State Arts Partnerships for Cultural Participation (START)

In this $12.5 million initiative, Wallace gave grants to 13 state arts agencies for efforts to make the arts a bigger part of more people's lives.

What we did

State arts agencies carry out a complex mission: to promote arts participation, to support artists, and to demonstrate the societal value of the arts. They also have a large and diverse group of constituents, including local arts organizations, state legislatures, other state agencies, and artists.

The State Arts Partnerships for Cultural Participation (START) effort supported 13 state arts agencies in adopting new, more effective guidelines, programs, and funding practices to encourage broader public participation in the arts. They took steps ranging from revision of their mission statements so they focused more on cultural participation to training of staff members in participation-building practices.

What we learned

A four-part RAND study explores the initiative and related issues. It draws on interviews, discussions, quantitative data, and published and unpublished materials conducted and collected between January 2002 and May 2008.

A report by a public management scholar captures lessons from a set of management development programs for initiative participants. It looks at how state arts agencies can build support for their work, especially by determining and publicizing its public value.