Last month, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published its latest Taking Part figures under the headline that museum and gallery visits had hit a record high. While rising visitor figures are a cause for celebration, unpicking some of the detail is illuminating.
The Taking Part survey has run since 2005 and is the key evidence source for the department for culture in England. It provides information about participation in the arts and also gives a breakdown of visits by gender, among people with a disability, by age, by ethnic group and along socio-economic lines.
The latter stats are interesting, although not surprising. Those in the “urban prosperity” category had significantly higher attendance rates for galleries and museums (67.9%) than those categorised as “moderate means” (46.1%) or “hard-pressed” (40%).
What is worrying is that this propensity for the less well-off to visit less doesn’t appear to have shifted much since Taking Part started and nor is the government doing much to change it.
The survey also asks questions about whether people volunteer and if they donate money to charities.
It’s not surprising that volunteering is on the increase. However, despite all the government initiatives and tax incentives, there has been a fall in individual giving.
The government might argue that schemes such as Catalyst haven’t had a chance to make a difference yet. But the biggest reason is probably that when times are hard, people give less. People will give time, they might give services in kind, but they can’t give money that they don’t have.
This trend is backed by findings from last year’s Museums Association cuts survey, which showed that in spite of extra resources given to fundraising, a significant minority of museums raised less in donations.
Museums are encouraging people to give and trying to boost self-generated income. The government needs to realise that there is a limit to what can be done.
Sharon Heal, editor, Museums Journal
sharon@museumsassociation.org
www.twitter.com/sharonheal
www.museumsassociation.org/conference
The Taking Part survey has run since 2005 and is the key evidence source for the department for culture in England. It provides information about participation in the arts and also gives a breakdown of visits by gender, among people with a disability, by age, by ethnic group and along socio-economic lines.
The latter stats are interesting, although not surprising. Those in the “urban prosperity” category had significantly higher attendance rates for galleries and museums (67.9%) than those categorised as “moderate means” (46.1%) or “hard-pressed” (40%).
What is worrying is that this propensity for the less well-off to visit less doesn’t appear to have shifted much since Taking Part started and nor is the government doing much to change it.
The survey also asks questions about whether people volunteer and if they donate money to charities.
It’s not surprising that volunteering is on the increase. However, despite all the government initiatives and tax incentives, there has been a fall in individual giving.
The government might argue that schemes such as Catalyst haven’t had a chance to make a difference yet. But the biggest reason is probably that when times are hard, people give less. People will give time, they might give services in kind, but they can’t give money that they don’t have.
This trend is backed by findings from last year’s Museums Association cuts survey, which showed that in spite of extra resources given to fundraising, a significant minority of museums raised less in donations.
Museums are encouraging people to give and trying to boost self-generated income. The government needs to realise that there is a limit to what can be done.
Sharon Heal, editor, Museums Journal
sharon@museumsassociation.org
www.twitter.com/sharonheal
www.museumsassociation.org/conference