Culture Track: Focus on Boston
Today, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), revealed the results of an in-depth study of Boston’s cultural audience, Culture Track 2014: Focus on Boston, to an audience of the region’s cultural leaders. Revealing new insights into the unique characteristics and tendencies of greater Boston’s cultural audiences, the study results offer data that is meant to inform strategic planning and ensure enduring growth of regional arts and culture institutions. Commissioned by the MFA on behalf of Boston’s cultural community, this is the first city edition of Culture Track—the largest ongoing national tracking study of cultural consumers’ ever-changing attitudes and behavior, developed by the cultural strategy, design and advertising firm, LaPlaca Cohen. The study, Culture Track 2014: Focus on Boston, found that compared to audiences nationwide, Bostonians are more culturally engaged, more curious, more informed and more open to new cultural experiences. They are also more scheduled, more stressed, and more likely to view inconvenience as a barrier to participation. For Culture Track: Focus on Boston, LaPlaca Cohen partnered with the research firm Campbell Rinker, to survey 1,238 Boston cultural consumers earlier this year. Measuring everything from demographics to attendance to media usage, the findings explore the evolving needs and desires of Boston’s cultural consumers and present a new understanding of its unique community. Issues that rose to the surface include: expansion of what “culture” means in a complex world; rise of mobile activity; increasing importance of cultural activities to young audiences, including the desire to socialize with friends; and growing use of social media.
“This study—commissioned by the MFA—gets inside Boston’s unique cultural mindset, which is deeply informed, engaged and unique. We expect that it will help as we build and diversify our audiences in the future,” said Malcolm Rogers, Ann and Graham Gund Director at the MFA. “It’s a privilege for us to share the findings with Boston’s cultural community.”
Methodology
LaPlaca Cohen worked in partnership with research firm Campbell Rinker to field the national study of Culture Track 2014. The study was conducted in 2014 using an online survey with 4,026 respondents representing all 50 states. Culture Track: Focus on Boston used the same questionnaire as the national study, with a few additional questions added regarding cultural institutions unique to the Boston area. The Boston study was conducted using an online survey with 1,238 respondents from the Boston/New Hampshire DMA.
About the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), is recognized for the quality and scope of its collection, which includes an estimated 500,000 objects. The Museum has more than 140 galleries displaying its encyclopedic collection, which includes Art of the Americas; Art of Europe; Contemporary Art; Art of Asia, Oceania, and Africa; Art of the Ancient World; Prints, Drawings, and Photographs; Textile and Fashion Arts; and Musical Instruments. Open seven days a week, the MFA’s hours are Saturday through Tuesday, 10 am–4:45 pm; and Wednesday through Friday, 10 am–9:45 pm Admission (which includes one repeat visit within 10 days) is $25 for adults and $23 for seniors and students age 18 and older, and includes entry to all galleries and special exhibitions. Admission is free for University Members and youths age 17 and younger on weekdays after 3 pm, weekends, and Boston Public Schools holidays; otherwise $10. Wednesday nights after 4 pm admission is by voluntary contribution (suggested donation $25). MFA Members are always admitted for free. The Museum’s mobile MFA Guide is available at ticket desks and the Sharf Visitor Center for $5, members; $6, non-members; and $4, youths. The Museum is closed on New Year’s Day, Patriots’ Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. For more information, visit mfa.org or call 617.267.9300. The MFA is located on the Avenue of the Arts at 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.
About LaPlaca Cohen
Based in New York City, LaPlaca Cohen is the only strategy, design and full-service advertising firm in the U.S. that exclusively serves the creative and cultural sector. For more than twenty years, LaPlaca Cohen has helped many of the world’s leading creative and cultural organizations tell their stories, building connections that amplify an institution’s impact on its community and the world. LaPlaca Cohen’s clients are an unparalleled roster of leading museums, performing arts organizations, architecture firms, orchestras, dance companies, corporate sponsors, foundations, and collectors. For more information, please visit www.laplacacohen.com.
