Meet the Speakers

Dr. Zannie Voss

Director, SMU DataArts

Voss is Director of SMU DataArts, as well as Professor of Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship in the Meadows School of the Arts and the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. After nearly two decades of service in arts research, Voss plans to retire at the end of August 2024.

Prior to joining the SMU faculty, she was a professor at Duke University in Theatre Studies and the Fuqua School of Business. At Duke, she also served as producing director of Theater Previews, developing and co-producing over a dozen new plays and musicals, two of which transferred to Broadway. Before transitioning to academia, Zannie served as managing director of PlayMakers Repertory Company, associate manager of the Alley Theatre, and assistant director of Audience Development at the Mark Taper Forum. She has served as a consultant for the Irvine Foundation, Theatre Development Fund, Philadelphia Theatre Initiative/Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Theatre Communications Group, co-authoring Theatre Facts since 1998. She earned her doctorate at Aix-Marseille III Graduate School of Management, IAE, France.

Dr. Jen Benoit-Bryan

Research Director, SMU DataArts

Benoit-Bryan, has served as Research Director at SMU DataArts since June 2023 and will assume the role of Director on September 1. Prior to joining SMU DataArts, she served as President of Slover Linett Audience Research, leading the team by prioritizing research strategies that pull in new voices, that are collaborative, that co-create with communities, and that spark and support lasting change in the arts and culture sector. During her time at Slover Linett, Benoit-Bryan worked on wide-ranging multi-year projects including the Museums Moving Forward Initiative, the National Academy of Sciences, the LA Phil, the High Line, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Carnegie Hall, Washington National Opera, Ballet Austin, Dallas Zoo and the Central Park Conservatory, among many others. As an expert in statistical social research, she consults internally and externally on research design and advances the use of new tools and advanced techniques for analysis.

Sunil Iyengar

Research & Analysis Director, Office of Research & Analysis National Endowment for the Arts

Sunil Iyengar directs the Office of Research & Analysis at the National Endowment for the Arts. Under his leadership, the office has produced dozens of research reports, hosted periodic research events and webinars, led strategic plan development for the agency, and established research and data partnerships with the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. His office also conducts program evaluations and performance measurements for the Arts Endowment. Working with his team, Iyengar has created and pursued a long-term research agenda (based partly on an arts “system map” his office helped to design), founded a national data repository for the arts, and launched two awards programs for arts researchers, including the NEA Research Labs initiative. He chairs a federal Interagency Task Force on the Arts and Human Development. For nearly a decade, he has contributed a monthly research post (titled “Taking Note”) to the agency’s official blog.

Dr. Candace Miller

Research Officer, Wallace Foundation

Candace N. Miller joined the Wallace Foundation in 2024 as the Research Officer in the Arts. She manages the foundation’s grantmaking portfolio in the Arts.

Before joining Wallace, Miller was an assistant professor of Sociology and Organizational Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She brings more than a decade of experience conducting primary research addressing issues of inequality at the intersection of arts and culture, race, and place. She has also collaborated with community partners to develop evidence-based solutions to pressing inequalities in cities in the U.S. South and Midwest. Miller has served as the principal investigator on several projects funded by organizations such as the National Science Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

Miller earned a Ph.D. at the University of Virginia, an M.A. at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a B.A. from Old Dominion University—all in sociology. She grew up in Virginia Beach and is a true musicophile who enjoys the challenge of creating bespoke playlists for new and old friends’ everyday listening or unique events. 

Recommended Reads

National Arts Research and Policy

• Trump Tried to End Federal Arts Funding. Instead, It Grew, New York Times, Jan. 15, 2021: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/15/arts/trump-arts-nea-funding.html
• Do Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts Represent a Wealth Transfer from Poorer to Wealthier Citizens? https://www.smu.edu/~/media/Site/Meadows/NCAR/NCAR%20NEA%20Study
• An Independent study finds that communities with NEA-funded activities are economically diverse: https://www.smu.edu/news/archives/2014/arts-research-study-04feb2014
• Mapping the location of arts orgs and the US population: https://culturaldata.org/white-papers/arts-and-culture-arent-an-elitist-extravagance-they-re-essential-to-american-life/
• Under Sunil’s leadership, the NEA’s SPPA has been vital to understanding changes in demand for the arts: https://www.arts.gov/impact/research/publications/arts-participation-patterns-2022-highlights-survey-public-participation-arts
• National Endowment for the Arts Research Agenda- FY 2022-2026: https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/NEA-research-agenda-12.21.pdf
• How Art Works: The National Endowment for the Arts' Five-Year Research Agenda, with a System Map and Measurement Model | National Endowment for the Arts: https://www.arts.gov/impact/research/publications/how-art-works-national-endowment-arts-five-year-research-agenda-system-map-and-measurement-model

COVID-19 Pandemic Research

• In It for the Long Haul: https://culturaldata.org/pages/long-haul/
• Effect of COVID on arts attendance: https://culturaldata.org/pages/attendance-prediction-june2022/
• Effect of COVID on unemployment in the art: https://culturaldata.org/pages/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-employment-arts-culture-sector/
• Study Illuminates the Breadth of Federal COVID-19 Relief Funding for Arts and Culture: https://culturaldata.org/distribution-of-federal-covid-19-relief-funding/overview/

Arts Attendance, Engagement, and Marketing

• At What Cost? How Distance Influences Arts Attendance: https://www.culturaldata.org/white-papers/at-what-cost-how-distance-influences-arts-attendance/
• Holbrook, Morris B, and Robert B. Zirlin (1985), "Artistic Creation, Artworks, and Aesthetic Appreciation: Some Philosophical Contributions to Nonprofit Marketing," Advances in Nonprofit Marketing, 1, pp. 1-54.
• Alan Brown and Jennifer Novak-Leonard’s 2011 active participation research: https://wolfbrown.com/insights/reports/getting-in-on-the-act-how-arts-groups-are-creating-opportunities-for-active-participation-%ef%bf%bc/
• Corporate support and high subscription levels having a negative relationship with audience diversity: https://culturaldata.org/pages/the-intersection-of-funding-marketing-and-audience-diversity-equity-and-inclusion/

Nonprofit Management Theory and Funding the Sector

• Baumol and Bowen’s cost disease as it relates to the performing arts: https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.5555/19941800702
• Sawhill, J. and D. Williamson (2001), “Measuring What Matters Most in Nonprofits,” McKinsey Quarterly, Vol. 2. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/social-sector/our-insights/measuring-what-matters-in-nonprofits
• Clara Miller’s insights on nonprofit capitalization: https://nonprofitquarterly.org/hidden-in-plain-sight-understanding-capital-structure/
• The Alchemy of High-Performing Arts Organizations: A Spotlight on Organizations of Color: https://www.culturaldata.org/pages/the-alchemy-of-high-performing-arts-organizations-a-spotlight-on-organizations-of-color/
• Buffering Against Uncertainty: Working Capital and the Resiliency of BIPOC-serving Organizations: https://culturaldata.org/pages/buffering-against-uncertainty-white-paper/
• Context Matters.  “Does ‘Strong and Effective’ Look Different for Culturally Specific Arts Organizations?” https://culturaldata.org/media/2318/ncarwhitepaperdiversityreport.pdf   
• Holly Sidford’s 2011 groundbreaking report “Fusing Arts, Culture, and Social Change” https://www.giarts.org/article/fusing-arts-culture-and-social-change

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Workforce

• Workplace Equity and Organizational Culture in US Art Museums: https://museumsmovingforward.com/data-studies/2023
• Demographics of the Arts and Culture Workforce in Los Angeles County: 2023 Update: https://www.lacountyarts.org/article/demographics-arts-and-culture-workforce-los-angeles-county-2023-update

Tools to Explore

• 2023 Arts Vibrancy Index, Map: https://dataarts.smu.edu/ArtsVibrancyMap/
• Access your KIPI Dashboard: https://kipi.culturaldata.org/
• Four Steps to Informed Planning Using the KIPI Dashboard: https://www.culturaldata.org/learn/data-at-work/2023/four-steps-to-informed-planning-using-the-kipi-dashboard/

Research Entities and Partnering Organizations

• National Archive of Data on Arts & Culture: NADAC (umich.edu): https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/pages/NADAC/index.html
• National Arts Statistics and Evidence-based Reporting Center (NASERC) | National Endowment for the Arts: https://www.arts.gov/impact/research/NASERC
• Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account | National Endowment for the Arts: https://www.arts.gov/impact/research/arts-and-cultural-production-satellite-account
• Americans for the Arts (AFTA): https://www.americansforthearts.org/
• NORC at the University of Chicago, is an objective, nonpartisan research organization that delivers insights and analysis decision-makers trust. https://www.norc.org/
• Creatives Rebuild New York: https://www.creativesrebuildny.org/
• MacArthur Foundation: https://www.macfound.org/
• TRG Arts: https://trgarts.com/
  • Be sure to check out their Audience Diversity Tool
• Museums Moving Forward: https://museumsmovingforward.com/