Arts & Culture
ARTS & CULTURE
Understanding the Arts.
Illuminating Impact
Helping arts and cultural organizations, funders, and public agencies understand their impact, strengthen their programs, and advance the role of arts and culture in community life.
Through our specialized arts and culture practice, Shaffer Evaluation Group brings together rigorous research, evaluation expertise, and a deep understanding of the cultural sector to help clients turn evidence into meaningful action.
OUR APPROACH
Making the value of arts and culture visible.
The arts enrich individual lives, preserve cultural traditions, foster connections, and contribute to stronger communities. Yet understanding and communicating these contributions can be challenging. Not everything that matters can be easily counted, and the most meaningful outcomes often unfold over time.
Shaffer Evaluation Group partners with arts and cultural organizations, funders, and public agencies to explore these complexities through research, evaluation, and planning.
Our approach combines sound research methods with a deep appreciation for artistic practice, cultural context, and community knowledge. We engage artists, cultural practitioners, audiences, funders, and community stakeholders to ask meaningful questions and develop evidence that reflects the diversity of artistic experiences and outcomes.
Whether evaluating a youth arts initiative, studying the impact of a cultural festival, or helping a foundation assess its grantmaking strategy, we produce insights that support learning, inform decisions, and communicate the value of the arts.
Arts & Culture Services
RESEARCH & SPECIAL STUDIES
Explore the questions that matter to arts and culture.
We conduct research and analysis that helps cultural organizations and funders understand audiences, identify community needs, explore participation, and investigate the contributions of the arts. Our work includes needs assessments, audience and visitor studies, field scans, literature reviews, and studies of arts engagement and community outcomes.
PROGRAM & GRANT EVALUATION
Understand what's working--and why it matters.
We design and conduct evaluations that examine program implementation, participant experiences, and outcomes for individuals and communities. Working collaboratively with clients, we develop approaches that capture both measurable results and the stories behind them. Our evaluations support continuous improvement and help organizations communicate their impact.
GRANT DEVELOPMENT & WRITING
Build a stronger case for investment in the arts.
We help arts and cultural organizations translate promising ideas into compelling, evidence-informed funding proposals. From needs assessments and program design to theories of change, logic models, measurable objectives, and evaluation plans, we bring research and grant development expertise to the application process.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Plan thoughtfully for the future.
We support arts organizations, cultural agencies, and community partners in developing shared visions and actionable plans. Through stakeholder consultation, environmental scans, facilitated planning, and performance measurement, we help clients establish priorities, strengthen organizational capacity, and chart a path toward sustainable impact.
OUR EXPERIENCE
Experience across the arts & culture landscape.
Arts and cultural initiatives take many forms, from neighborhood-based creative projects to national programs supporting cultural participation, artistic development, and community well-being.
SEG brings experience across a wide range of artistic disciplines, organizational settings, and funding contexts, including:
-
Arts Education: Studying arts learning, arts integration, teaching artist practice, and the contributions of arts education to student engagement and development.
-
Creative Youth Development: Evaluating programs that use artistic expression to foster young people's creativity, confidence, skills, and connections to their communities.
-
Cultural Festivals & Heritage: Examining how festivals, cultural traditions, and community celebrations contribute to cultural expression, participation, belonging, and social connection.
-
Creative Placemaking & Community Development: Investigating how arts-based initiatives contribute to neighborhood vitality, community identity, civic participation, and local resilience.
-
Arts, Health & Well-Being: Exploring the relationship between arts participation, individual well-being, social connection, and community health.
-
Arts Grantmaking & Cultural Policy: Supporting foundations, arts agencies, and public funders with research, grant portfolio evaluation, program design, and assessment of funding strategies.
Across these areas, we help clients build evidence that is both methodologically sound and meaningful to the artists, organizations, and communities at the heart of their work.
Client Spotlight
ART 180
Youth Arts Program Evaluation (2014-2015)
SEG developed an evaluation framework, logic model, and student survey to help ART 180 assess outcomes for young people participating in community-based arts programs. The project also strengthened staff capacity to collect and use evidence for learning and improvement.
Let's make your impact visible.
Whether you're evaluating an arts program, exploring a research question, assessing a grantmaking strategy, or planning your organization's next chapter, we can help.
Bring us your questions. Together, we'll develop the evidence and insights to strengthen your work and communicate its value.
Contact us today for a free 30-minute consultation.