To help overcome the existing information gap on the consumer side, the National Research Center of the Arts, at the request of the American Council for the Arts in Education, conducted a wide-ranging survey of New York State residents at the end of 1972. We believe it to be the most comprehensive study of public attitudes toward culture and the arts yet undertaken. We hope it will be the beginning of many inquiries into the relationships between the arts and the public.

A total of 1,531 personal interviews, averaging one hour and twenty minutes in length, was conducted among a representative cross section of state residents 16 years of age or older. (p. i). The survey on which this report is based, being the first extensive study of its kind, was designed to fulfill a number of interrelated functions: to take an inventory of New Yorkers' participation in the arts and to establish a basic profile of their cultural preferences; to catalogue some of the practical and psychological elements that govern their choice of arts and cultural activities; to obtain a sense of New Yorkers' own background in the arts; their opinions concerning cultural education for children today; and to determine their feelings about how the arts should be supported. But perhaps the most important function of the study was to establish how residents of New York State view the arts and culture in relation to their own lives. (p. 1) Conducted at the end of 1972, a total of 1,531 personal interviews, averaging one hour and twenty minutes in length, was conducted among a representative cross section of state residents 16 years of age older.

CONTENTS
1. Receptivity toward culture and the arts in New York State.
2. The public's views on children's exposure to culture.
3. The artistic activities of New York residents.
4. The cultural attendance and preferences of New York residents.
5. The cultural background and leisure-time interests and activities of New Yorkers.
6. Access to cultural facilities.
7. The funding of culture.
8. Conclusions.
Appendix.

 

To help overcome the existing information gap on the consumer side, the National Research Center of the Arts, at the request of the American Council for the Arts in Education, conducted a wide-ranging survey of New York State residents at the end of 1972. We believe it to be the most comprehensive study of public attitudes toward culture and the arts yet undertaken. We hope it will be the beginning of many inquiries into the relationships between the arts and the public.