AEP6 Study Information & Advisory Committee

Johnson County Arts & Economic Prosperity Study 6

The arts bring us inspiration and joy and make our community a beautiful place to live and work. Whether they’re located in a small or large town, nonprofit arts and culture organizations contribute to their communities’ quality of life, including their economic development.

The nonprofit arts industry generates billions of dollars in economic activity and supports millions of jobs every year. In short, the arts mean business

This year in partnership with ArtsKC, the Arts Council of Johnson County will participate in Americans for the Arts’ Arts & Economic Prosperity Study 6 or AEP6.  Our partners at ArtsKC are facilitating a study for the Kansas City Region and ACJC is facilitating a study for Johnson County. 

Arts & Economic Prosperity studies are conducted every 5 years by Americans for the Arts.  The last study, AEP5 was done in 2015-16 (AEP6 was delayed due to the pandemic). This cycle, 387 communities, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia are participating. The timeline for the project is May 2022 through April 2023.  During this time ACJC and our AEP6 Advisory Committee will reach out to arts programs, events, organizations and performances to ask if we can collect information from their audiences.

Because this is such a big undertaking, we’re working with an advisory committee to help us connect with arts activities throughout Johnson County and recruit volunteers to assist with survey collecting (the study’s data collection tool).

Arts & Economic Prosperity Study Advisory Committee

Susan Mong, Superintendent, Johnson County Park & Recreation District Culture Division

Brittnay Noriega, Artist

JoAnne Northrup, Director, Nerman Museum

Lonita Cook, Cookie Lane Productions

Alexandria Washington, Theater Fund KC

Debbie Froelich, Johnson County Latino Leadership Network

Jasmine Thompson, ACJC Advisory Board

Holly York, Leawood Arts Council

Suzanne Ryanstrati, Dancing Together with CF

Giselle Garza, Artist and Shooting Stars 2D Finalist

Carlos Vides, ACJC Advisory Board

Jamie Lavin, Artist

Brittany Paddock, City of Edgerton Park & Recreation

Lorna Jarrett, Dancer

Process

Our goal is to collect audience intercept surveys from attendees to a diverse, inclusive, and representative sample of the arts and cultural activities that take place in Johnson County. We’ll collect a minimum of 800 surveys during the 12‐month project.  The audience‐intercept surveys must be collected from attendees while they are physically on‐site attending an in‐person activity

We’ve also committed to collecting at least 25% of the total or 200 audience surveys from attendees to activities hosted by organizations whose mission statement (or guiding principles) are centered in advancing, creating, and/or preserving artistic and cultural traditions rooted in communities of color. And/or organizations where more than 50% of their audiences/attendees identify as (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) or ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Native American).

The tool we’ll use to collect information from audiences at events happening in Johnson County is called the Audience Intercept Survey. Surveys are anonymous and confidential and can be accessed by a QR code, URL or in paper form.

All of the surveys, whether paper or digital, are sent back to Americans for the Arts, where their research team will analyze the information collected and ultimately create a report for Johnson County (most likely available in late 2023 or early 2024). Once we receive it, the report will be available on ACJC’s website.