Supported by NY Community Trust, New Research Ties Arts to Well-Being
Neighbors performing in a local theater form friendships. Art galleries become gathering places. Dance studios give city kids a chance to challenge themselves. We’ve long sensed that the arts improve communities. Now we have proof.
New research by the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) documents the positive effects of New York’s lively networks of cultural organizations, creative enterprises, and resident artists. The findings: These “cultural ecosystems” improve quality of life for ordinary New Yorkers.
The two-year study, by the Social Impact of the Arts Project at Penn SP2, was funded with $250,000 from the NYC Cultural Agenda Fund in The New York Community Trust...