This Understanding Boston report draws upon fresh data to examine the status and wellbeing of the Arts and Cultural Sector in Greater Boston. At a time when significant economic and demographic changes have had an impact on organizations of all kinds, this report by the Boston Foundation uses consistent metrics to evaluate the health of the sector and identify challenges and opportunities that exist for organizations of all sizes. What does a vital nonprofit arts and culture sector look like? What signs of health should we look for? An earlier Boston Foundation publication, Funding for Cultural Organizations in Boston and Nine Other Metropolitan Areas, reported on the sector’s fiscal health in 1999, when the country’s market indicators were at a high point. The years since have been turbulent. What changed for the sector between 1999 and 2004? Did it continue to grow? Are metro Boston’s arts and cultural nonprofits getting the support they need to deliver the programs audiences want? This report answers these questions by imagining an ideal, then positing and examining four vital signs—four interrelated categories of data—to gauge the sector’s state of health. Click here to download the data in a spreadsheet.
This Understanding Boston report draws upon fresh data to examine the status and wellbeing of the Arts and Cultural Sector in Greater Boston. At a time when significant economic and demographic changes have had an impact on organizations of all kinds, this report by the Boston Foundation uses consistent metrics to evaluate the health of the sector and identify challenges and opportunities that exist for organizations of all sizes.
What does a vital nonprofit arts and culture sector look like? What signs of health should we look for? An earlier Boston Foundation publication, Funding for Cultural Organizations in Boston and Nine Other Metropolitan Areas, reported on the sector’s fiscal health in 1999, when the country’s market indicators were at a high point. The years since have been turbulent. What changed for the sector between 1999 and 2004? Did it continue to grow? Are metro Boston’s arts and cultural nonprofits getting the support they need to deliver the programs audiences want? This report answers these questions by imagining an ideal, then positing and examining four vital signs—four interrelated categories of data—to gauge the sector’s state of health.
Click here to download the data in a spreadsheet.
Download file here