts at home during lockdown, (ii) how this engagement differed from patterns of arts engagement prior to COVID-19, and (iii) whether home-based arts engagement was related to people’s ability to cope with their emotions during lockdown. This study was therefore designed to address these questions.MethodsWe used data collected in late May from the United Kingdom COVID-19 Social Study run by University College London. Multivariate regressions were used for the analysis (N = 19,384). Identified factors included demographic factors, socio-economic position, psychosocial wellbeing and health conditions, adverse events/worries, and coping styles.ResultsFour types of home-based arts engagement were identified during the COVID-19 pandemic: digital arts and writing, musical activities, crafts, and reading for pleasure. Our results show that the strongest predictors of the engagement were age, education attainment, social support, and emotion-focused or supportive coping styles. In particular, younger adults (aged 18–29), non-keyworkers, people with greater social support, people who had lost work, those who were worried about catching the virus, and those with an emotion-focused, problem-focused or supportive coping style were more likely to have increased arts engagement during lockdown. Arts activities were used as approach and avoidance strategies to help cope with emotions, as well as to help improve self-development.ConclusionOverall, our study suggests that while some people who engaged in the arts during the COVID-19 pandemic were those who typically engage under normal circumstances, the pandemic has also created new incentives and opportunities for others to engage virtually. Additionally, this study highlights the value of the arts as coping tools during stressful situations.

scholarly journals Longitudinal changes in home-based arts engagement during and following the first national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feifei Bu ◽  
Hei Wan Mak ◽  
Jessica K Bone ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Social Study ◽  
Growth Trajectories ◽  
Health Campaigns ◽  
Longitudinal Changes ◽  
Growth Mixture ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Public Health Campaigns ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Arts Engagement ◽  
Over Time

Aims: This study aimed to examine potential heterogeneity in longitudinal changes in home-based arts engagement during the first national lockdown and following gradual easing of restrictions in the UK. Further, it sought to explore factors that were associated with patterns of longitudinal changes in home-based arts engagement. Methods: Data were from the UCL COVID-19 Social Study. The analytical sample consisted of 29,147 adults in the UK who were followed up for 22 weeks from 21st March to 21st August 2020. Data were analysed using growth mixture models. Results: Our analyses identified five classes of growth trajectories. There were two stable classes showing little change in arts engagement over time (64.4% in total), two classes showing initial increases in arts engagement followed by declines as restrictions were eased (29.8%), and one class showing slight declines during strict lockdown followed by an increase in arts engagement after the easing of restrictions (5.9%). A range of factors were found to be associated with class membership of these arts engagement trajectories, such as age, gender, education, income, employment status, and health. Conclusions: There is substantial heterogeneity in longitudinal changes in home-based arts engagement. For participants whose engagement changed over time, growth trajectories of arts engagement were related to changes in lockdown measures. These findings suggest that some individuals may have drawn on the arts when they needed them the most, such as during the strict lockdown period, even if they usually had lower levels of arts engagement before the pandemic. Overall, our results indicate the importance of promoting arts engagement during pandemics and periods of lockdown as part of public health campaigns.

scholarly journals The Arts as a Catalyst for Human Prosociality and Cooperation

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 664-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Van de Vyver ◽  
Dominic Abrams
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Charitable Giving ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Sustainable Society ◽  
Longitudinal Sample ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Arts Engagement

We tested the hypothesis that engagement in the arts may act as a catalyst that promotes prosocial cooperation. Using “Understanding Society” data (a nationally representative longitudinal sample of 30,476 people in the UK), we find that beyond major personality traits, demographic variables, wealth, education, and engagement in other social activity (sports), people’s greater engagement with the arts predicts greater prosociality (volunteering and charitable giving) over a period of 2 years. The predictive effect of prosociality on subsequent arts engagement is significantly weaker. The evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that the arts provide an important vehicle for facilitating a cohesive and sustainable society. Fostering a society in which engagement in the arts is encouraged and accessible to all may provide an important counter to economic, cultural, and political fracture and division.

scholarly journals A dramatic existence: Undergraduate preparations for a creative life in the performance industries

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 272-283
Author(s):  
Rachel Delta Higdon ◽  
Kate Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Performing Arts ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Creative Arts ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The University ◽  
Creative Life

This article focuses specifically on drama and theatre higher education (HE) programmes and preparation for potential graduate work. The article investigates working in the creative industries and in the performing arts (particularly within acting) and how HE students in the United Kingdom prepare for this life. The growth of the creative industries and successful applied drama in the public and private sectors has also brought business interest in how drama and theatre processes can benefit other workplaces, outside of the creative arts. The article addresses current policy, initiatives and partnerships to broaden inclusion and access to creative work. The research explores drama undergraduate degrees and the university’s role in supporting a successful transition from HE to graduate work. Students perceive the university world as safe and the graduate world as precarious and unsafe. The research findings have resonance with other undergraduate degrees, outside of the arts and the role the university plays in student transitions from the university to the graduate environment.

Culture Matters: Cuts and Resistance

2020 ◽  
pp. 59-72
Author(s):  
Ingrid von Rosenberg
Keyword(s):  
Performing Arts ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Grass Root ◽  
Cultural Agency ◽  
Political Groups ◽  
Financial Losses

The chapter focuses on the cuts administered since 2010 in the fields of literature, music, visual arts, film and performing arts, and their teaching to the young. Budget constraints have led to the closure of numerous essential institutions, such as theatres, libraries and youth centres, museums and art galleries. The chapter looks at significant sectors and examines the social consequences of their financial losses, starting with the relatively modest cuts for prestigious national institutions and the ‘creative industries’ and moving on to the disastrously major ones for the local councils and the Arts Council England. Forms of resistance are analysed as a means to reclaim cultural agency, ranging from grass-root activities to Labour Party opposition. In several cases volunteers and philanthropists have stepped in to keep institutions running, while individual celebrities and political groups have publicly voiced protest, sometimes with spectacular actions.

scholarly journals European Creativity and Urban Regeneration

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Ana Oliveira ◽  
Fernando Paulino
Keyword(s):  
Performing Arts ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Art Galleries ◽  
Creative City ◽  
Ultimate Objective ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Post Industrial ◽  
Industrial Societies

<p class="Corpo">Since the end of the 1980s, in the light of research conducted by Charles Landry that theorized and formalized the concept of the Creative City, Creativity, along with other economic activities, has been considered as something that marks the life of cities.<br />Under its sign, a large part of post-industrial societies found the necessary momentum for urban and economic revitalisation, responding to the stagnation resulting from the collapse of industrial society (Albuquerque, 2006). Through the production of art and the strengthening of its cultural fabric, through the support of artists and infrastructures, Creative Industries grew and developed. Cities like Manchester, London and Liverpool saw their economy grow, the latter becoming a major cultural hub in the UK, incorporating music, performing arts, museums and art galleries, as well as an active and attractive nightlife.<br />Through a literature review focused on the key concepts and studies relating to the economic potential of Creativity, we seek to understand Creativity’s state, its impact and economic impulse and the importance of cultural policies, with the ultimate objective of understanding Creative and Cultural Industries as a secure source of sustainability for the future.</p>

scholarly journals From STEM to PAVAM: A unified arts strategy for innovation, industrial and regional policy

2021 ◽  
pp. 095042222110440
Author(s):  
Henry Etzkowitz ◽  
Leila Maria Kehl ◽  
Tatiana Schofield
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Policy Action ◽  
Arts And Sciences ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Entry Points ◽  
Comparative Case Studies ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The Uk

The potential of the arts and sciences for economic and social development is under conceptualized. However, the recent development of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), justifying increased support for training in the sciences, shows a parallel pathway forward for the arts. The arts are increasingly relevant to the economy, amenable to policy influence as well as an area of human activity in their own right. The authors posit a unified arts framework: PAVAM (performing arts, visual arts, and music), complementing STEM as the basis for a strategy of arts-based interdisciplinary “industrial” policy making. The growing salience of the arts as an industrial sector in the UK and USA is shown. By identifying sources and pathways of value creation from the arts, clear entry points for policy action become identifiable to promote innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development. Comparative case studies suggest a typology of the arts’ potential as sources of creativity, innovation, and regional economic development.

Performing Arts Creative Enterprise

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 159-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Brown
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
National Council ◽  
Artistic Practice ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Professional Artists ◽  
Cultural Entrepreneurship ◽  
Training And Support

The UK government has recently established the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) to promote entrepreneurship in higher education, across all subject disciplines. This article considers the UK government's policy initiative from the perspective of a new project supporting tutors in the performing arts sector, who are working to ‘bridge the gap’ between arts education and professional artistic practice. The article explores, in particular, fundamental issues such as: what is distinctive about cultural entrepreneurship and how can it be taught? It also discusses the role of higher education institutions in developing relationships with the creative industries sector and in developing training and support systems for aspiring professional artists.

Lower Prices Improve Diversity in the Performing Arts: Is This True and Does It Matter?

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-79
Author(s):  
FRANCESCA BORGONOVI
Keyword(s):  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Policy Option ◽  
Price Controls ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Low Income Groups ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Ticket Prices

Participation and attendance in the arts can foster social capital, economic regeneration and skill acquisition. For these reasons, encouraging greater arts participation and attendance among disadvantaged groups became part of the New Labour strategy to promote neighbourhood renewal and tackle social exclusion. It is, however, far from clear what policies are best suited to achieve the aim of greater involvement in the arts. One policy option is to award subsidies to lower admission fees. Using 14 years of data from the UK Family Expenditure Survey, the article examines whether lower prices stimulate attendance at live performances overall and among low-income groups in particular. Findings indicate that while ticket prices influence attendance generally, the response of different income groups is similar, with a 10 per cent increase in price accompanied by a 9 per cent drop in demand. This means that, while price controls may be effective in increasing overall attendance levels among all groups in the population, including among low-income groups, they may not prove adequate whenever the main aim is to reduce the gap in participation across social groups.

Exchanging Engagement: Alternative Arts Engagement in Latin America

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Matthew David Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Young People ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Winston Churchill ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practice Based Research ◽  
Social Cause ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Arts Engagement

In 1973, Eduardo Galeano (1940-2015), the Uruguayan writer and journalist concluded his seminal book Open Veins of Latin America with the following: ‘The Latin American cause is above all a social cause: the rebirth of Latin America must start with the overthrow of its masters, country by country. We are entering times of rebellion and change’ (Galeano, 1973, p. 261). As Galeano stated, the oppression of populations and the loss of lives throughout Latin America led to ‘times of rebellion and change’. Artists, activists and the wider community sought to challenge and resist autocratic regimes to seek alternative ways of upholding their democratic and human rights. These methods and practice have transcended the democratisation of the continent in the 1980s and 1990s. The desire to advocate change through the arts has continued to be radical and proposes an alternative way of being to communities in Latin America. How can this practice be transposed to benefit the personal and social development of young people in the UK?The author’s experience of working with young people and his encounters with Latin American arts practice led to a need to intertwine these practices and develop theatre as a model for social change, which engages the political and social rights of young people in the UK.The paper is a product of a six-week practice-based research project in Latin America (Chile, Argentina and Uruguay) that explored innovative arts engagement for marginalised young people. The research was undertaken as a means to develop a high quality arts provision for young people in the UK. The paper focuses on three areas: continuity, sustainability and activism, and asks the reader: How can theatre ethically engage young people in the social and political decisions that shape their society? The research was funded by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.

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