Opportunities : Research

The Research Center for Arts and Culture acts as a complement and resource for the Program, offering opportunities each year to arts administration students with a special interest in research and cultural policy. The Center is committed to applied research in the relatively new disciplines of arts management and arts law, providing the academic auspices for exploration, education, policy-making and action.

Sample studies over the last 15 years include:

Taking Note: A Study of Composers and New Music Activity in the United States (2008)

Above Ground: Information on Artists III Special Focus New York City Aging Artists (2007)

Making Changes: Facilitating the Transition of Dancers to Post-Performance Careers (2004)

Information on Artists I and II
National studies of the work-related, human and social service needs of artists (1997, 1988)

From Information on Artists II:

"Grantmakers interested in the lives and working conditions of individual artists will find this study helpful."Grantmakers in the Arts Newsletter, Fall 1998

"Despite the cliche of the starving artist, isolated commercially and socially from the mainstream, artists today generally bring home middle-class bacon and get involved in their communities, according to a Columbia University study."The Columbus Dispatch, November 8, 1998

"One of the major accomplishments connected with the recent study is the initial gathering of trend data on artists." Backstage, Sept. 25 - Oct. 1, 1998

"The information on Artists I project directly contradicts many common assumptions that are made about [artists]." New Art Examiner, June/Summer 1992

The Artist Speaks Series (published by Greenwood Press)

• The Actor Speaks (1994)
• The Painter Speaks (1993)
• The Craftsperson Speaks (1992)
• The Artists Training and Career Project

"Judging from a nationwide survey of 920 painters conducted by Columbia University's Research Center for Arts and Culture, artists actually do pretty well financially -- if slightly better than average is considered good." ARTnews, Dec. 1991

Artisthelp: A Guide to Artists' Work-Related, Human and Social Services (1989)

"The listings do not necessarily refer to artist-oriented groups-rather, they reflect a variety of services and benefits for individuals whose income fall below the federally mandated poverty threshold." Artist Trust, Summer, 1991

New Curriculum in Nonprofit Law in Central and Eastern Europe (1993)

St. Petersburg 2003 (1993)

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Image: The Van Amringe Memorial Quadrangle by William Ordway Partridge in front of John Jay Hall