SMU DataArts provides a toolkit of evidence-based insights into the health of arts and cultural organizations in America. Our goal is to enable arts and cultural leaders to overcome challenges and increase their impact. We do this by analyzing the largest database of arts information ever collected, investigating important issues of arts management and patronage, and making our findings available to arts leaders, funders, policymakers, researchers and the general public. We care about numbers, not for their own sake, but because we believe that healthier arts and cultural organizations will have more resources to invest in artistic and cultural offerings and in community engagement.
External link for SMU DataArts
6101 Bishop Blvd
Dallas, Texas 75205, US
SMU DataArts reposted this
Mission Investors Exchange, the leading organization supporting foundations and other mission-driven investors, recently brought together 800 leaders to discuss the impact investment field’s top priorities and challenges. Check out highlights from the conference, which also marked the organization’s 20th anniversary! 🔗 https://lnkd.in/grHee_59
SMU DataArts reposted this
📣 Calling all former art museum workers — we want to hear from you! NOW LIVE: New survey for anyone who no longer works for a US art museum. We consider a “former art museum worker” to include anyone who resigned from a position, retired, got laid off, completed a contract, or was involuntarily terminated from a US art museum and no longer works at a US art museum (however you define “art” and “museum”). LINK TO SURVEY: https://lnkd.in/gJpv57Tk
SMU DataArts reposted this
For its first several years, Spokane Word has by necessity kept its operations lean, concentrating almost all available funding on building out its recording studio to make it a more useful community resource. As a small nonprofit, their $12,500 Community Accelerator Grant award has allowed them to earmark significantly more funding for programming in the year ahead, which Luc says “has gotten us out of survival mode and helped us build real consistency.” “This year especially, we felt like we really needed somebody to be on us, to meet us where we’re at, to encourage us. And that’s what [the Community Accelerator Grant] has been able to do.” - Luc Jasmin To read more, please visit https://lnkd.in/g7QBJMBY. Photos courtesy of Spokane Word
SMU DataArts reposted this
This SMU DataArts analysis shows how financial realities in the arts vary dramatically by organization budget size, with major implications for revenue mix, staffing, and long-term sustainability. Understanding these patterns is essential for stronger financial management in arts and culture organizations. 📊 Explore the data: https://lnkd.in/edVUgXay #ArtsManagement #NonprofitFinance #ArtsLeadership
SMU DataArts reposted this
Last year I worked with the Cultural Alliance of Niagara on a capacity-building plan for their all-volunteer organization. As part of that process we compared Niagara County's arts ecosystem to others in the surrounding region - with some surprising results. Thank you to SMU DataArts for inviting me to share more about how we used the Arts Vibrancy Index as part of that project. #artsresearch #artsadvocacy #culturaldata #culturalpolicy #webbmgmt https://lnkd.in/eeeStPZr
What are the biggest challenges for local cultural organizations? How should we be investing in and advocating for our communities? Consultants from Webb Mgmt recently undertook a project using comparative arts data to provide research and planning support for the Cultural Alliance of Niagara to address these critical questions. Stacey McMath, senior consultant and professor at Bard College and Columbia University School of the Arts, shares details about this process along with surprising results that became a tool for advocacy and sector-building. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gzmXDMMt #Niagara #NY #ArtsVibrancy
Aubrey Bergauer kicks off another season of The Offstage Mic podcast with a candid look at what recent arts research is telling us, and why data is one of the most powerful tools leaders have for building long-term sustainability. In this episode, Aubrey draws on findings from our National Trends 2025 research — including shifts in attendance patterns and the evolving balance between earned and contributed revenue — and connects them to a broader conversation about data and where the sector goes from here. 🎙️ If you work in or care about the arts, this one is worth a listen. 👇
Hard does not mean impossible. 🧡 This season of The Offstage Mic, we are looking at how to change the narrative for our arts organizations in these times we're in now. This episode lays out the state of the union—the challenges fieldwide according to several research studies from SMU DataArts, JCA, and Advisory Board for the Arts. Because only if we understand what we are up against can we start to diagnose and create solutions. I wasn't even sure if I was going to do a season six. But then I came across a bunch of new data, research, and case studies about how we can do our jobs managing and leading our performing arts organizations better and more effectively, and I felt it was all so helpful...and hopefully will be helpful to you too. Season 6 starts now, and I've got the data roundup every arts leader needs right now…wherever you get your podcasts. (Lnk in comments) Because hard does not mean impossible. 🧡
At SMU DataArts, we are committed to advancing the arts and culture sector through data-driven insights and impactful research. Our 2025 Annual Report highlights a year of collaboration, meaningful engagement, and expanded research—exploring sector trends in finances and operations, arts vibrancy, workplace dynamics, and the evolving role of AI in nonprofit arts. While 2025 proved to be a standout year for visibility, none of this would be possible without the incredible community that shows up, shares our work, and believes in this mission alongside us. Read the full report 🔗 https://buff.ly/I2kgFLC #SMU #ArtsResearch
Excited to share that SMU DataArts is a proud research partner in the launch of DREAM (Data & Research on Equity in Art Museums) — a two-year pilot program stewarded by Museums Moving Forward. DREAM brings together researchers from MMF, Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums, Burns Halperin Report, and SMU DataArts to streamline data collection efforts for the art museum sector, with support from the Mellon Foundation. This initiative reflects our shared commitment to data-driven decision-making and equity in the art museum field. We look forward to the insights this collaboration will surface for participating museums and the broader sector through 2027. #artsresearch #smu
MMF is excited to announce a two-year pilot of the DREAM Consortium in partnership with Black Trustee Alliance, The Burns Halperin Report, SMU DataArts and six major US art museums: Dia Art Foundation, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Perez Art Museum Miami, Seattle Art Museum, Toledo Museum of Art, and Walker Art Center. See the full press release here: https://lnkd.in/gqzqwAmm
When he's not analyzing datasets to support strategic decisions in the arts, our Associate Director for Research Daniel Fonner is teaching emerging arts leaders how to use data strategically and ethically. We are not sure when he sleeps, but we are proud to work with him!
From marimba performances to data-driven insights, Professor Daniel Fonner’s journey is anything but traditional — and it’s shaping the future of nonprofit leadership. 🎶📊 At SMU Meadows School of the Arts, he’s helping students blend creativity, analytics, and ethical decision-making to make a real impact in their communities. Discover how data and purpose come together to drive meaningful change. 👇 https://lnkd.in/epAndvgC #NonprofitLeadership #DataDriven #HigherEd #SMU #ArtsAndNonprofit