Gifts of the Muse Reframing the Debate about the Benefits of the Arts

by McCarthy, Kevin F.

• ISBN13: 9780833036940
• ISBN10: 0833036947
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-07
• Publisher: RAND Corporation

Summary

This study offers a new framework for understanding how the arts create private and public value, highlights the importance of the arts intrinsic benefits and indentifies how both instrumental and instrinsic benefits are created.

Table of Contents

Preface	iii
Figures	ix
Summary	xi
Acknowledgments	xix
Introduction	1	(6)
Study Approach	2	(3)
Report Overview	5	(2)
Instrumental Benefits: What Research Tells Us---And What It Does Not	7	(14)
Cognitive Benefits	8	(2)
Types of Benefits and Populations Studied	8	(1)
Types of Arts Involvement	8	(1)
Methods	9	(1)
Attitudinal and Behavioral Benefits	10	(2)
Types of Benefits and Populations Studied	10	(1)
Types of Arts Involvement	11	(1)
Methods	12	(1)
Health Benefits	12	(2)
Types of Benefits and Populations Studied	12	(1)
Types of Arts Involvement	13	(1)
Methods	13	(1)
Community-Level Social Benefits	14	(2)
Types of Benefits	14	(1)
Types of Arts Involvement	15	(1)
Methods	15	(1)
Economic Benefits	16	(3)
Types of Benefits	16	(1)
Methods	17	(2)
Evaluation of the Literature	19	(2)
Instrumental Benefits: Getting More Specific	21	(16)
Creating Benefits to Individuals	21	(7)
Arts-Rich School Environment and Associated Benefits	23	(1)
Arts Used as Pedagogical Tool and Associated Benefits	24	(1)
Arts as a Means of Teaching Non-Arts Subjects	25	(1)
Direct Instruction in the Arts and Associated Benefits	26	(2)
Creating Benefits to Communities	28	(5)
Social Benefits	28	(3)
Economic Benefits: Why They Are a Special Case	31	(2)
Conclusions	33	(4)
Individual-Level Benefits	33	(1)
Community-Level Benefits	34	(3)
Intrinsic Benefits: The Missing Link	37	(16)
Approach	38	(1)
Art as a Communicative Experience	39	(4)
What the Artist Conveys	43	(1)
Aesthetic Experience and Its Intrinsic Benefits	44	(8)
Immediate Intrinsic Benefits Inherent in the Arts Experience	45	(2)
Expansion of Individual Capacities	47	(3)
Contributions to the Public Sphere	50	(2)
Conclusion	52	(1)
The Process of Arts Participation: How It Relates to Benefits	53	(14)
Gateway Experiences	53	(2)
Transforming Occasional into Frequent Participants	55	(1)
High Levels of Engagement: The Key to Frequent Participation	56	(2)
Modeling the Decisionmaking Process	58	(5)
Shaping Perceptions and Inclinations: Background Factors and Early Arts Experiences	60	(1)
From Practical Considerations to the Arts Experience	61	(1)
Key Determinants of Arts Participation Decisions for Frequent Participants	62	(1)
Cumulative Effects of Arts Participation	63	(2)
Bottom Line	65	(2)
Conclusions and Implications	67	(8)
Problems with the Current Policy Approach	67	(2)
Problems with Instrumental Arguments	67	(1)
Insufficient Emphasis on Intrinsic Benefits	68	(1)
Undue Emphasis on Arts Supply and Financial Support	68	(1)
A New Approach	69	(2)
A Broader View of the Public Benefits of the Arts	69	(1)
The Central Role of Intrinsic Benefits in Arts Participation	70	(1)
Factors Behind Sustained Arts Involvement	70	(1)
Policy Implications	71	(1)
Recommendations	72	(3)
Appendix Review of the Theoretical Research	75	(18)
Bibliography	93