Arts Education in America: What the Declines Mean for Arts Participation

This report investigates the relationship between arts education and arts participation and examines long-term declines in Americans’ reported rates of arts learning.  Surveys conducted for the National Endowment for the Arts, have shown a steady decline in the rates of adult attendance at most “benchmark” arts events — specifically, classical music and jazz concerts, musical and non-musical plays, opera, and ballet performances — as well as declines in other forms of adult arts participation, including personal creation or performance of art and adult arts education — since 1982. The reasons for these declines, and potential strategies to mitigate or reverse them, are of vital importance to American artists, cultural policymakers, arts organizations, and other stakeholders concerned about the future of American culture.