HOME | CHECKOUT | ABOUT | FAQ | CONTACT US |
 
Welcome Guest [create an account] or log-in:
email
password

Chapter 6 Assessing the Value of the Arts

DOI: 10.23912/978-1-906884-20-8-1449

ISBN: 978-1-906884-20-8

Published: April 2011

Component type: chapter

Published in: Key Issues in the Arts and Entertainment Industry

Parent DOI: 10.23912/978-1-906884-20-8-1361

10.23912/978-1-906884-20-8-1449

Abstract

This chapter presents a general introduction to the contemporary concern of public value in relation to the arts, and particularly how this relates to the concept of social impact — an issue that has dominated the public funding agenda for the arts in the UK and beyond since the 1990s. What follows is an analysis of how the public value of the arts has been framed and assessed in recent times, and how this reflects adaptations to changes in the political climate. This analysis will be illustrated through a brief historical and conceptual overview of attempts to capture public value, followed by a review and critical evaluation of some models and frameworks that have attempted to capture the benefits of the arts. The challenges of assessing and measuring value will then be further discussed through case study on the National Theatre of Scotland’s production, Black Watch, to demonstrate the reductive nature of traditional models and point towards the need for developing more nuanced and reflexive approaches to assessing value, informed (and preferably led) by the practice of the art in question. We can call this a ‘situational’ approach to research. The chapter therefore argues for approaches informed by these principles. Drawing parallels with themes from Performance Studies, it suggests that greater account needs to be given to context and the conditions of the context, including its social formation and relations, which requires reflexivity and ethnographic analysis. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the dialectical conditions of value (as both instrumental and intrinsic), particularly emphasising the spatial dimension of practice, which emphasises that the arts are not just situated in a temporal context of ideological shifts, but are active players in the making of value as a practice of cultural production. This spatial dimension is brought into being as a practice of social relations through articulations of inter-subjective values, thereby broadening the dialogue on the subject of public value and considering the productive value of the arts as a wider practice of living.

Sample content

Click here to download PDF

Contributors

  • James Oliver (Author)
  • Ben Walmsley (Author)

For the source title:

  • Ben Walmsley, University of Leeds (Editor)

Cite as

Oliver & Walmsley, 2011

Oliver, J. & Walmsley, B. (2011) "Chapter 6 Assessing the Value of the Arts" In: Walmsley, B. (ed) . Oxford: Goodfellow Publishers http://dx.doi.org/10.23912/978-1-906884-20-8-1449

References

Appadurai, A. (1996) Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, Minneapolis/London: University of Minnesota Press.

Arai, S. and Pedlar, A. (2003) 'Moving beyond individualism in leisure theory: a critical analysis of concepts of community and social engagement', Leisure Studies, 22 (3), 185-202.

https://doi.org/10.1080/026143603200075489

Artworks Scotland (2007) Black Watch - A Soldier's Story, directed by I. Scollay, BBC Scotland [Documentary: DVD].

Belfiore, E. and Bennett, O. (2008) The Social Impact of the Arts: An Intellectual History, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230227774

Brecht, B. (1964) Brecht on Theatre: The Development of an Aesthetic, New York: Methuen.

Brown,A. (2006) 'An architecture of value', Grantmakers in the Arts Reader, 17 (1), 18-25.

Brown,A.S. and Novak,J.L. (2007) 'Assessing the intrinsic impacts of a live performance'. San Francisco: WolfBrown,http://wolfbrown.com.

Burke, G.(2007) Black Watch, London: Faber and Faber.

DCMS (Department of Culture, Media and Sport) (2008) 'Creative Britain: New talents for the new economy', London: DCMS.

DCMS (Department of Culture, Media and Sport) (2011) 'What we do', London, DCMS. Available from http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/creative_industries, accessed 4 January 2011.

Ehrenreich, B. (2007) Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy, London: Granta.

Falassi, A. (1987) Time out of Time: Essays on the Festival, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Galloway,S.(2009) 'Theory-based evaluation and the social impact of the arts', Cultural Trends, 18 (2), 125-148.

https://doi.org/10.1080/09548960902826143

Galloway,S., Birkin, N., Hamilton, C., Bell, D. and Petticrew, M. (2006) 'Quality of life and wellbeing: measuring the benefits of culture and sport- a literature review', research reprot preparedfor the Scottish Government, Edinburgh.

Getz, D. (1991) Festivals, Special Events, and Tourism, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Golden,L. (1973) 'The purgation theory of catharsis', Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 31 (4), 473-491.

https://doi.org/10.2307/429320

Hesmondhalgh, D. (2007) The Cultural Industries, 2nd edn, Los Angeles/London: Sage.

Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B. (2007) 'Performance studies', in H. Bial (ed.) The Performance Studies Reader, 2nd edn, London/New York: Routledge, pp. 43-55.

Massey, D.B. (2005) For Space, London:Sage.

https://doi.org/10.12968/sece.2005.1.361

McCarthy, K-F., Ondaatje, E.H., Zakaras, L. and Brooks, A. (2004) Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the Debate about the Benefits of the Arts, Santa Monica, CA: RAND.

https://doi.org/10.7249/MG218

McMillan,J. (2007) 'Reaping war's bitter harvest', The Scotsman, 7 August 2006.

National Theatre of Scotland (2009) 'Black Watch - audience reactions video', Glasgow,National Theatre of Scotland. Available from http://www. nationaltheatrescotland.com/content/default.asp?page=s222, accessed 1 July 2009.

Nicholson, R.E. and Pearce, D.G. (2001) 'Why do people attend events? A comparative analysis of visitor motivations at four south island events', Journal of Travel Research, 39 (4), 449-460.

https://doi.org/10.1177/004728750103900412

Polanyi, K. (2001) The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of our Time, 2nd Beacon Paperback edn, Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Sanderson,I. (2000) 'Evaluation in complex policy systems', Evaluation, 6, 433-454.

https://doi.org/10.1177/13563890022209415

Schechner, R. (2007) 'Performance studies: the broad spectrum approach',in H. Bial (ed.) The Performance Studies Reader, 2nd edn, London/New York: Routledge. pp. 7-9.

Shapiro, E.R. (1998) 'The healing power of culture stories: what writers can teach psychotherapists', Cultural Diversity and Mental Health, 4 (2), 91-101.

https://doi.org/10.1037/1099-9809.4.2.91

Throsby, C.D. (2001) Economics and Culture, Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.

Turner, V.W. (1969) The Ritual Process Structure and Anti-structure, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

White, M.(2009) Arts Development in Community Health: A Social Tonic, Oxford: Radcliffe.

White, T.R. and Hede, A.-M.(2008) 'Using narrative inquiry to explore the impact of art on individuals', Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society, 38 (1), 19-35.

https://doi.org/10.3200/JAML.38.1.19-36

Available

Chapter 6 Assessing the Value of the Arts [Details]Price: €5.99*Licences / Downloadable file

Published in Key Issues in the Arts and Entertainment Industry

Chapter 6 Assessing the Value of the Arts [Details]Price: €5.99*Licences / Downloadable file
Hardback edition of this book [Details]Price: €120.00Copies / Delivery by post
Terms and conditions of purchase | Privacy policy