Informing change
Taking Part in the arts: survey findings from the
first 12 months
Catherine Bunting, Jennifer Godlieb, Michelle Jobson, Emily
Keaney, Anni Oskala, Adrienne Skelton
Executive summary, May 2007
D:\687318775.doc
5 February 2016
Executive summary
This report explores how people are engaging with the arts in England today,
and uses information from interviews with 28,117 adults issued between midJuly 2005 and mid-July 2006. It is based on analysis of ‘Taking Part’, a new,
continuous survey of cultural engagement commissioned by the Department for
Culture, Media and Sport in partnership with the Arts Council and other cultural
agencies.
In the light of the Arts Council’s priority of encouraging as many people as
possible, from across England’s rich cultural mix, to engage with the arts, this
report looks at who is, and isn’t, going to and taking part in the arts. We
examine the way that different groups engage, looking at factors including age,
ethnicity and region of residence. The report also gives an insight into the wider
social, economic and technological context that shapes arts engagement. We
look at the factors that may be limiting people’s involvement with artistic activity,
and the challenges and opportunities for the arts sector in countering these. We
aim to inform and stimulate readers in pursuit of our mission to put the arts at
the heart of our national life and people at the heart of the arts.
The headline findings – what are people doing?
The good news is that the arts already play a major role in our national life –
over three-quarters of the adult population engaged with the arts in some way
over the last twelve months. Two-thirds have been to an arts event (67%), over
half have participated in an arts activity (53%) – and many have done both
(43%).
2
Proportions of adults engaging with the arts in the last year
Type of arts engagement
Attended at least one event
Participated in at least one activity
Both attended and participated at least once
Did neither
%
67
53
43
23
However, there are real inequalities in the level and nature of engagement
across different parts of society.
Key findings include:

Age Engagement declines in late middle age. The percentage of
respondents who had attended an arts event in the last year increases
gradually with age from 16-54, after which it begins to decline. As well as
having lower rates of attendance, older people are also less likely to
participate in the arts. The proportion of those participating at least once is
relatively stable for those aged under 65, after which it declines to just 38%
of those aged 75 and over.

Ethnic group Those who define their ethnic group as white are more likely
to have attended and participated in arts events and activities than those
who define themselves as belonging to a Black and minority ethnic group.
Sixty-seven per cent of white respondents have attended in the last year and
54% participated, compared with 59% of respondents from Black and
minority ethnic groups attending, and 46% participating.

Social class Those in lower socio-economic groups are less likely both to
have attended arts events and participated in arts activities than those in
higher socio-economic groups. People in managerial occupations are more
than twice as likely to have been to at least one arts event than those who
have never worked.
3

Education Engagement with the arts also varies according to education
level. In comparison with the overall attendance rate for the adult population
(67%) those with either higher education (83%) or A-levels (74%) have a
higher propensity to attend than members of all other groups. Conversely,
those with no educational qualifications are less likely to attend (44%
attended at least once in the last year).

Disability People with limiting illnesses or disabilities are less likely both to
have attended arts events and to have participated in arts activities than
those without. Fifty-four per cent of those with a limiting illness or disability
attended in the last year compared with 70% of those without. The
difference between the two groups is apparent but less marked for
participatory activity: 47% and 55% respectively.

Region There are regional differences in levels of engagement. Estimated
levels of attendance range from 59% of those in the North East who
reported attending an arts event in the last year to 74% in the South West.
Patterns of participation are similarly varied, ranging from 48% of adults in
the North East and the North West participating at least once in the last
year, to 60% of those in the South West region. Generally, engagement is
highest in the Midlands and the South of England.
These key findings suggest interesting patterns of arts engagement among
particular socio-demographic groups. However, the report recognises that in
reality everyone belongs to more than one socio-demographic group and that
further in-depth analysis is required to isolate and understand the effects of
different factors. Furthermore, looking at everyone who has been to an arts
event, or who has taken part in an arts activity, is a very broad investigation and
the report finds that the detailed picture is more complex than overall trends
may suggest. There are marked differences between audiences for different
types of activity, and some types of event and activity are more popular than
others.
4
Attending theatre events is popular, for example, with 23% going to see a play
or drama in the last year, and over a quarter of respondents going to see other
types of theatre performance such as musicals or pantomime (26%). Other
events such as ballet and electronic art are less well attended, suggesting that
they attract a niche audience. Participation rates also vary across arts activities;
for instance 4% of respondents have written poetry in the last year while three
times as many have painted, drawn, or done printmaking or sculpture (13%). A
detailed breakdown of the proportions of people involved with specific activities
and going to see different types of event is contained in the main report.
To illustrate the potential uses of the data, the main report takes two art forms –
carnival and classical music – and explores the make-up of their audience in
greater depth. We find that carnival has a culturally diverse audience and is
attractive to young people, while classical music is a more niche event attracting
an older and more educated audience.
What did we learn about engaging more people?
The main report looks in some detail about what motivates people to go to, or
take part in, the arts. We also examine barriers to involvement – for both
infrequent engagers and those who aren’t engaged at all. We know that
different approaches are needed to engage these groups.
Two-thirds of people who attend an arts event relatively infrequently would like
to do so more often. For many of these people time is a major consideration –
but in spite of busy lives, a substantial proportion would be motivated to attend
more often by more relevant and interesting events closer to home, by cheaper
admission prices and by better information on what is available. In fact, a crude
calculation indicates that there may be nearly eight million adults in England
who attend the arts occasionally and would be motivated to do so more often by
factors within our control: provision, cost and content.
When it comes to active participation, lack of free time appears to be the only
major consideration for those who participate occasionally but would like to do
5
so more often. This suggests that we need to find ways to build opportunities to
participate into daily life: in the workplace, at the train station, on the streets and
in our public spaces. We also need to explore further how the arts might be
incorporated into other sorts of leisure and social activities and experiences –
art that matches how we live.
For those who are currently disengaged (particularly those in less affluent parts
of society), ‘lack of interest’ appears to be the primary barrier – the arts are not
perceived to be relevant to their lives. This is something the Arts Council needs
to explore further. Building on our experiences of programmes such as Creative
Partnerships,1 we need to reach out to places where there is currently little or
no cultural activity and work with communities to create new kinds of arts
experiences that resonate and engage.
The wider social and political climate
The main report also includes an analysis of the wider context for arts
engagement. For example, the social and economic climate is clearly important;
we found that affluence and consumer confidence seem to have an impact on
attendance at ticketed arts events. In addition, socio-demographic changes in
the UK including the changing ethnic composition and the ageing population,
may be having an impact on patterns of cultural engagement.
Alongside this, there is strong evidence of a class divide that affects social and
civic engagement. This ‘participation divide’, a key driver for public service
reform, also clearly affects attendance and participation in the arts. Our initial
descriptive statistics suggest that the greatest inequity is along socio-economic
lines – that the least affluent in society benefit least from the wide range of arts
opportunities available in this country. This presents a real challenge for arts
policy and publicly-funded arts organisations because of course these are
1
A creativity programme for schools and young people. See www.creativepartnerships.com
6
precisely the people that are intended to benefit most from public expenditure.
Any strategy for increasing public engagement with the arts should therefore
seek to reach out to the disengaged and less privileged. However, our analysis
also indicates that there are considerable numbers of people in all socioeconomic groups who do not attend or participate in the arts on a regular basis;
lack of engagement is by no means confined to the ‘socially excluded’.
Some policy questions
One of the ongoing challenges facing any public funder of the arts is to find an
appropriate balance of support for emerging, popular, ‘democratic’ forms of arts
experiences as well as the more established canon of art forms that are an
important part of our heritage. The differences between the level and nature of
engagement by young and older people are important here; an ageing
population may imply potential growth in audiences for ‘traditional’ arts events
such as classical music concerts, but what happens if today’s younger
generation, with their interests in carnival, contemporary music and dance,
electronic art and co-creation, take their tastes with them as they grow older? In
this context, ambitions around public engagement need to be considered
alongside aspirations of quality, innovation and diversity, and given appropriate
weight.
A related question is the extent to which the Arts Council and arts and cultural
organisations should strive to both shape and respond to demand. To what
extent should we invest our resources in communicating better what the arts
have to offer, to inspiring enthusiasm for and engagement with the range of arts
opportunities already available in this country? And to what extent should we
take a bottom-up approach and work with individuals and communities to
develop a whole new kind of arts experience that appeals directly to the desires
and concerns that make up people’s lives today? And how can we make best
use of emerging technology and distribution channels in addressing these
challenges?
7
The arts debate – the Arts Council’s first public value inquiry – created
opportunities for a wide range of people to share their views on these important
issues.2 The results should help to ensure that future arts policy reflects the
needs and priorities of society today. In the meantime, we know that both the
popular and the niche will continue to be important, and we should devote equal
attention to the ‘push’ and ‘pull’ sides of the engagement challenge – to
communicating better what it is that the arts have to offer and to developing the
offer itself in response to the demands and desires of current and potential
audiences and participants.
2
See www.artscouncil.org.uk/artsdebate
8
Arts Council England
14 Great Peter Street
London SW1P 3NQ
www.artscouncil.org.uk
Email: enquiries@artscouncil.org.uk
Phone: 0845 300 6200
Textphone: 020 7973 6564
Charity registration no 1036733
You can get this publication in Braille, in large print and on audio CD.
Please contact us if you need any of these formats.
Informing change. Taking Part in the arts: survey findings from the first 12
months can be downloaded from www.artscouncil.org.uk
© Arts Council England, May 2007
We are committed to being open and accessible. We welcome all comments on
our work. Please send these to Andrew Whyte, Executive Director, Advocacy
and Communications, at the Arts Council England address above.
9