Broad Support

New Survey of Americans Indicates Broad
Support But Little Action on Behalf of Arts; The non-profit arts advocacy organization Americans for the Arts; conducted a telephone survey of over 1,000 people nationwide in; February 2001. The purpose of the survey was to gauge the; attitudes of people toward the arts and their actions in support of; the arts. Americans for the Arts will be launching a public service; campaign in late summer of 2001 encouraging people to support; their school arts programs and community arts organizations.; ATTITUDES:; Participants were asked to rank the importance of arts education to; a child's development on a scale of 1 to 10:; 42% chose 10; 10% chose 9; 21% chose 8; Therefore, 73% rank the importance of arts education at level 8 or; higher.; The survey participants were then given a series of activities that; may be important to a child's development, and again asked to; give each one a score from 1 to 10. Here is how they rated the; activities:; Reading for pleasure 9.1; Using computers for educational enrichment 8.5; Religious activities like attending church or synagogue 8.3; LEARNING ABOUT AND EXPERIENCING THE ARTS 8.1; Joining peer groups such as boy scouts or girl scouts 7.7; Participating in competitive sports 7.6; Participating in individual hobbies such as stamp collecting 6.9; Surfing the Internet for fun 4.6; Notice in the above table that the arts ranked ahead of sports.; In another part of the study, participants were asked to agree or; disagree with statements.; 91% agree that "the arts are vital to providing a well-rounded; education for our students."; 89% believe that "arts education is important enough that schools; should find the money to ensure inclusion [of arts programs] in the; curriculum."; 75% agree that "incorporating the arts into public education is the; first step in adding back what's missing in public education today."; 96% believe that "art belongs to everyone, not just the fortunate or; privileged."; 76% believe that "arts education is important enough to get; personally involved in arts education in the schools," but only 35%; of those who are closely involved in the life of a child have done; so.; 68% of all respondents are satisfied with the current arts programs; provided by local schools. 100% of principals in the survey are; satisfied with the arts programs in their schools, as are 97% of the; school board members. In comparison, 52% of teachers are; satisfied, and 67% of PTA officers are satisfied.; Source: http://www.artsusa.org/Ad_Council_Report.pdf