The arts are flourishing in Colorado — but many Coloradans feel they are not getting the news and information they need.
With traditional advertising models for journalism broken, and local media forced to cut back severely on staff and resources, arts coverage has shriveled over the past decade. At the same time, with consumer habits changing toward digital and social media, there’s a glut of largely disorganized information about events available. This reality leaves people feeling overwhelmed, and at a loss about where and how to connect.
In 2019, with support from the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation and Gates Family Foundation, the Colorado Media Project worked with Colorado Public Radio/Denverite and Rocky Mountain Public Media to explore these questions:
How do Coloradans want to know about and engage with arts and culture in our state and how can media outlets and art organizations serve those needs? How do underrepresented communities in particular feel they are being served by arts and culture organizations and media coverage of arts and culture?
The answer: It’s complicated. People feel overwhelmed by information yet feel they aren’t getting what they need from current sources. They long for a sense of community among artists, arts audiences, and arts funders, but struggle to figure out how to build it.
Conducted together with our partners, insights from research and community conversations suggest some ways forward.
Statewide survey of arts access and news media
This survey by Corona Insights of 2,000+ Coloradans, oversampling for racial and ethnic minorities, asked how Coloradans engage with arts and culture in the state, and how they get their information. View the report below or browse the full dataset.
Community listening insights report
With the help of Hearken, which develops engagement strategies for newsrooms, we led stakeholders in conducting nearly 50 in-depth one-on-one conversations with community members. We also hosted a community design meeting to develop ideas for newsrooms on deepening arts and culture coverage and engagement.
10 key takeaways from our arts & culture research
Here are are top takeaways on what Coloradans want from arts and culture media coverage, synthesizing results from our statewide survey and our nearly 50 in-depth one-on-one community listening interviews.
COLab COllage CONcept
During 2019 Denver Arts Week, Colorado Media Project, Colorado Public Radio/Denverite, Rocky Mountain Pubic Media, Corona Insights and Hearken presented results of research and community listening on arts and culture coverage at History Colorado.
And we made some art together.
Michael Gadlin, local mixed-media artist and host of “Arts District” on Rocky Mountain PBS, led our attendees in creating a multimedia collage, incorporating ticket stubs, playbills, stickers and whatever other mementos reminded us of our own experiences with the arts and local media in Colorado. The finished artwork will be proudly displayed at the new COLab, a collaborative newsroom located in the Buell Public Media Center, Rocky Mountain PBS’ building in downtown Denver. Stay tuned to our newsletter and social channels for updates!
