Art Museum Attendance Down Nationwide,
Reports Find According to two recent reports on youth and adult participation in the arts, visits to art museums have declined across the country, the Washington Post reports. Based on a survey of nearly four thousand eighth-grade students, Arts 2008 (40 pages, PDF) found that the number of students who reported they visited an art museum or gallery with their classes dropped from 22 percent in 1997 to 16 percent in 2008. The report was published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which releases reports periodically on different sectors of achievement and engagement; this year the assessment examined visual arts and music. The second report, Arts Participation 2008: Highlights from a National Survey (16 pages, PDF), published by the National Endowment for the Arts, found that fewer adults are choosing art museums or visual arts festivals as leisure-time destinations. Although the decline in attendance has been relatively small, the shift may be indicative of future declines. Read the article»
According to two recent reports on youth and adult participation in the arts, visits to art museums have declined across the country, the Washington Post reports. Based on a survey of nearly four thousand eighth-grade students, Arts 2008 (40 pages, PDF) found that the number of students who reported they visited an art museum or gallery with their classes dropped from 22 percent in 1997 to 16 percent in 2008. The report was published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which releases reports periodically on different sectors of achievement and engagement; this year the assessment examined visual arts and music. The second report, Arts Participation 2008: Highlights from a National Survey (16 pages, PDF), published by the National Endowment for the Arts, found that fewer adults are choosing art museums or visual arts festivals as leisure-time destinations. Although the decline in attendance has been relatively small, the shift may be indicative of future declines. 
