A few interesting numbers....

Scratching around in anticipation of my public art rant and found these unrelated numbers from 'Vital Statistics 2008' (Dept. of Culture and the Arts):

More women than men visit art galleries (25% vs 19%) and libraries (44% vs 30%) in Western Australia.*

More migrants (particularly those from an majority English-speaking country) visit art galleries than Australians (~35% vs 20%).*

26.3% of 45-54 year olds and 30.5% of 54-64 year olds visited an art gallery compared to 15.9% of 18-24 year olds and 23.1% of 25-34 year olds.

* Aged 15 and over and in the 12 months prior to being interviewed.

From 'Arts Monitor 2009' prepared by Patterson Market Research for Dept. of Culture and the Arts in April 2009:

‘Major international exhibitions’ emerged as the change that would most likely encourage respondents to visit arts and cultural events more often; mentioned by almost three quarters (73% - 38% strongly encourage plus 35% slightly encourage).

The most frequently preferred source of information was ads in ‘the West Australian newspaper’ (49%) as well as another 33% from editorial content in the same paper.

The later number is not particularly surprising given the media monopoly.