Mapping Cultural Participation in Chicago - Cultural Policy Center

Mapping Cultural Participation in ChicagoWe matched all the addresses of participants in the smaller institutions against theaddress records for the large institutions. For each category—Diverse, Ethnic, and Other—we classified every household as either participating only in that category of institution oras participating also in a large institution. The results are shown in Tables 1, 2, and 3.Table 1:Participation Overlap between Diverse Institutions and Larger Cultural InstitutionsOverlap Count %Diverse/Also in Larger Institutions 23,000 43Diverse/Not in Larger Institutions 30,000 57Totals 53,000 100Table 1 shows that more than half (57 percent) of the households that participate in theDiverse institutions in our sample do not also participate in the larger institutions; thusthese institutions are reaching an additional audience. Map 16 shows the distribution ofthis additional audience. It is mostly on the North Side, away from the lakefront, but withsignificant pockets on the South Side that do not appear in the density map for the largeinstitutions.Table 2:Participation Overlap between Ethnic Institutions and Larger Cultural InstitutionsOverlap Count %Ethnic/Also in Larger Institutions 11,000 27Ethnic/Not in Larger Institutions 31,000 73Totals 42,000 100Table 2 shows that in the case of Ethnic institutions, the additional audience is aneven greater proportion of the total. About three quarters (73 percent) of their audiencedoes not participate in the larger institutions. Map 17, which displays the density ofparticipation in ethnically specific institutions, is dramatically different from the generalmap of participation density. The concentrations are on the South Side and the southcentral areas, with relatively little density on the North Side, especially along thelakefront.Other smaller institutions also tap additional audiences; the location of theseaudiences depends on the nature and location of the institutions.To put these results in context, we look at the audiences for the Other arts organizationsin our sample. Table 3 shows that, as for Ethnic and Diverse institutions, the majority(in this case, 64 percent) of the audience does not participate in the larger organizations.Map 18 shows the geographical distribution of this additional audience. The concentrationsare on the North Side, not by the lake, with pockets of high density in the Hyde Park andKenwood and Beverly areas on the South Side.46 Ethnic, Diverse, and Other Institutions