“Sociologist Aaron Reeves of the University of Oxford reports most forms of arts participation are strongly correlated not with class, but rather with education,” writes Tom Jacobs in Tuesday’s (9/15) Pacific Standard (California). “Reeves used data on 78,011 people who participated in the Taking Part survey, which featured face-to-face interviews with a representative sample of the English population. He analyzed attendance at arts events and participation in the arts with a variety of factors, including age, gender, education, and income. Reeves found that ‘arts participation, unlike arts consumption and cultural engagement generally, is not closely associated with either social class or social status.’ … Reeves found education was ‘a strong predictor of the likelihood of being an arts participant.’ … The findings can serve as a rejoinder to those who argue the arts are strictly of interest to the elite—an assertion that implies the rich can fund these organizations themselves rather than asking taxpayers to help do so. These results suggest the arts actually impact a much wider strata of society—including people who can’t afford front-balcony tickets.… The creative impulse knows no class boundaries.”
Posted September 21, 2015
