Dallas Arts Learning Initiative

PDFDE26 | Qualitative Report | Alan Brown (he/him)(https://wolfbrown.com/team/alan-brown/), Managing Principal of WolfBrown, is a leading researcher and management consultant in the arts and culture sector worldwide. His work focuses on understanding consumer demand for cultural experiences and evaluating support structures for the arts. Brown helps industry leaders make informed decisions and respond to changing conditions. His studies have introduced new vocabulary to the lexicon of show more cultural participation. Furthermore, they have propelled the field towards a clearer view of the rapidly changing cultural landscape. | This is Qualitative Research, largely in Hispanic & African American, predominately female (12 per group) communities based on focus groups ($50 per head): the focus groups were designed to:

• Explore the meaning of the words “arts,” “culture” and “creativity,” what
positive and negative connotations they have, to guide the language used in
communications and research
• Explore what types of creative activities parents would like for their children
to do, and what types of activities their children would say they like to do, if
asked
• Understand more about how parents in different neighborhoods get their
information about family activities
• Get reactions to an array of community arts learning program ideas (focus on
content), some existing, and some fictitious, to assist arts-in-community staff in
making neighborhood-level investment decisions
• Get feedback on format, duration, and location issues related to community
programs: after-school, weekends, intensive formats vs. once a week, etc.

Two focus group discussions were conducted with parents living in each of DALI’s three pilot neighborhoods, for six discussion groups. A moderator’s topic guide was prepared by Alan Brown, a copy of which appears in the appendix. The DALI Arts-in-Community team participated in developing lists of program ideas to test. | These were informal focus groups, not conducted in a formal focus group facility with one-way mirrors, etc. Various DALI team members observed the discussions at each location and participated in a debriefing session. All six discussions were recorded on a digital audio recorder. Copies of the MP3 audio files are available through the Big Thought program accountability department |

Table of Contents

Executive Summary................................................................................................................3
Research Goals........................................................................................................................6
Methodology.....................................................................................................................7
Limitations of Focus Group Data.................................................................................8
Key Themes and Observations ............................................................................................9
Community Connections: Social Networks.................................................................9
Sources of Information.................................................................................................12
Definitions & Language................................................................................................14
Preferred Arts Activities among Children..................................................................16
Problem-Solving through Community Arts Programs.............................................19
Concept Testing Exercises ...........................................................................................23
Appendix
Moderator’s Topic Guide....................................................................................................30
Handout #1: Problems that Some Neighborhoods Have ............................................34
Handout #3: Different Ways that Arts Programs can be Offered ..............................35
Handout #2: Program Concept Testing Booklet (five legal pages).............................36 show less