Sports policy focuses on the grassroots: is this missing from arts policies?

Should Australian arts policy focus more on participation instead of audiences, asks Margaret Seares.
An overhead photograph of an adult dance class, showing groups of couples circling around the floor.

Every election, state and federal, we can expect to see plenty of politicians wearing sporting scarves, attending footy games and posing with elite athletes.

But why don’t we tend to see them attending performances, galleries and posing with our leading actors, musicians, dancers and artists?

Unlock Padlock Icon

Unlock this content?

Access this content and more

The Conversation Australia and New Zealand is a unique collaboration between academics and journalists that in just 10 years has become the world’s leading publisher of research-based news and analysis.