“The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest … The Big Read for military communities is made possible by Boeing”–P. 4 of cover.

This report presents results from an initial analysis of the 2012 SPPA. It contains statistics with demographic insights about U.S. adults’ participation across five modes of art activity: attending; reading books and literature; consuming through electronic media; making and sharing; and learning. Findings are discussed for specific art forms and trend data provided where possible. Also includes links to additional data and resources for researchers.

How do you measure how art works – on people, on communities, or on society? It’s a broad question, and the National Endowment for the Arts offers an ambitious plan to “map” the arts to better understand and measure this complex, dynamic system. How Art Works describes the agency’s five-year research agenda, framed and informed by a groundbreaking “system map” and measurement model. The map is grounded in the theory that arts engagement contributes to quality of life in a virtuous cycle from the individual level to the societal level, and back. The map helps illustrate the dynamic, complex interactions that make up this particular system, from “inputs” such as education and arts infrastructure, to “outcomes” such as benefits of the arts to individuals and communities. The NEA developed the map through a series of dialogues with researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in the arts, economics, education, health, and other fields. September 2012.

This report summarizes themes and trends emerging from psychological and neurobiological studies of creativity. It explores models for trans-disciplinary research collaborations and it foregrounds artistic creation as a process worthy of more rigorous study. Based on a two-day workshop held in Santa Fe, New Mexico in July 2014, the report also discusses the urgency of such research for broader societal gains.