ArtsBoston Named Regional Partner in Post-Pandemic Audience Research Project
The non-profit arts service organization ArtsBoston announced today it will be the regional partner of the COVID-19 Audience Outlook Monitor (AOM), an international longitudinal study of audiences’ attitudes about returning to in-person arts and cultural activities post-coronavirus pandemic. Led internationally by WolfBrown, the wide-ranging project aims to inform cultural organizations’ planning for when and how to resume activities.
Executive Director Catherine Peterson says ArtsBoston will guide local planning and participation activities for the study, leveraging its own robust database of regional ticket-buyers and amplifying the effort through regional arts partners. The project will help arts organizations understand consumers’ post-pandemic appetite for cultural programs, including expected attendance behaviors, spending, and donation habits, and evolving thoughts about proximity and safety issues, she says.
“We bring a regional perspective to the survey, ensuring all segments of the arts-going audience are represented in the results, and growing our work to bring actionable data-informed research and capacity-building to the cultural sector.”
“Our venues and institutions understand that re-opening their doors involves more than just a green light from city and state leaders,” Peterson says. “AOM will give regional arts and cultural partners significant guidance on what local audiences want as we all move through and past the coronavirus pandemic. We bring a regional perspective to the survey, ensuring all segments of the arts-going audience are represented in the results, and growing our work to bring actionable data-informed research and capacity-building to the cultural sector.”
The first round of surveying begins in early May, followed by regularly scheduled outreach to a rolling roster of audience segments. Peterson also expects the information will be crucially important to other sectors that rely on cultural consumers, including restaurateurs, hoteliers, and retailers. ArtsBoston’s 2019 study, The Arts Factor, showed that cultural activities bring $2 billion in annual economic impact to the Greater Boston region.
The COVID-19 Audience Outlook Monitor is a project of the research, planning, and management group, WolfBrown, which maintains an office in Cambridge, Mass. Details available here.
MEDIA CONTACT: Catherine Peterson and WolfBrown representatives are available to speak about the Audience Outlook Monitor project. For interviews and other details, contact John Michael Kennedy, jmk@jmkpr.com, or 781-620-1761.
