Benchmarks on Audiences and Communities in 2021

August 24, 2021

As summer comes to a close, we wanted to look back at the first 8 months of 2021 to understand how arts executives have been thinking about everything from digital to DEI&A. We've compiled data from some of our most interesting Arts Executive polls from the first part of the year on a variety of topics.

Highlights from the surveys include:

• Confidence in full-capacity crowds by the end of 2021 grew steadily across the first part of the year, though many are still doubting their ability to host pre-pandemic capacity anytime soon.

• Most organizations plan to continue their digital efforts in some form once they are back to in-person activities, but more as a complement to live rather than a substitute.

• DEI&A remains a very important topic — it is the top motivator for arts organizations' community engagement activities. Most organizations are tackling multiple priorities within DEI&A.