On the 23rd May 2018, Creative New Zealand released results from a triennial survey conducted by Colmar Brunton which measures Bay Of Plenty residents engagement with the arts compared to the rest of New Zealand aged 15+.
The 60-page document looks at attendance and participation in different art forms, as well as wider attitudes to the arts.
Findings show that in general, residents in the Bay Of Plenty are engaged with the arts and recognise the benefits the arts bring to the region. However, attendance and participation is seen to be lower with choice and price emerging as a key barriers to engagement in the region. It emerged that there is gap between the perceived quality of the arts in the Bay Of Plenty versus the whole of New Zealand.
We are pleased to receive quality research of this depth and integrity, particularly as it benchmarks our community’s feedback against national trends.
‘It is the responsibility of Creative Bay of Plenty to leverage the insights from this data to explore, meaningful strategic progress for our sector, said General manager Meg Davis.
The insight provides another dimension of data to support the work that the community undertook last year with the development of Toi Moana, the regional Arts & Culture Strategy.
“The more we know, the more we can understand and the more we can grow in relevance for our community,” said Chair Michelle Whitmore.
“Already we are trawling through the data, and posing questions back to the researchers so that we might better understand the results, with everything driven by a desire to deliver what this community wants and needs,” she said.
Read the full report including the findings for Bay Of Plenty
