In this series of briefing papers, the American Planning Association — as part of a collaborative project with the RMC Research Corporation and with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation — illustrates how planners can work with partners in the arts and culture sector and use creative strategies to achieve economic, social, environmental, and community goals.

The modern-day arts-based community development movement is founded on the belief that the arts can be a powerful agent of personal, institutional, and community change. Since its beginnings in the 1970s, the movement has grown from a very small and contained universe of intent and definition to become a widespread approach to both art making and community building.

In this paper, long-time community arts chronicler Linda Frye Burnham offers snapshots of selected projects that help capture the range of community arts projects and programs today. They are led by veteran and up-and-coming artists and cultural organizations; new forms of interdisciplinary collectives; and collaborations between arts and community agencies

In this paper, Lyz Crane draws on the work of practitioners and researchers to characterize the field of arts-based community development in which arts and culture can help achieve place-based change related to the physical, social, and economic dimensions of place.

Arizona K-12 public school principals were invited to participate in a survey about arts education in their schools. 409 school principals, representing 236,645 students, participated by reporting on their schools curriculum, instruction, funding and factors that contribute to the delivery of arts education. The census results represent 22% of all enrolled students from urban, suburban, rural and charter schools. The results of this survey reported that 80% of students have access to some sort of arts education in their school. Relatively few schools offered at least one course in three

Arizona K-12 public school principals were invited to participate in a survey about arts education in their schools. 409 school principals, representing 236,645 students, participated by reporting on their schools curriculum, instruction, funding and factors that contribute to the delivery of arts education. The census results represent 22% of all enrolled students from urban, suburban, rural and charter schools. The results of this survey reported that 80% of students have access to some sort of arts education in their school. Relatively few schools offered at least one course in three

Arizona K-12 public school principals were invited to participate in a survey about arts education in their schools. 409 school principals, representing 236,645 students, participated by reporting on their schools curriculum, instruction, funding and factors that contribute to the delivery of arts education. The census results represent 22% of all enrolled students from urban, suburban, rural and charter schools. The results of this survey reported that 80% of students have access to some sort of arts education in their school. Relatively few schools offered at least one course in three

This report offers a detailed answer to a relatively straightforward question: Do artist spaces matter, and if so how? More specifically, do they make it possible for artists to increase the amount of time they devote to art making, share equipment, engage in collaborations, and/or increase income? Do they help arts organizations financially stabilize or grow? Do they bolster neighborhood businesses? Are they linked to physical upgrades in the surrounding area? Do they help increase or stabilize property values without displacement? Are they associated with increased civic involvement,

This study began with a readily understandable impulse: to enumerate the nation’s outdoor arts festivals and to identify their shared and divergent traits, considering factors such as event programming, staffing, finances, and audience demographics.

The 2009-10 statewide assesement for Arts Education was completed in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. More than half of the districts in three of the states did not treat the arts as a core subject, and arts teachers had very high and challenging student-to-teacher ratios. Dance education barely existed except in Utah where it was more available, and Utah experienced greater increases in student participation in the arts than the other three states. Wyoming has total (school-wide) enrollment increase of 1%, average dance enrollment decreased by 8.26% and the average music enrollment