Visions for culture
The future of arts participation in greater Sydney
The COVID-19 pandemic is changing the way people engage with arts, culture and creativity. We asked 2,500 past attendees of cultural events across the city:
‘What role can arts & culture organisations play in your community, to assist with recovery from the pandemic?’
They were asked to share ideas and examples, great or small, and their responses were clear: Sydney needs culture to recover and thrive after COVID-19. Audiences will be looking at art and culture to bring us together after isolation, help us process the pandemic and reanimate public places.
Click the button below to explore key quotes, illustrating the themes in the data: heal, connect, place, escape, transform and remodel. You can also explore this qualitative data according to artform and community segment, or keep reading below for more insights from the Audience Outlook Monitor.
Current attendance levels
Right now, Sydney audiences are comfortable to attend most types of cultural venues, but particularly museums and galleries (93%), community art spaces (85%) and outdoor events (64%).
One in four (25%) have returned to a cultural venue or event recently, and more are making plans to do so in future. Most returning audiences have had great experiences, and appreciate the hard work from venue operators to make people feel safe. Naturally some feel very cautious and report feeling uneasy where social distancing is not being applied.
Click the button below to download a report with statistics and data about how Sydney audiences feel about arts and culture right now, what they’re doing online and how they’re feeling about the future.
It’s based on data collected from over 2,500 past attendees of cultural events like concerts, festivals, galleries and exhibitions, made available by City of Sydney as part of the Audience Outlook Monitor study in Australia.
Key insights: Sydney audience sentiment
About this data
Sydney Visions for Culture is designed by Patternmakers with support from City of Sydney. It’s a resource for culture practitioners, arts organisations, local governments and event organisers.
It draws upon data collected by Patternmakers and WolfBrown as a part of the Audience Outlook Monitor, an international study tracking audience attitudes and behaviours in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The data reported here is based on the Phase 3 (September 2020) survey of over 2,000 past attendees of cultural events in Sydney, including concerts, festivals, exhibitions and workshops.
For more information about this project, and the Audience Outlook Monitor in Australia, head over to the study homepage where you can browse more of the resources and read about the background to the study.
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