copyright © 1998-2007
Durham Arts Council, Inc.
120 Morris Street
Durham, NC 27701
919.560.ARTS

TODAY'S ARTS MARKET:
THE BIG PICTURE

By Louise Stevens, ArtsMarket, Inc.

1. Generational Changes and a Dichotomous Market

Much has been written about the next decade's projected transfer of wealth from the older to younger generation. Community foundations and non-profits are looking to these 10 years as their opportunity of a lifetime to win significant funds, or else wait a generation. The same transfer will happen -- is happening -- in audience participation. The older generation which has been the core arts audience and support base across virtually all disciplines and genres is rapidly disappearing, being replaced by a younger generation which has vastly different habits, interests, and perceptions.

Added to this is the dichotomous profile of the arts market that has emerged over the past few years; a harbinger of things to come. The new arts market is under age 35, there is a hole in the middle between the empty nester seniors and the new market for the arts. Why? We all waited for the boomers to "grow up and behave like their parents" -- become subscribers, members, repeat attenders. They haven't and, we believe from our research, they won't. Habits are built over time, and consumer behavior is a substantial part of their lives. However, unlike their parents, they consume the arts more selectively, less frequently, and on their own terms. They aren't a strongly invested arts market.

The hot arts market is the post-boomer generation, which is coming along with broader, more wide-ranging willingness to try diverse arts. Their sense of "the arts" is very different, far more all encompassing, and blurs the line between arts and entertainment, commercial and non-profit. They attend more frequently. They try the arts in more different venues, more disciplines and at wider price ranges. For now, they are "grazers." But they are also starting to be contributors; win them now, and they can be supporters for the long term.

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