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The Performing Arts Databases page contains database and catalog resources in the performing arts areas of research. The databases are stand-alone resources that are not integrated with the rest of the Library's digital collections or catalogs.

These databases are managed by the Library of Congress's Music Division; the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division; and the American Folklife Center.

Databases available via the Performing Arts Databases include the following resources:

• Chasanoff/Elozua "Amazing Grace" Collection
• It's Showtime! Sheet Music from Stage and Screen
• Jazz on the Screen Filmography
• Show Music on Record
• Silent Feature Film
• Tap Dance in America
• Traditional Music & Spoken Word
• U.S. ISMN Public Archive

The State-Level Estimates of Arts Participation Patterns (2012-2015) highlights selected arts-participation rates for all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. These summary statistics were derived from the following studies: ANNUAL ARTS BASIC SURVEY, 2015 [UNITED STATES]; ANNUAL ARTS BASIC SURVEY, 2014 [UNITED STATES]; and SURVEY OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN THE ARTS (SPPA), 2012 [UNITED STATES].

The following tables are provided:

• Tables 1 and 1a-1d - Events Attended: Reports AABS 2015 data on attendance at visual and performing arts events.

  Includes - attending a live music, theater, or dance performance; attending a live book reading, poetry, or storytelling event; going to see an art exhibit; going to a movie; and touring/visiting buildings, neighborhoods, parks, or monuments for their historical, architectural, or design value.

• Table 2 - Literature Read: Shows AABS 2015 data on literary-reading rates.

  Includes - reading novels, short stories, poems, or plays.

• Table 3 - Performed or Created Artworks: Shows AABS 2014 data on personal performance and creation of artworks.

  Includes - making pottery, ceramics or jewelry; making leatherwork, metalwork, or woodwork; making weaving, crocheting, or other textile art; playing a musical instrument; acting; performing or practicing dance; doing social dancing; performing or practicing singing; creating films or videos; taking photographs for artistic purposes; creating other visual arts (e.g., paintings, sculpture, or graphic design; and doing creative writing.

• Table 4 - Arts Consumed via Electronic Media: Features SPPA 2012 data on arts consumption via electronic media.

  Includes - Use TV, Radio, and/or the Internet to watch, listen to, and/or download any: jazz; Latin, Spanish, or salsa music; classical music; opera; rock, pop, country, folk, rap, or hip-hop; musicals or stage plays; ballet, modern, or contemporary dance; other dance programs or shows; programs about visual arts such as painting, sculpture, graphic design, or photography; programs or information about books or writers, or other books, short stories, or poetry read out loud.

This data collection is comprised of responses from two sets of survey questionnaires, the basic Current Population Survey (CPS) and a survey administered as a supplement to the July 2012 basic CPS questionnaire. The supplement, on the topic of public participation in the arts in the United States, was sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The CPS, administered monthly, collects labor force data about the civilian noninstitutional population aged 15 years old or older living in the United States. Moreover, the CPS provides current estimates of the economic status and activities of this population which includes estimates of total employment (both farm and nonfarm), nonfarm self-employed persons, domestics, and unpaid helpers in nonfarm family enterprises, wage and salaried employees, and estimates of total unemployment. The basic CPS data are provided on labor force activity for the week prior to the survey. In addition, CPS provides respondents' demographic characteristics such as age, sex, race, marital status, educational attainment, family relationship, occupation, and industry.

In addition to the basic CPS questions, interviewers asked supplementary questions on public participation in the arts of two randomly selected household members aged 18 or older from about one-half of the sampled CPS households. Interviews were conducted during the period of July 15-21, 2012. The supplement contained questions about the sampled member's participation in various artistic activities from July 1, 2011 through July 1, 2012. If the selected person had a spouse or partner, then the respondent answered questions on behalf of their spouse/partner. Therefore, the spouse/partner responses are proxies. If a respondent was answering for themselves and on behalf of their spouse or partner, the respondent and spouse/partner questions followed the same path through the instrument. Spouse/partner questions were asked on core participation (Core 1 or Core 2), leisure activities (Module D), and the first four questions of Module A. The total sample size of the 2012 SPPA was 35,735 American adults, ages 18 and over.

The 2012 SPPA included two core components: a questionnaire used in previous years to ask about arts attendance; and a new, experimental module on arts attendance. In addition, the survey included five modules designed to capture other types of arts participation as well as participation in other leisure activities. Respondents were randomly assigned to either of the survey's core questionnaires, and then were randomly assigned to two of the remaining five SPPA modules. Questions were asked about the type of artistic activity, the frequency of participation, training and exposure, musical and artistic preferences, school-age socialization, and computer and device usage related to artistic information. The topics were separated into the five modules (each module was administered to only a portion of the sampled cases):

• Module A: Other Attendance and Music Preferences (reading, film, or sporting event attendance; other live performances; and music listening preferences)
• Module B: Accessing Art through Media (using media for participation in artistic events and frequency of participation in past year)
• Module C: Creating Arts through Media (participation in certain types of other leisure or artistic activities, public artistic performances, and using media to share activities in past year)
• Module D: Creating, Performing, and Other Activities (sport activities, other art activities, and musical performance activities in past year)
• Module E: Arts Learning (art related lessons or classes, respondent age during lessons/classes, location of lessons/classes, respondents' parents' education, and the participation of the respondents' school age children)

Conducted by the Urban Institute, the Cultural Participation Survey 1998 was the first in a series of surveys evaluating the Community Partnerships for Cultural Participation (CPCP) initiative. In the CPCP initiative, a total of ten community foundations around the country received grants from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund to induce more people to attend arts and cultural events, encourage people who attend to contribute their time and money as well, and attract people who do not usually attend. The Urban Institute was commissioned to evaluate the initiative through surveys of households and organizations in five of these communities.

The Cultural Participation Survey 1998 measured leisure time activities, organizational involvement attendance at arts and culture events, and personal participation in arts and cultural activities by individuals in five geographic areas: the Kansas City metropolitan area; Humboldt County, California; Mayfair (San Jose), California; Milpitas, California; and Gilroy, California. From November 10, 1998 through December 12, 1998, a total of 2,406 computer-aided telephone interviews were conducted across all five geographic areas.