The 1997 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) found that about half of the adult population of the United States attended at least one of seven "benchmark" arts activities (jazz, classical music, opera, musical plays, plays, ballet, or art museums) in the twelve months prior to the survey. This translates to an estimated 97 million American adults who were exposed to at least one of these seven arts activities.

When the list of arts-related activities is expanded to include four others (visiting historic sites, attending arts or crafts fairs, attending dance performances other than ballet, and reading "plays, poetry, novels, or short stories"), the overall rate of public participation increases to four out of five American adults (80.7%; 157.8 million) who participated in at least one of these eleven activities during the 12 months leading up to the 1997 SPPA study.

Adult Participation in Arts and Cultural Activities- 1997
Arts and Cultural Activities	Percent of Adults who Participated at Least Once in Past 12 Months	Estimated Number of Adults (in millions)	Average Number of Visits Per Attendee	Estimated Total Number of Visits (in millions)
Seven Benchmark Activities
Jazz performance	11.9%	23.3	3.1	72.2
Classical music	15.6%	30.5	2.9	88.5
Opera	4.7%	9.2	1.8	16.5
Musical play	24.5%	47.9	2.2	105.4
Play (non-musical)	15.8%	30.9	2.5	77.3
Ballet	5.8%	11.3	1.7	19.3
Art museum	34.9%	68.3	3.3	225.3
Other Cultural Activities
Dance (other than ballet)	12.4%	24.3	2.6	63.1
Historic park	46.9%	91.7	4.1	376.1
Arts/craft fair	47.5%	92.9	2.6	241.6
Literature	63.1%	123.4	NA	NA
Source: 1997 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts Summary Report (Washington DC: National Endowment for the Arts, 1998)

SOURCE: CPANDA (the Cultural Policy & the Arts National Data Archive)

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