ATLANTA, GA.- Today, the High Museum of Art announced it has been approved for a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Research Grants in the Arts award of $80,000 to support a two-year well-being study examining the social, emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual effects of art museum visitation on diverse adult populations. With this award, the High becomes the first museum in the United States to lead an NEA research grant in the arts.
“The High serves as a haven for connection and engagement, which is more important now than ever as we face the growing, national crises of loneliness and social isolation,” said the High’s Director Rand Suffolk. “We’re so grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts for their support of our research, which will quantify how art museums can change their communities, and individuals’ lives, in incredible ways. While scholars have recently started focusing on these critical topics, few studies of this nature have been conducted in art museums or in the Southeastern United States, so our project offers many opportunities to break new ground and offer important insights.”
This funding launches the first major research project of the High’s new institutional research division, led by principal investigators Dr. Andrew Westover (Eleanor M. Storza deputy director, learning and civic engagement) and Julia Forbes (associate director of institutional research). The grant is one of only 18 awarded by the NEA this year to support a broad range of research studies that investigate the value or impact of the arts. Starting this year and concluding in 2027, the High will conduct its study in partnership with Brenau University, including principal investigator Dr. Barbara Steinhaus, and with Atlanta-based arts and health research firm Performance Hypothesis, which will support protocol and data collection.
“This research grant expands the High’s capacity as a knowledge-building institution,” said Westover. “Through quantitative and qualitative tools, this mixed-methods research project will focus on how art engages individual flourishing and wellbeing. Further, the study will explore how art museums can support bonds across differences of affinities, experiences, identities and beliefs, to better understand how art museums can help create a stronger civil society.”
To conduct the study, the High will observe the capacity for social, emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual growth in visitors who participate in three of the High’s signature art education programs, each designed for specific audiences: Access for All (older adults), Oasis (all adults) and UPS Second Sundays (families). Data collection will start this summer and will include surveys, interviews and body metrics, among other research tools.
“We anticipate that the results of this research will provide data-driven rationale for how visual art museums may contribute to individual growth and interpersonal development for visitors,” said Forbes. “With these anticipated findings, the High and its partners will share resulting evidence with policymakers to advance resource allocation for the visual arts, continue further research and enhance arts and civic engagement.”
