Dropping in and dropping out: understanding cultural value from the perspectives of lapsed or partial arts participants

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This project aims to explore attitudes towards the arts and cultural value amongst 'culturally aware non-attenders' (Winzenried, 2004; Dobson & Pitts, 2012) - the sector of the population who are receptive to arts involvement, but are currently minimally engaged. Three interlinked interview and survey studies will include people who have previously learnt a musical instrument but no longer play, as well as those with an interest in one art form who are unlikely to attend another. For this substantial sector of the population, their perception of the value of the arts is only partially translated into action, making them a potentially rich source of arts advocacy and involvement, if the means can be found to further activate their latent interest.The three studies will take place as follows:Study 1: The violin in the attic - investigating lapsed musical participationThis study will focus on amateur musicians, exploring the experiences and attitudes of those who no longer play, and who commonly cite pressures of time, family, and work as having caused them to cease involvement (Pitts, 2005;2012). Through in-depth interviews with around 30 'lapsed' members of musical groups, this study will explore how the benefits and costs of musical participation are articulated by those who no longer actively participate, and will identify the factors in causing participants to cease their involvement. These findings will shed new light on cultural value as perceived by those who have other priorities in their lives, and will help to propose strategies for retaining and re-engaging such people as active participants.Study 2: Loyalty and its limitations - exploring cultural value across art formsThis large-scale questionnaire study will explore the articulation of cultural value across genres, by questioning those who attend a narrow range of arts events about their experiences of their chosen genre, and their broader understanding of arts in society. Responses will be sought from audiences in a range of venues, including independent cinema, theatre, concert halls and museums; each will be asked about their frequency of attendance, factors in choices of events, openness to other art forms, and attitudes towards less familiar arts. The study will therefore highlight any differences between the attitudes and experiences of audiences at specific arts events - and so shed light on whether 'cultural value' is generic to arts engagement, or needs to be more subtly defined for different audiences.Study 3: Cultural value in lives and localitiesThis study will return to the in-depth interview approach used in Study 1, so allowing for comparisons between lapsed arts participants and occasional arts attenders, as well as deepening the evidence from Study 2 with a closer exploration of how attitudes and patterns of engagement are formed in adult life. Around 30 volunteers from Study 2 will be interviewed using a life history approach (cf. Pitts, 2012) to explore their level of past engagement, and how this has shaped their perceptions of the contribution of the arts to their life and to the local community. This study therefore offers another perspective on the factors that promote and inhibit involvement in the arts, and on the articulation of cultural value that surrounds those participation decisions. The project will generate data and discussion of academic interest (to be published in at least two journals of different related disciplines) and of practical value to arts organisations (to be reported through the Sheffield Performer and Audience Research Centre website - http://www.sparc.dept.shef.ac.uk/). Findings will be reported back to arts organisations, local government and Arts Council representatives, so fulfilling the aims of the AHRC agenda on a local, social scale as well as through contribution to academic debate.