NALAC National Study of Latinx/é Arts and Culture Organizations
NALAC’s research project, the National Study of Latinx/é Arts and Culture Organizations, will expand on its 2019 national assessment of the Latinx/é arts and culture field. Together with its research partner, NORC at the University of Chicago, NALAC’s new study will quantify the historic disinvestment of Latinx/é arts organizations in the U.S., including Puerto Rico.
Overview
As part of the Wallace Foundation’s ongoing $100+ million arts initiative seeking to better understand how arts organizations founded by, for, and with communities of color can advance their own well-being and that of their communities, NALAC has been selected for equity-focused research funding. NALAC, in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago, will conduct a field study on the state of Latinx/é arts and culture organizations in the U.S., including Puerto Rico. In 2024 and 2025, the study will expand on our 2019 National Assessment of the Latino Arts Field which focused on creating a comprehensive inventory, detailed profile, and assessment of existing organizational statistics and data. The design for the expanded study in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago is aimed at surveying a broader and more representative sample of Latinx/é arts and culture organizations.
Goals and Deliverables
Finding that the contributions of thousands of Latinx/é artists and organizations in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, remain unknown and underrepresented in the systems, structures, and research that support the mainstream arts sector today, this research expansion project is intended to advance the needs and raise their visibility. In the expansion study, we will identify and survey a larger and more inclusive sample of Latinx/é arts and culture organizations through a web-based survey and develop an analytic plan that aligns with the key aims of the study. At the end of its two-year project term, NALAC and NORC will produce a narrative report highlighting the research findings as well as a research brief focused on key learnings and takeaways for the field.
Grounded in the mission to promote and advance the work of the field, we also intend to build two digital resources that will disseminate new knowledge and insights. Through the development of an interactive website and a digital advocacy toolkit, we will catalyze broad impact, offering an effective means of getting the results into the field, including the broader national arts service and philanthropic communities.
The Study will investigate the following research questions:
- How can varied sampling methods be utilized to create a broader and more inclusive national network of Latinx/é arts organizations than that which currently exists?
- What does the broader, more inclusive network of Latinx/é arts organizations look like?
- How has the Latinx/é arts organization landscape shifted since the prior national survey conducted by NALAC?
- How has the philanthropic community supported these organizations, and how can it best do so going forward?
Impact
At NALAC, we view the study as Phase 2 of a larger effort to help uncover and better understand the universe of Latinx/é arts and culture organizations in the United States. We recognize the power of a national survey to help us begin to fill in the gaps in the portrait of the field and to think about how the network could increase its formidable voice with an expanded sample and enhanced questions. The deeper and more comprehensive inventory and analysis of the national Latinx/é arts service landscape will help chart the future course of NALAC and the field, and it will support our efforts to build on the impact we have made across all our programs to create more adaptive, resilient, and sustainable arts organizations.
We look forward to how the research will advance the role of Latinx/é arts and culture in the larger arts ecosystem due to greater understanding and knowledge of the field by key national stakeholders.
