REPORTS

We are committed to maximum transparency and making our studies, plans and evaluations publicly available, whenever our clients allow it. If you don’t find what you’re looking for here, please also check our Publications page under the Insights menu, or get in contact with us directly.

Music as Medicine

On December 14th, Steven Holochwost had the opportunity to present at the National Institute of Health’s Music as Medicine convening as part of a panel on music education, school readiness,  >>

Loyalty Concept Exploration with the National Arts Centre

The National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Canada commissioned WolfBrown in fall 2023 to investigate the nature of loyalty, with an eye towards critically examining the future of customer  >>

Regional Arts Commission: Creatives Count

Team:  John Carnwath, Kacie Willis In 2023, we partnered with The Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis (RAC) to ask the musicians, writers, craftspeople, designers, makers, and performers who enrich  >>

California Arts Council: Grantmaking Evaluation

Team:  John Carnwath, Alan Brown, Salvador Acevedo, Anh Thang Dao-Shah, Shalini Agrawal The California Arts Council’s programs aim to allow all Californians to thrive via public support for creativity and  >>

The Values Study: Rediscovering the Meaning and Value of Arts Participation

Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, Arts Division Made possible by The Wallace Foundation’s State Arts Partnerships for Cultural Participation (START) Program Alan Brown The Values Study was an  >>

2017 Performing Arts Ticket Buyer Media Usage Study

Through an innovative partnership, Capacity Interactive and WolfBrown sought to address this gap by producing a definitive report on the media habits of performing arts patrons in the  >>

2019 Performing Arts Ticket Buyer Media Usage Study

The Performing Arts Ticket Buyer Media Usage Study is back to provide you with the data you need as an arts marketer in 2020. WolfBrown created this study  >>

2021 Performing Arts Ticket Buyer Media Usage Study

The 2021 Performing Arts Ticket Buyer Media Usage Study is the third iteration of the 2017 Capacity Interactive study by WolfBrown, which continues to support the work as  >>

2022 Impact Report: Literary Arts Emergency Fund

WolfBrown conducted a comprehensive study of the Literary Arts Emergency Fund—a Mellon-funded initiative that awarded $7.8 million to 376 literary arts organizations and small publishers that had been  >>

The 21st Century Music Director: A Symposium

From the April 2002 issue of Harmony, published by the Symphony Orchestra Institute Curious about those charismatic “maestros” who conduct our symphony orchestras? Are they hold-overs from the  >>

Advancing Arts Education through an Expanded School Day: Lessons from Five Schools

​How five schools are strengthening arts education as part of a longer school day. Read the full report on the Wallace Foundation’s website.  >>

Assessing the Audience Impact of Choral Music Concerts

How are audiences affected by live choral music concerts? What can we conclude about their experiences? How do their experiences differ? Can we identify drivers of impact? In  >>

Assessing the Audience Impact of Choral Music Concerts

How are audiences affected by live choral music concerts? What can we conclude about their experiences? How do their experiences differ? Can we identify drivers of impact? In  >>

Assessing The Intrinsic Impacts of a Live Performance

The ”Assessing the Intrinsic Impacts of a Live Performance” study attempts to define and measure how audiences are transformed by a live performance. Its research design consisted of  >>

Audience Outlook Monitor: COVID-19 Study Research Notes

Audience Outlook Monitor COVID-19 Study is a collaboration of international cultural organizations working together to understand audiences preferences during the pandemic. Our partners and research notes include:  >>

Beyond Attendance: A Multi-Modal Understanding of Arts Participation

Using Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) data from 1982–2008, this NEA research monograph explores the breadth of participation within and between three primary categories, or  >>

Building Capacity for Audience Research: Reflections on the Audience Research Collaborative

Foreword by John McGuirk, Director, Performing Arts Program, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation The Audience Research Collaborative (ARC) was a three-year initiative of the William and Flora  >>

Building Our Creative Capital Through the Arts

Measuring the Intrinsic Impact of Performing Arts on Children In 2011, Dr. Dennie Palmer Wolf presented this summary of arts education research for a Congressional Briefing sponsored by  >>

Building Strengths, Buffering Risk

Evaluating the Effects of El Sistema-Inspired Music Programs in the United States Longy School of Music of Bard College and WolfBrown formed a strategic partnership to carry out  >>

California Assembly Bill 5 and Worker Misclassification: Their Effects on Nonprofit Arts and Culture Organizations

Victoria Plettner-Saunders worked with San Diego employment attorney Arlene Yang to write a white paper outlining California Assembly Bill 5 and its impact on arts organizations.   In January 2019,  >>

Canada Council for the Arts: Qualitative Impact Framework

Across many developed economies, there is a drive to measure the impacts of the arts. Governments wish to measure the effects of their investments. Funders seek to spend  >>

Capitalization Needs of Arts & Cultural Organizations in Southeast Michigan, 2021 Update

Research Commissioned by CultureSource Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the arts sector has experienced an extraordinary level of uncertainty and financial tumult. Two  >>

The Contours of Inclusion: Frameworks and Tools for Evaluating Arts in Education

In her article “Freedom Machines,” Dr. Dennie Palmer Wolf outlines a bold approach to the evaluation of arts and cultural learning programs. The article is part of “Contours  >>

Donor Motivations Study

In 2009, the sponsoring foundations commissioned Helicon Collaborative and WolfBrown to study the values and motivations of donors to FFAMC projects, and capture useful lessons about the program  >>

The Economic Impact of Cultural Tourism in Palm Beach County

Results from the FY 2019 Attendee Surveys and Spending Data The Cultural Tourism Development Fund provides two grant programs that are funded by revenues from Palm Beach County’s  >>

Economic and Fiscal Impacts of COVID-19 on Palm Beach County Cultural Organizations

Responding to the Coronavirus state of emergency in 2020, the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County issued a survey about COVID-19 impacts on its constituent organizations between March  >>

With Freedom of Soul to Do and Be: A Longitudinal Study of Young Musicians in Carnegie Hall’s NYO2 Orchestra

Team: Dr. Dennie Palmer Wolf, Henry Clapp, Dr. Steven John Holochwost, Matthew Garcia, and Haeun Moon The air is full of commitments to increasing diversity, inclusion, and belonging  >>

Fund For Artists Matching Commissions: Donor Motivations Study

This suite of three reports, completed in 2010, explores why donors give to arts groups in the Bay Area. It captures lessons learned by individual artists and small  >>

Getting In On the Act: How Arts Groups are Creating Opportunities for Active Participation 

Arts participation is being redefined as people increasingly choose to engage with art in new, more active and expressive ways. This compelling trend carries profound implications and fresh  >>

If You Are Walking Down the Right Path and You Are Willing to Keep Walking

A Participatory Evaluation of Community MusicWorks In the fall of 2009, Community MusicWorks (CMW) completed an 18-month participatory evaluation funded by The Rhode Island Foundation. Findings Summary The evaluation  >>

An Investment Framework for Supporting the Artists Ecosystem

Research Commissioned by the Kenneth Rainin Foundation At the heart of this report is the artistic idea that there is value in looking at something familiar in a  >>

Liberating Academic Mindsets Through Culturally Responsive Arts Integration

Arts Corps’ Highline Creative Schools Initiative (HCSI) Report shares the intentions, implementation, and results of a multi-year Department of Education Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD) project. Through  >>

Lullaby: Being Together, Being Well

Commissioned by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute Since 2011, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute has pioneered a lullaby program that pairs skilled musicians with expectant or recent mothers, many  >>

Making Sense of Audience Engagement

Engaged audiences are a cornerstone in the foundation of a strong arts ecosystem. This report takes stock of a growing body of practice in the arts sector referred  >>

Making a Joyful Noise: The Role of Music Making in the Well-Being of Families

This research report from WolfBrown and the Bernard van Leer Foundation combines a comprehensive literature and landscape review that highlights the value, impact, and scaling potential of music  >>

May the Songs I Have Written Speak for Me

An Exploration of the Potential of Music in Juvenile Justice Executive Summary For decades the United States has outstripped other nations not only in the number of adults  >>

Montana Artrepreneur Program

Research Commissioned by the Montana Arts Council Artists’ Sales and Impact on Household Income 2009-2014 The Montana Arts Council established the Montana Artrepreneur Program (MAP) in 2009 to  >>

More Than Measuring: Program Evaluation as an Opportunity to Build the Capacity of Communities

More than Measuring is the final publication of the longitudinal study that assessed the impact of ArtsPartners. The evaluation, conducted over five years in cooperation with the Dallas  >>

More Than the Sum of its Parts: Collaboration & Sustainability in Arts Education

Written by seasoned practitioners Thomas Wolf and Gigi Antoni, the new book More Than the Sum of Its Parts: Collaboration & Sustainability in Arts Education is a primer  >>

Music and Health Care

A Paper Commissioned by the Musical Connections Program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute In 2009, the Weill Music Institute of Carnegie Hall launched the Musical Connections Program.  >>

Olney Culture Lab: Reflections from The Olney Embrace Project

“Olney Culture Lab was blessed to have started from the seeds of collaboration. It blossomed from nothing but the joy of camaraderie and community in 2014. Since then,  >>

Our Voices Count: The Potential Impact of Strength-Based Music Programs in Juvenile Justice Settings

Commissioned by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute Team: Dennie Palmer Wolf, Steven Holochwost WolfBrown took on an evaluation of the impact of ensemble choral music-making on young people living  >>

A Proposed National Standard Taxonomy for Reporting Data on Support for Individual Artists

Foreword by Tommer Peterson, Deputy Director, Grantmakers in the Arts Publication of this report marks a significant milestone in GIA’s initiative to develop and initiate a benchmark study  >>

Richmond Region Cultural Action Plan

When a major region of the country announces a new cultural action plan, it is important news—especially when the plan provides a bold vision in these challenging economic  >>

Sandpoint: Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation Plan

Historic buildings and places are the physical expressions of local heritage. Public art, music, painting, sculpture, dance, and other forms of creative practice are ways in which a  >>

The Search for Shining Eyes: Audiences, Leadership, and Change in the Symphony Orchestra Field

From 1994 to 2004, a seminal decade for the arts in America, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation invested $13 million in its Magic of Music  >>

Sharing Tables with Strangers

Strengthening neighborhoods through community centric concerts in the West Endof Providence Can classical music concerts strengthen neighborhoods? This fundamental question guides Community MusicWorks’ recent evaluation of a “community-centric  >>

The Socioemotional Benefits of the Arts: A New Mandate for Arts Education

There is an evolving and compelling mandate for investing in arts education based on an equitable distribution of educational opportunities. Such opportunities can foster students’ arts learning as  >>

Spark Change

Measuring the Intrinsic Impact of Performing Arts on Children Throughout New York City schools, New Victory has witnessed the performing arts’ powerful ability to inspire and ultimately change  >>

Teaching Artist Companion to Aesthetic Perspectives

Americans for the Arts has published The Teaching Artist Companion to Aesthetic Perspectives: Attributes of Excellence in Arts for Change. The publication was developed by Animating Democracy, a  >>

Triple Play: Audience Perceptions of New Plays

Triple Play was a national research project led jointly by Theatre Development Fund and Theatre Bay Area to explore the relationships between playwrights, audiences, and theatres. The initiative  >>

Understanding the Value and Impacts of Cultural Experiences

Over the past decade, there has been a lively debate over the many ways in which cultural activities add value to the lives of individuals and to society  >>