New Poll Finds Overwhelming Majority of American Workers Support Increasing County Arts Funding

78-percent of taxpayers support increased funding for county arts programs & subsidization for artists, 82-percent would enroll in affordable and accessible arts programs, in a nationally representative poll conducted by Second Wave Learning.

FAIRFAX, Va., Aug. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- New Poll Finds Overwhelming Majority of American Workers Support Increasing County Arts Funding

78-percent of taxpayers support increased funding for county arts programs & subsidization for artists, 82-percent would enroll in affordable and accessible arts programs.

78% of taxpayers (full-time employed Americans) support increasing investments in the arts at the county-level, including providing affordable housing, subsidized studio space, and public infrastructure for arts festivals and public markets, a new study from Second Wave Learning finds. Additionally, 82-percent of Americans would likely enroll in an arts course—including photography, painting, cooking, or music--if their county made such courses easily accessible and affordable.

Not only do residents seek to live in areas with arts communities, but research shows a positive correlation between public art and both quality of life (Seresinhe 2015) and property values (Seresinhe & Preis 2016).

"The arts community has been historically underfunded in the United States compared to most advanced nations. Our research demonstrates that peoples' preferences are not aligned with government policy. We've really missed the target here." Wright goes on to say, "Investments in the arts should not be a foreign concept. Our local communities need support."

Conducted in July 2022, Second Wave Learning, a Virginia-based research and consulting firm, found a representative sample of Americans 30-percent strongly agree, and 48-percent agree, that their county should increase funding for arts programs and public subsidies for supporting and attracting local artists to their community.

Random sample of 365 Americans employed full time (40+ hours per week), conducted July 1-2, 2022. The poll's margin of error was +/- 5 percentage points, 95% confidence interval.

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1) Seresinhe CI, Preis T, Moat HS. 2015. Quantifying the impact of scenic environments on health. Sci. Rep. 5, 16899.

2) Seresinhe CI, Preis T, Moat HS. 2016. Quantifying the link between art and property prices in urban neighbourhoodsR. Soc. open sci.3160146160146.

Michael Katz
703 559-9130
[email protected]
http://www.secondwavelearning.com

Media Contact

Warren Wright, Second Wave Learning, 1 703 559-9130, [email protected]

SOURCE Second Wave Learning