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Arts and Policy

RAND's work on arts and policy studies the role that governmental agencies play in the availability of arts education, in cultivating a demand for the arts in society as a whole, and in developing and supporting strategies to maintain interest and participation in the arts.

Commentary
Arts Policy During the Pandemic: What Are We Measuring, and What Can We Know?
Few data sources exist for the labor market for artists. Of the sources that do exist, each measures a different piece of a larger puzzle. Those studying the arts labor market will have to grapple with which data source to use and how “the arts” should be defined before undertaking any analysis.
Mar 8, 2021
Report
Cultural and Historical Resources Recovery Planning in Puerto Rico: Natural and Cultural Resources Sector Report, Volume II
Many of Puerto Rico's cultural resources were devastated in Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The authors discuss their importance, the damage they endured immediately after the storms, and detail recovery actions in Puerto Rico's recovery plan.
Sep 30, 2020
Dissertation
Vibrant Symphony Orchestras: A Policy Analytic Perspective
Addresses American symphony orchestras and the unusual economic challenges they face, which are shared by many performing arts organizations.
Dec 12, 2016
Dissertation
Considering Cultural Integration in the United States: Empirical Essays on Immigrants' Arts Participation
Explores arts participation as a means of broader civic and social engagement facilitating immigrants' integration into the United States.
Sep 21, 2016
Periodical
RAND Review: May-June 2016
This issue highlights integrative medicine and the future of health care; the RAND American Life Panel; a commentary on how to expedite the process of resolving open cases at Guantánamo Bay; women soldiers on the special ops battlefield; and more.
May 2, 2016
Commentary
Putting the Spring in the Arab Spring
Qatar has a salsa scene. Dubai hosted the big international Fujairah Latin Festival. The Oman Salsa Festival took place in March. Jordan and Cairo both have a salsa scene. What makes this so conversation-worthy is that it is indicative of a growing cultural openness in parts of the Middle East.
Jun 17, 2013
Report
Artists and the Arab Uprisings
Artists can play a positive role in shaping public debate and supporting democratic transition in the Middle East. This report explores challenges to artists after the Arab uprisings and how governments and nongovernmental actors can support them.
May 28, 2013
Commentary
A Gap in Cultural Intelligence
High-end collectors and cultural-heritage abusers alike would benefit from a boost in cultural intelligence, or “CQ,” to grasp the interrelation of art, culture, economic development, and human rights, writes Erik Nemeth.
Feb 26, 2013
Commentary
The Diplomatic Power of Art
Museum directors and owners of private collections can wait to be challenged on the provenance of artifacts of foreign cultural heritage—or realize an opportunity for strengthening relations with the source nation, writes Erik Nemeth.
Nov 16, 2012
Journal Article
The Diplomatic Power of Art
Even as cultural property faces immediate peril today in conflict zones like Syria and Mali, there is anecdotal evidence that some nations are awakening to the diplomatic and foreign policy benefits that can flow from the repatriation of cultural patrimony.
Nov 1, 2012
Commentary
Repatriating Part of Saddam Statue Could Promote Democracy
Proactive protection and repatriation of artworks and artifacts can demonstrate our respect for another nation's heritage when the chaos of conflict obscures the value of cultural identity, writes Erik Nemeth.
Jun 7, 2012
Journal Article
Strategic Value of African Tribal Art: Auction Sales Trends as Cultural Intelligence
This paper explores the potential of the art market for open-source intelligence assessments of cultural security.
Apr 1, 2012
Journal Article
Security of Cultural Property: U.S. Engagement and Potential for Improvement
This paper assesses the role of historic sites and antiquities in foreign engagement. Over the past century, U.S. foreign policy has had successes and shortcomings in leveraging protection of cultural patrimony to strategic advantage.
Jan 1, 2012
Multimedia
Nurturing the Arab Spring: What Can Be Done to Remove Existing Barriers to Freedom of Expression in the Arab World?
In this June 2011 Congressional Briefing, RAND researchers discuss the growing body of creative works produced by Arab authors and artists that counter the intellectual and ideological underpinnings of violent extremism, factors that thwart the distribution of such works, and policy recommendations for overcoming those barriers.
Jun 13, 2011
Report
Assessing Policies to Curtail the Illegal Trade in Cultural Property
Despite a range of legislative and policy interventions, the trade in illicit art and antiquities continues to flourish, resulting in damage to the arts, scholarship, and heritage. RAND Europe explored new ways of curtailing the illegal trade in cultural property.
Mar 29, 2011
Journal Article
Art Sales as Cultural Intelligence: Analysis of the Auction Market for African Tribal Art
This paper examines auction sales of African tribal art for the continent as a whole and by individual nations of origin.
Jan 1, 2011
Journal Article
Collecting Cultural Intelligence: The Tactical Value of Cultural Property
This paper defines a framework for the collection of cultural intelligence as a fundamental asset in countering threats to cultural security.
Jan 1, 2011
Report
Barriers to the Broad Dissemination of Creative Works in the Arab World
Many analysts have examined the media that violent extremists use to communicate their core messages. Far less research, however, has been devoted to the growing body of creative works produced by Arab authors and artists that counter the intellectual and ideological underpinnings of violent extremism.
Sep 4, 2009
Research Brief
Emerging Trends in State Arts Policy
This research brief describes an effort carried out to describe and understand the strategies being used by innovative state arts agencies to deal with today's financial and political realities.
Nov 12, 2008
Report
Trends and Future Prospects for the Arts Predict Changing Role for State Agencies
State arts agencies — key players within the U.S. system of public support for the arts — face a wide varitey of challenges to their typical roles as grantmakers. The author concludes that future state arts policy is likely to focus more on efforts to develop the creative economy and to grow the audience for the arts.
Oct 29, 2008

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

James V. Marrone

Economist

Jim Marrone (he/him) is an economist at RAND Corporation. He is primarily a methodologist, using a variety of statistical methods to conduct causal inference for national security research. Major topical focuses are: military families and young servicemembers; counter-extremism and…
Susan A. Resetar

Senior Operations Researcher

Susan Resetar (she/her) is a senior operations researcher with over 25 years of public policy research at the RAND Corporation, working in the areas of strategic planning, climate and environmental policy, disaster management and recovery, climate change risks to critical infrastructure and…

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