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relevance
connections
support
friends
fans
participation
moments
insight
transformation
vitality
action
loyalty
experiences
impacts
success
engagement
innovation
equity
power
places
social change
revelation
inclusion
passion
meaning
progress
community.
We’re a social research firm for the cultural sector.
We use rigorous research & evaluation methods to shine new light on how people connect to the arts, museums, media, science, stories, ideas, creativity, and community. And how they could connect.
Explore the links below, or scroll down to see what we’re up to lately.
The research has the capacity to be transformational for the O’Keeffe Museum. Slover Linett took the time to listen, understand our needs, and integrate their work with another consultant team… As a result, the staff is eager to develop and implement experimental programs to attract and retain new audiences. Peter and his team are not only experts in audience research; they are experienced, thoughtful, and sophisticated partners who are willing to think with my team.”
Featured Projects
New, free toolkit for DIY audience surveys, with OF/BY/FOR ALL
We're right there with community innovator Nina Simon when she says, "Collecting good demographic data can help you smash stereotypes. It can help you make smarter strategic decisions and better programs." Well, we would believe that — we’re researchers....
READ MOREWhere is Folk Music Heading? A New Survey for Folk Alliance International
Slover Linett has done considerable research on classical music audiences and innovations over the years. But other kinds of music are also vital, evolving art-forms, with their own communities of creators and consumers. So we’ve been delighted...
READ MOREContinuing Our Inquiry with Two Wallace Foundation Arts Grantees About Audiences’ Connection to New, Unfamiliar Works
In 2019, we’ve been working again with Ballet Austin and the Goodman Theatre on related research questions: How do audiences decide to take the leap of attending dance or theater performances that they don’t know much about? Both organizations are...
READ MOREHow Can Science Connect to More Millennials? A Survey for the National Academy of Sciences
In 2018, the National Academy of Sciences closed its science museum in Washington, DC and announced a new program aimed at millennials, LabX. The LabX team engaged Slover Linett to conduct a groundbreaking national study of how science is perceived by...
READ MOREMapping the Future of the Arts at Cornell University
Slover Linett has long worked with museums and arts presenters based on college and university campuses. But until recently we hadn’t helped a major educational institution look at the big picture: What roles can the arts and creativity play in...
READ MORESupporting and studying a learning community of arts organizations in California
We’re excited to be entering the homestretch of one of our most rewarding and complex engagements: an ongoing evaluation and capacity-building project with the James Irvine Foundation and its fifteen grantee-partners in the New California Arts Fund (NCAF)...
READ MORENews & Notes
Originally published in the January 2020 issue of Curator: The Museum Journal, Ashley Ann Wolfe reviews the innovative Hamilton Exhibition that was presented in Chicago in 2019, and offers lessons that museums can learn from the exhibition. Preview below, or click here to read the full article.
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Let’s admit that organizing classical music for any kind of search has never been easy. Go to a record store (they still exist), and if you want to look for a specific recording of a specific composer, where do you start? By searching for the composer? For the performing artist? The orchestra? The conductor? Or maybe the instrument it’s played on? Unless you’ve been in that store countless times and are familiar with their way of organizing their stock, it may take you some time to find what you’re looking for.
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At Slover Linett, we gather inspiration from myriad, and sometimes surprising places—from online publications, blogs, and podcasts—some of which are rooted in cultural research and some just because. Our tastes and interests are varied, and it sure does make for interesting conversation and debate when we gather ‘round the table each week for our Staff meetings! And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
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We’re eager to hear from people who may not already be in the arts & culture world, and who can help that world see itself through fresh eyes. Researchers from a wide range of backgrounds and social-science disciplines. Bilingual Spanish speakers. People who are great at working with historically marginalized communities.
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At Slover Linett, our team includes social scientists and strategists from a wide range of disciplines, such as psychology, anthropology, public policy, human-centered design, and arts administration. Because of our kaleidoscope of backgrounds, we get to push each other to think creatively about unusual combinations of research methods to meet our cultural clients’ goals.
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We’re delighted to announce the publication of new findings about an art-form we love but haven’t had the opportunity to research before: folk music. Too often, the informal, vernacular arts fly below the radar of researchers, funders, and policymakers. But they’re as vital to culture and community as any classical tradition or formal arts institution. So we were excited to work with the talented team at Folk Alliance International…
READ MORELatest Tweets
@ATJCagan @PNNLab @ATJCagan, we are still so impressed with your art from our session on millennial science engagement, and would love to include it in our upcoming e-newsletter. Would you be comfortable with us doing so, with the appropriate credit of course? Also happy to link to your site.
"While it may defy traditional definition, @HamExhibition offers many lessons that museums can learn from when it comes to strategically using theatricality & metaphor to deepen audience engagement."
@AshleyAnnWolfe shares her take on #HamEx:
cc: @DavidKorins @Lin_Manuel
In the Jan issue of Curator, I explore the (sadly, now closed) @HamExhibition & discuss how other cultural orgs can learn LOADS from its innovation. Many thanks to @DavidKorins' team, @broadwaychicago & @HamiltonMusical. @Lin_Manuel the legacy continues...
https://sloverlinett.com/insights/exhibit-review-hamilton-the-exhibition/
Caption this clip:
#audienceresearch
Lots of exciting announcements coming soon from @SloverLinett!
cc:@cgarfin @vvp317 @jenbenoitbryan
2. Laughter isn't the opposite of seriousness; it's the most profound way to get serious about something. And it opens the doors wider.
"...giggle your way in. It's not the normal way to do it, but if you can, you bring a much bigger group."
Two deep lessons about public engagement from @rkrulwich, looking back on 15 years co-hosting @Radiolab:
1. What really draws people in isn't mostly the "content"; it's the human warmth and joy of the hosts. ("When two people are having real fun, it's sort of like a warm fire.")
"Human-centered research is a crucial element of the experimentation process." We couldn't agree more!
#audienceresearch #classicalmusic
cc: @AubreyBergauer
Like I’ve been saying... Love what you’re stirring in the #classicalmusic pot, Aubrey. And I would add: human-centered research is a crucial element of the experimentation process - how we learn with (not just about) #audiences. https://twitter.com/aubreybergauer/status/1229880045910536193
Like I’ve been saying... Love what you’re stirring in the #classicalmusic pot, Aubrey. And I would add: human-centered research is a crucial element of the experimentation process - how we learn with (not just about) #audiences.
I get asked all the time about what we can change in orchestra administration culture, and my answer is always the same.
Embrace experimentation.
If we focus too much on short term goals, we don't try new things, leaving bold ideas on the table that could deliver huge results.
#ICYMI: Check out this stunning sketch animation by @ATJCagan from last week's #AAASmtg session on millennial science engagement, featuring @jenbenoitbryan & @TheGeoffHunt.
cc: @PLinett @MeetAScientist @labxNAS
In the interest of open data and methods sharing - here’s the whole process! Impressions from a session on communicating science to millennials #AAASmtg