Social Impact of the Arts Project
University of Pennsylvania

Dynamics of Culture

Since 1994, the Social Impact of the Arts Project (SIAP) has sought to develop methods for examining the character of Philadelphia’s cultural sector and understanding its impact on the region. The Dynamics of Culture (DOC) project, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, is SIAP’s latest and most ambitious effort. Between 2003 and 2005, we have sought to refine and replicate our earlier investigations, develop new methods for understanding the role of artists and the informal sector, and use our research to generate a broader public conversation about the role the arts play in promoting the well-being of Philadelphia and its neighborhoods.

I. Introduction: Culture vs. Policy

II. Changing Ecology of Culture

Working Paper #2005-1: The Dynamics of Cultural Participation: Metropolitan Philadelphia 1996 – 2004

Working Paper #2005-2: ‘Natural’ Cultural Districts: Arts Agglomerations in Metropolitan Philadelphia and Implications for Cultural District Planning

“Truly Disadvantaged? An Exploratory Analysis of Nonprofit Organizations in Urban Neighborhoods” by Lindsay Taggart Rutherford

III. Artists, Networks, and the New Urban Reality

Working Paper #2005-3: Artists in the Winner-Take-All Economy: Artists’ Inequality in Six U.S. Metropolitan Areas, 1980 – 2000

Working Paper #2005-4: Gauging the Informal Arts Sector, Metropolitan Philadelphia 2004

Working Paper #2005-5: Artists and their Social Networks, Metropolitan Philadelphia 2004

Working Paper #2003-1: Institutional Networks Serving Artists: A Look at Philadelphia

IV. New Civil Society and the Arts

Summary of “Arts-in-Place: Philadelphia’s Cultural Landscape,” University of Pennsylvania Urban Studies program, Third Annual Public Conversation, 2003-2004

Back to home page