Social Science Research Council

October 31-November 1, 2003
Claremont Graduate University
Claremont, California

“Making the Case for the Impact of Art on People’s Lives,” organized and led by the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, examined the question of how people experience art as a source of value in their lives.

The premise of the conference was that better understanding of this issue can not only enrich human experience but also benefit the arts, arts institutions, and cultural policy. The conference built on the observation that social science investments in this area have focused primarily on the secondary goods produced by individual engagement with the arts (improving academic performance, increasing self-esteem, building community ties, etc). Relatively little empirical research, in contrast, has tried to specify the value of the experience of art itself, and how such experience might be measured. The conference brought together an interdisciplinary group of psychologists, sociologists, arts educators, general educators, and museum educators, architects, musicians, and visual artists to consider this set of issues.

For the complete report on the conference, please see the link at right..

Participants

Jeremy Hunter, The Quality of Life Research Center, Claremont Graduate University

Jeanne Nakamura, The Quality of Life Research Center, Claremont Graduate University

Linda Duke, Indianapolis Museum of Art

Michael Rotondi, Roto Architects

Kathy Guiffre, Dept. of Sociology, Colorado College

Lynn Liben, Professor of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University

Robert Manchin, Gallup Organization Europe

Lois Hetland, Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Jeff Hayward, People, Places and Design Research

Sarah Hendren, UCLA, J.P. Getty Trust

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, The Quality of Life Research Center, Claremont Graduate University

Joe Karaganis, Director, Arts Program, SSRC

Joan Shigekawa, Rockefeller Foundation