December 2021

National Endowment for the Arts Research Agenda - FY 2022-2026
Introduction
For the past decade, the National Endowment for the Arts’ (NEA) Office of Research & Analysis
has conducted, commissioned, or otherwise supported studies about the value and impact of thearts. The NEA has performed this function while working with other federal agencies to collectand report descriptive statistics about individual components of the arts ecosystem. Thisecosystem, and research topics and questions surrounding it, previously have been mapped in
two consecutive five-year research agendas.
For the present research agenda, the agency will rely more heavily than in the past on two award
mechanisms—Research Grants in the Arts and NEA Research Labs—for the design and conductof studies addressing priority research topics through the social and behavioral sciences. In fiscal
years 2022-2026, these topics and questions are:1) What are measurable impacts of the arts on the following outcome areas: health andwellness for individuals; cognition and learning; and U.S. economic growth andinnovation? Under what conditions do such impacts occur, through what mechanisms,
and for which populations and/or sectors?
2) In what ways do the arts contribute to the healing and revitalization of communities?
What factors mediate these contributions, and for the benefit of which populations? What
are common elements of such programs or practices, and what are appropriate measuresof success?
3) What is the state of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the arts? What
progress has been made in achieving these outcomes for arts administration, employment,
learning, and participation? What are some promising practices and/or replicablestrategies in these domains, and what are appropriate markers of success?
4) How is the U.S. arts ecosystem (e.g., arts organizations and venues, artists and arts
workers, and participants and learners) adapting and responding to social, economic,
and technological changes and challenges to the sector, including trends accelerated by
the COVID-19 pandemic? What are promising practices and/or replicable strategies forresponding to such forces, for different segments of the arts ecosystem?
The new agenda builds on terrain explored in the NEA’s foundational research document, How
Art Works (2012), and pursued through the two prior research agendas. The FY 2022-2026
agenda items were informed by findings from a planning study, including a review of NEA
research activities spanning a decade, as well as arts-related research supported by other federal
agencies. In addition, the planning study involved focus group meetings and interviews withfield experts to gather views on priority research areas. 1 These activities preceded a public
RMC Research Corp. was engaged to conduct the planning study. Accordingly, the NEA Office of Research &Analysis would like to thank Chris Dwyer, Jennifer Ballen Riccards, and Jean Hiebert Larson.

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comment period, which generated more perspectives for inclusion. This agenda aligns with a
new FY 2022-26 Strategic Plan for the agency, which will be published in early 2022.
Even while making research grants in priority areas, the NEA will continue investing in new datacollections, statistical reports, and evidence-based tools that can guide the work of researchers,
practitioners, and policymakers who seek empirical knowledge about the arts. To support theseendeavors, the NEA will resume and, where appropriate, extend its federal and non-federal
partnerships while using other mechanisms (e.g., contracts, cooperative awards, interagency
agreements, and memoranda of understanding) as needed.
Background and Rationale
This document charts topical priorities that will shape the NEA’s research awards portfolio overthe next five years. Before discussing these priorities, it may help to revisit a landmark event in
the history of research at the National Endowment for the Arts.
The NEA established a research function in 1975, a decade after its own founding. Two years
later, the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, in cooperation with Johns Hopkins University andwith a grant from the NEA, hosted a symposium titled “Research in the Arts.”
According to a report of the event, “the conference provided arts researchers, administrators, andworking artists with an opportunity to evaluate and inform the Endowment’s Research agenda
and take stock of the emerging interdisciplinary field of arts research.” The sessions weregrouped into the following categories: Research on the Artistic and Cultural Consumers,
Research on Arts and Cultural Institutions, and Research on the American Artist and Craftsman[sic].
Much of the NEA’s subsequent research —even to the present day—has proceeded along thoselines: shoring up observational data about arts industries, workers, and participants. For example,
the NEA consistently partners with other, larger federal agencies in the routine collection,
analysis, and reporting of national statistics about the arts. (See Appendix A, “NEA Research
Assets: An Inventory.”)
Thirty-five years after that symposium, however, some closing remarks offer a timely
perspective on how a research agenda at the NEA might be constructed. The speaker was Joseph
Coates (1929-2014), a government analyst of science and technology policy. Near the end of theevent, Coates said: “Inevitably, the issue will arise as to whether the Endowment should be doing
basic or applied research.” The agency, he concluded, “should be committed to appliedresearch—research that has a high utility element—and let basic research be handled by others.”
Although not bound to this guidance, the last two consecutive research agendas at the Arts
Endowment can be said to emphasize a “high utility element” in the types of studies andpublications that have been undertaken.
Such projects have included survey-based research on the arts and rural business innovation;
longitudinal data analyses on the arts and academic achievement, or the arts and healthy aging;and evidence reviews about the arts and opioids crisis, or the arts’ social and emotional benefits2

December 2021

in early childhood—among many other topics. At the same time, through its research awards
programs, the NEA has prioritized the funding of experimental and quasi-experimental studies
that investigate a cause-effect relationship between the arts and various positive outcomes.
As that brief catalogue implies, much of the agency’s research over the past decade has sought tomeasure the arts’ value to other domains (e.g., health, education, and the economy). Along theway, the NEA has expanded the pool of evidence about the importance of the arts to individuals,
communities, and society at large.
But this is only one version of “utility.” As the agency begins to execute its new strategic plan—
designed to help the creative economy rebuild better; to integrate the arts with community
healing and transformation efforts; and to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility(DEIA) in and through the arts—it is useful to reconsider stock terms such as “value” and“impact” as they apply to arts research.
Rather than focus exclusively on why and how the arts matter, today’s agenda needs to consider
for whom are such benefits realized, and under what optimal conditions—and how can culturalproviders use this knowledge in their own work. These concerns take on heightened significanceas the arts community, and our nation as a whole, rallies to meet new societal and sectoral
challenges—including but not limited to the economic, social, and health-related traumas
stemming from COVID-19.
Greater emphasis on the pragmatic aims of knowledge production is also discussed in the NEA’s
strategic plan for FY 2022-2026. Goal 3 states that the Arts Endowment will “build capacity andinfrastructure within the arts sector through knowledge-sharing, tools, resources, and evidencebased practices.” Under this Goal, Objective 3.2 elaborates that the agency will “produce
research, statistics, and general information about the arts for the benefit of the arts sector andbeyond.” Through the NEA’s research grants, it will incentivize the creation of practitioner tools
grounded in research.
Further, by not limiting priority research questions to those requiring experimental and quasiexperimental study designs, a new agenda can permit more qualitative research approaches,
inviting different and sometimes marginalized voices to participate in the pursuit of knowledge
about the arts, for greater mutual benefit. For example, methods such as community-based
participatory research and social network analysis may prove especially suited to questions about
the arts and public health, about the support of diverse cultural traditions, or about equity andaccessibility in arts participation.
Wrapping up his comments at the inaugural arts-research symposium in 1977, Joseph Coates
said: “Let me end by noting that it is important to build a long-term commitment on the part ofscholars to a program of arts research; not [only] in-and-out contract research.” Here again,
Coates’ remarks were prescient.
In the last decade, by supporting research grants dedicated to behavioral and social scientificstudies of the arts—and by launching field-building initiatives such as the National Archive ofData on Arts & Culture, the NEA Research Labs, and the Sound Health Network—the Arts
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Endowment has secured a platform for sustained discourse and discoveries that will benefit thegreater public. Through NEA support, a growing community of scholars and arts practitioners
will design the conceptual frameworks, research questions, and methods needed to support the
NEA’s FY 2022-2026 research agenda. They will execute the studies, share data, and report theirfindings in compelling and innovative formats.
The following agenda items, therefore, are intentionally broad in scope. If they admit of multiple
perspectives and approaches, it is a tribute to the ingenuity, maturity, and plurality of arts
research as a discipline, and the progress made in the 35 years since the NEA-sponsored
symposium in Baltimore.
(Note: See Appendix B and C for key variables of potential interest to the study topics andquestions below.)
FY 2022-2026 Priority Research Areas and Questions
Each priority area is accompanied by sample research questions. The questions are intended as
guideposts. From FY 2022 through FY 2026, NEA will welcome research proposals in all fourpriority areas, even if the topics of inquiry differ from the research questions shown here. It isalso possible that individual research proposals will combine questions from more than one
research topic. This, too, will be allowed under future research grant application guidelines.
Even while advancing these priority areas, the NEA will put a premium on studies that generate
products, tools, or services likely to be used by arts practitioners, by policymakers, or by otherresearchers.
Research Area #1 - The Arts’ Impacts on Health, Education, and the Economy
The NEA will continue to invite and support experimental and quasi-experimental research
proposals that aim to test causal relationships between the arts and various outcome areas inhealth and human development and in economic growth and innovation.
Priority Questions: What are measurable impacts of the arts on the following outcome areas: health andwell-being for individuals; cognition and learning; and U.S. economic growth andinnovation? Under what conditions do such impacts occur, through whatmechanisms, and for which populations and/or sectors?

Related sample questions include, by outcome domain:
Health and Well-Being: Therapeutic and Non-Therapeutic Approaches and Benefits•

What changes in physical or mental health outcomes are experienced by participantsreceiving arts-based interventions (e.g., via creative arts therapies or arts-in-healthprograms) to address various health conditions?
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

How do changes in outcomes vary by age, socioeconomic characteristics, otherdemographic and behavioral patterns, and/or by health status?
How do changes in outcomes compare with those achieved by other health and wellness
strategies or interventions?
What physiological or psychological mechanisms are activated by arts-based
interventions in affecting health-related outcomes?
What are the social, emotional, physiological, or physical health benefits of arts
participation (including arts learning)?
To what extent—and under what conditions—are specific art forms and activities
invoked in positive relationships between arts participation and health and well-being?
How do characteristics such as frequency, duration, or intensity of an arts-based
intervention relate to individual or program-level outcomes?
What is the comparative cost-effectiveness of an arts-based intervention and one or more
non-arts-based interventions?
How do arts-based interventions benefit caregivers or family members?

Cognition and Learning
•

•

•
•

What are the cognitive, social or emotional, or physiological processes of arts
participation—for various types of arts activity (including creating or performing art)—and how do they affect learning-related outcomes?
How do learning-related outcomes associated with arts participation vary by age,socioeconomic characteristics, other demographic and behavioral patterns, and/or byhealth status or disabilities?
How do these changes in outcomes compare with those achieved by non-arts approaches
to learning (e.g., non-arts extracurricular programs; non-arts integrated curricula)?
What changes in learning-related outcomes are associated with specific approaches toarts instruction in formal or informal settings?

Economic Growth and Innovation
•

•
•

•
•
•

What is the nature, direction, and strength of the relationship between the arts andeconomic and job growth? How has this relationship changed over time, and how does it
differ by geography and industry?
How do place-based investments in the arts contribute to local and regional economic
outcomes?
How do artists and arts organizations contribute measurably to innovation in the public
and private sectors? What individual or organizational characteristics or behaviors canmediate these outcomes?
How do formal and informal places of arts education—and the competencies theycultivate—contribute to innovation in the public and private sectors?
In which industries, sectors, or geographic areas is it possible to measure economic
outcomes from arts-led innovation, and how so?
How do the benefits and related outcomes of arts-based entrepreneurship and innovationcompare with those achieved by non-arts approaches?

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How does the presence of artists in the non-arts workforce influence the dynamics of theworkplace and affect work products, including development of new technologies andother innovations?

Research Area #2 – The Arts’ Role in Community Transformation and Healing
Beyond seeking to understand and promote individual-level health outcomes associated with thearts, the NEA will encourage research proposals that examine the arts’ contributions tocommunity health and resilience, greater livability in neighborhoods, social cohesion, andcollective action. For this topic area, the NEA will invite a range of study designs andmethodologies, especially community participatory research approaches.
Priority Questions: In what ways do the arts contribute to the healing and revitalization of communities?
What factors mediate these contributions, and for the benefit of which populations?
What are common elements of such programs or practices, and what are appropriate
measures of success?
Related sample questions include:
•
•
•

•
•
•

How can the arts and artists help to heal social or ideological divides within acommunity, and to improve relations among different subgroups?
How can the arts and artists improve attachment to communities, social capital, civic
engagement, and other drivers of social cohesion?
How do the arts and artists mobilize communities for collective action—e.g., to address
inequities or to support trauma recovery, emergency preparedness, or public healthresponse efforts?
How can the arts and artists contribute to trust in public institutions or in the democratic
process?
How do the arts and artists contribute to the development of leadership skills in youth andthe emergence of new community leaders?
How have artists contributed successfully to community healing and transformation, andwhat are common characteristics of those who have done so?

Research Area #3 – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Arts
As stated in the NEA’s mission, the agency “fosters and sustains an environment in which thearts belong to the everyone in the United States.” Central to this mission is the need to support
evidence collection and sharing about practices and programs to achieve diversity, equity,
inclusion, and accessibility in the arts. For this topic area, the NEA will invite a range of study
designs and methodologies, especially community participatory research approaches.

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Priority Questions: What is the state of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the arts?
What progress has been made in achieving these outcomes for arts
administration, employment, learning, and participation? What are somepromising practices and/or replicable strategies in these domains, and what areappropriate measures of success?
Related sample questions include:
•

•

•
•
•

How have arts organizations diagnosed and addressed inequities in their practices andpolicies, and how can progress toward becoming a fully equitable organization bemeasured?
How do decision-making processes change when an arts organization commits to an
equity agenda or framework? What is the relationship between commitment to an equity
agenda or framework and the financial stability of an arts organization?
What are the costs and opportunities associated with adopting, or failing to adopt,
strategies in support of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the arts?
How have artists and arts organizations created greater public awareness about inequities
within the communities they serve?
To what extent, and under what conditions, have technological innovations improved
access to the arts across diverse communities?

Research Area #4 – The Evolving Ecosystem of the Arts in the U.S.
Rapid societal changes that have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, and deeper-rooted
challenges stemming from structural racism, are among several factors affecting the day-to-day
work of artists and arts organizations, and public participation in the arts. Also, technologicaladvances in the creation and distribution of art—and barriers to accessing such resources—have
redrawn the contours of arts engagement, as have demographic trends in the U.S. population. For
this topic area, the NEA will invite a range of study designs and methodologies.
Priority Questions: How is the U.S. arts ecosystem (e.g., arts organizations, artists and arts workers,
and participants and learners) adapting and responding to social, economic, andtechnological changes and challenges to the sector, including trends accelerated
by the COVID-19 pandemic? What are promising practices and/or replicablestrategies for responding to such forces, for different segments of the arts
ecosystem?

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Related sample questions include, by segment of the arts ecosystem:
Arts Organizations and Venues (includes Places of Arts Education or Training)
•

•

•
•

•
•

What are the short- and long-term economic effects of disruptions caused by the
pandemic? How have these effects varied by budget size, mission type, geography, andother organizational factors?
What factors are associated closely with the resilience of an arts organization, and theability to survive and thrive after pandemics or natural or human-made disasters? Whatfactors are associated in particular with the resilience capability of arts organizations
serving people from diverse socio-economic backgrounds?
What are emerging or innovative models of governance and business practices that
contribute to the resilience of arts organizations?
What best practices have arts organizations developed in the sharing of resources—
including digital tools and technology platforms—for the creation and distribution of art,and for general business operations?
How have artists and organizations been able to build sustainable income streams arounddigital or “hybrid” delivery models?
How has the recovery of the nonprofit arts sector—and access to federal funding andresources during the pandemic—compared with recovery of the commercial arts sector?

Artists and Other Cultural Workers (Including Culture-Bearers)
•

•

•

•
•

What are the short- and long-term economic and labor effects of disruptions caused by
the pandemic? How have these effects varied by demographic and geographic factors, by
job type, and by artistic discipline?
With the arrival of COVID-19, what unique barriers and potential solutions haveemerged for culture-bearers who may not consider themselves artists or arts workers, but
who contribute to arts production and the creative economy?
What aspects of artists’ competencies and professional training have contributed
positively to sustainability for the sector? What are the effects of new types of artists’working arrangements on that sustainability?
How are professional training requirements for arts careers changing, and to what extent
are those changes reflected in higher education?
How have access to technology and technology support altered artists’ ways of working
and/or training? What are related equity issues, especially in communities with limitedaccess?

Arts Consumers and Learners••

Do greater opportunities for digital/virtual participation in the arts lead to increased
participation in in-person arts events?
Apart from economic barriers, what causes for resistance to arts participation, by art form
(e.g., music, dance, theater, or the visual arts) and activity type (e.g., attending, creating,8December 2021•••

or performing), may exist for people with different backgrounds and abilities? How
might this resistance be overcome?
How do factors such as teacher quality, teacher preparation, scheduling, and dosage
influence the outcomes of arts education programs?
How have student outcomes been affected by arts education in online and hybrid learning
environments?
How do college and university arts programs uniquely stimulate arts participation
opportunities in different geographic regions?

Measuring Progress on the NEA Research Agenda
For NEA research, the chief objective is to produce research, statistics, and general information
about the arts for the benefit of the arts sector and beyond. The agency will use multiple
measures to monitor performance on this objective. The NEA will track growth in citations ofresearch reports and peer-reviewed articles based on NEA-funded studies. The agency will also
track the dissemination of research findings to the arts sector and the public, and—through a user
survey—likely will assess the public’s satisfaction with NEA research obtained through thearts.gov website. Finally, through annual surveys of NEA research grant recipients, the agency
will follow longer-term outcomes associated with research grants. Additional metrics will
involve web analytics and monitoring media coverage of NEA-supported research.
The Research Agenda runs parallel to an internal Learning Agenda that the NEA maintains toguide the pursuit of studies designed to help the agency improve its own performance. Anothersignificant research planning document for the agency is a clinical research agenda for theCreative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network. Creative Forces is an initiative inpartnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs that seeks to improve thehealth, wellness, and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, as
well as their families and caregivers. Creative Forces’ clinical research agenda will be nested in“Research Area #1” of NEA’s overall research agenda for FY 2022-2026.

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Appendix A. NEA RESEARCH ASSETS: AN INVENTORY

Below are brief descriptions of the agency’s ongoing and planned commitments to support anarts research infrastructure in the United States.
Research Grants in the Arts: Awards that fund studies investigating the value and/or impact of
the arts, either as individual components of the U.S. arts ecology or as they interact with eachother and/or with other domains of American life.
NEA Research Labs: A series of transdisciplinary research partnerships, grounded in the social
and behavioral sciences, to produce and report empirical insights about the arts for the benefit ofarts and also for non-arts sectors such as healthcare, education, and business or management.
Note: In FY 2022-2026, the agency will support establishment of a Technical Assistance Centerto convene and network the Labs and to elevate the public profile of their research efforts.
National Archive of Data on Arts & Culture (NADAC): An online repository that facilitates
free access to arts and cultural datasets and research literature for the benefit of culturalresearchers, policymakers, arts practitioners, and the general public.
Note: In FY 2022-2026, the agency will complement NADAC by establishing a National Arts
Statistics and Evidence Reporting Center that will produce analyses based on such datasets, aswell as evidence-based practice guides and topical reports for arts practitioners.
Surveys of Arts Participation: In partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau, the NEA
periodically conducts the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts and the Arts Basic Survey.
The NEA also supports a recurring Arts Module of the General Social Survey.
NEA Arts Data Profile Series: Collections of statistics, graphics, and summary results fromdata-mining about the arts.
Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account: The NEA partners with the Bureau of
Economic Analysis (U.S. Department of Commerce) to provide annual reports of the economic
impact of arts and culture, at the national and state level.
Creative Economy State Profiles and an Interactive Database: 1) An online dashboard for
exploring state-level creative economy data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and 2) morethan 100 state-level creative economy studies showing the variety of approaches states use tomeasure their creative economies. Both resources are produced by the National Assembly ofState Arts Agencies in cooperation with the NEA.
Sound Health Network: A partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts with the
University of California, San Francisco in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health(NIH) and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, including Renée Fleming, thecenter’s artistic advisor. The Sound Health Network (SHN) was established to promote researchand public awareness about the impact of music on health and wellness. The network includes anonline clearinghouse of research literature, a directory, a monthly newsletter, a webinar andjournal club series, conferences, and a networking platform for “affinity groups” of researchers
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and practitioners. SHN grew from Sound Health, an initiative of the Kennedy Center and NIH, inassociation with the NEA. Also, the NEA cosponsors research grants from NIH to support
studies of music, health, and wellness.
Creative Forces National Resource Center: Clinical research findings and opportunities fromthe Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network are posted to this website. Creative
Forces is committed to the pursuit and promotion of clinically relevant research on theeffectiveness of creative arts therapies for service members, veterans, family members, andcaregivers.
Interagency Task Force on the Arts and Human Development: Representing multiple units
across the federal government, this group has met regularly since 2011 to encourage more andbetter research on how the arts can help people reach their full potential at all stages of life.
ArtsEdSearch: An online clearinghouse of research in and about arts education. ArtsEdSearch
is a project of the Arts Education Partnership (AEP), a national network of more than 100
organizations dedicated to advancing arts education. AEP has been supported by the NEA andthe U.S. Department of Education since 1995 and is administered by Education Commission of
the States.
Arts Research Quarterly: A round-up of research articles based on secondary data analyses in
the arts.
“Measure for Measure”: An arts research blog and monthly podcast, “Quick Study,” on the
NEA website and on ArtsJournal.
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Appendix B. ENGAGING INDIVIDUALS WITH THE ARTS

Selected Variables of Interest: Arts Participation, Inputs, and Selected Outcomes

Wherever possible, the National Endowment for the Arts will commit research resources tounderstanding where and how historically underserved populations fall into these domains.

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Appendix C. THE ARTS IN COMMUNITIES AND SOCIETY AT LARGE

Selected Variables of Interest: Arts and Cultural Assets, Inputs, and Selected Outcome Areas

Wherever possible, the National Endowment for the Arts will commit research resources tounderstanding where and how historically underserved populations fall into these domains.
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