Programming in the Arts: an Impact Evaluation. INSTITUTION Far West Lab
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 229 287 SO 014 496* AUTHOR Shapiro, Karen; And Others TITLE Programming in the Arts: An Impact Evaluation. INSTITUTION Far West Lab. for Educational Research and Davelopment, San Francisco, Calif. SPONS AGENCY National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 1 Sep 80 NOTE 271p.; Some pages in the Appendices may not reproduce clearly due' to small and broken print type. PUB TYPE Reports Evaluative/Feasibility (142) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC11 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Artists; Audiences; Cultural Activities; Cultural Enrichment; Financial Support; *Fine Arts; Fund Raising; History; Mass Media; Organizations (Groups); *Program Evaluation IDENTIFIERS -*Programming in the Arts ABSTRACT To assess the impact of Programming in the Arts (PITA), a funding category of the National Endowment for the Arts, personal interviews were conducted with 225 individuals in 13 cities, and archival material (e.g., project'proposals and final reports) and secondary data sources (e.g. Nielsen ratings) were analyzed. PITA supports television, film, video and radio programs on theearts, and has made major grants to such series as Live from Lincoln Center. The evaluation report consists of seven chapters. Chapter 1 provides an historical context for PITA and describes the major PITA funded ,series and specials. The quality and accomplishments of the series and specials and their promotion and distribution histories are discussed in chapters 2 and 3 respectively. Financial, technological, . production, and programming impacts of PITA on the media are examined in chapter 4. The financial and creative impacts, as well as indirect impacts, of PITA as reported by artists and art organizations and disciplines are reported in chapters 5 and 6. A summary is provided in chapter 7. Appendices describe the major series and research design and methodology, contain the interview instrument, and list the interviewees. (RM) ******************************************************--**************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** 14, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERICI This document aas been reproduced as received from the person or orgendation originating it 11 Minor changes hav ben :nad to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this docu ment do not Icessanly represent official N1E position or policy PROGRAMMING IN THE ARTS: AN IMPACT EVALUATION by Karen Shapiro Donna Lloyd-Kolkin Debra Lieberman Sol Katzman Beth Hall submitted to the NationalEndowment for the Arts September 1, 1980 Research and Development Far West Laboratory for Educational San Francisco, CA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Far West Laboratory for EducationalResearch and Development conducted from Programming a three-month post-hocevaluation of the impact of support in the Arts (PITA), a funding categorywithin the Media Arts program at the National Endowment for the Arts. Interviews were conducted in personwith 225 individuals in 13 cities to assessthe impact of PITA en artists, onthe media, and on arts organizations and thearts disciplines. Archival material and and secondary data sources includingA.C. Nielsen ratings were reviewed analyzed. The major findings are presented below. PITA Funding Pattern / support media projects - Between 1972 and 1979, PITA funds to amounted to $11,213,784. Sixty-three percent (63%) of these funds were granted to broadcastorganizations with more than half of these funds awarded to twoof the 269 public television of PITA funds for stations. Arts organizations received 19% media projects; 11% was awarded toindependent artists, filmmakers and production companies, and 7%of the funds were granted to schools and other recipients. 4, Beginning in 1974, PITA be9anconcentrating its funds in support - public radio series. of five majorpublic television series and.one (69%) Suppoft of these majorset-16es amounted to over two-thirds of PITA funds between 1972 and,1979. 0 extensively supported by PITAhas - The type of programs most been performance programs(71%). Funding for projects is done on amatching basis. Many smaller - completed projects which received fundingfrom PITA have not been projects in due to insufficient funds. The difficulty,for these has been raising additional funds suggeststhat Endowment support essential for the media arts. Quality of Funded Projects performing arts series --LIVE FROM - The quality of the major LINCOLN CENTER, LIVE FROM THEMET, and DANCE IN AMERICA was rated very highly by most respondents: VISIONS received mixed divided ratings with many respondentsadmiring its concept but _ series has been about its execution.The high quality of these recognized by the conferral of severalEmmy and Peabody Awards and the TV Critics Circle Award, amongothers. projects had achieved a - Respondents did not feel that PITA "fusion of media and art," although manypraised the PITA major series for innovativenessand technological and production breakthroughs. Proqram Distribution - Those programs funded'by PITA which have beenbroadcast nationally on PBS are more likely to find anaudience than , tho§e not broadcast nationally. Series attract higher' audiences than specials. - Programs on public broadcasting which have beenpromoted are more likely to achieve higher audiencesthan programs which have not been promoted. Many respondents in the media called for more funding for promotional efforts. - The cost to PITA per viewer has ranged across themajor series from 2¢ per viewer for LIVE FROM LINCOLNCENTER to 16¢ per viewer for VISIONS. - SoMe secondary distribution of PITA programshas occurred, primarily sales to schools and libraries, andinternational broadcasts. Size and Nature of Audience The audiences for each program in the majorperforming arts series funded by PITA have been well over amillion people. The audience for these programs ispredominantly femele and over 50 years of age. funded by PITA are - Major performing arts series on television reaching audiences older and broader intheir socio-economic characteristics thaCaudiences at liveperforming arts events. Impacts on the Arts who were broadcast - Participating arts organizations and artists nationally benefitted from PITA supportby building audiences and gaining in credibility. Artists and technicians derivedincome from ancillary product sales, and artsorganizations were able to increase membership. PITA impacted on non- -, Support of performing arts on television by participating artists and arts organizationsby creating new audiences for local arts organizadons,increasing their interest in appearing in television,communicating standards of excellence and creating a more excitingenvironment in which artists and arts organizations can thrive. Impacts on the Media - PITA support has impacted the public broaddasting media.by' , providing necessary monies to support arts programming which has in turn attracted new audiences, other funders, and public contributions to programs and local stations. - Arts programming is currently being developed by local public broadcasting stations and commercial stations. Arts programming for cable services is planned. - Technical innovations, developed with the support of PITA among other funders, have been adopted.by public and commercial television producers for the live coverage of arts events. - Additional arts programming is under development at manylocal stations despite a lack of experiencedlocally-liased performing arts producers. Laltig Policies -'PITA staff and the Endowment were highly praised by respondents for their non-interference in the creative andbroadcasting " process. National public television organizations andother funders regard PITA as a cooperative partner. - PITA will face hard decisions duting the Eightiesabout the size of grants and their funding policies. Issues which emerged during the evaluation concerned who shallreceive funding? at what revels? and based on whichcriteria? Distrpution ts an area in which the Endowment is being encouraged to take a leadership role. PM. iv ACKNOWLEDGE T * The evaluation team for this projectwishes to extend its thanks and appreciation to the 225 individuals acrossthe natipn who. tookthe-time to J provide their thoughtful, and oftenthought-provoking answer our questions and / made the opinions to this study. Their cooperation, enthusiasm and interest ., project ajoy to work on. Special thanks are also extended to LawrenceWilkinson, KQED, San Francisco who so patiently explainedthe intricacies of public broadcasting again,and again and who Was alwaysavailable to answer question§ and clear up Gross Davis of the Evaluation miscohceptions. Drs. Michael Scriven and Barbara Institute at the University of San Franciscowillingly gave of their time and expertise to the study. East but not least, a special noteof thanks to and running, ... ,Research Assistant Jocelyn Coblenzwho kept the project organize4 . coordinated field interviews, and provided acheerful countenance whenever deadlines loomed and tempers frayed. , . * PREFACE: THE STUDY IN BRIEF In December, 1979, the Evaluation Division of the NationalEndowment for the Arts (NEA) contracted Far West Laboratory for EducationalResearch and De- velopment, San Francisco, to conduct an evaluktion of the impact of support , granted by the Programming in theA'rts fUnding category of thd Mddia Arts pro- . gram at the Endowment. Programming