ArtsFairfax Launches Fairfax Regional Artist Survey

ArtsFairfax launched a survey tool to assess the opportunities and resources local artists need to thrive. The Fairfax Regional Artist Survey is the first study of its kind and is designed to identify the needs and obstacles for artists across all art forms living and working in Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax, and the City of Falls Church.

ArtsFairfax offers vital operational funding, promotional services, and professional development for the nonprofit arts sector throughout the Fairfax region. Despite a long history of offering these essential services to individual artists, the nonprofit has traditionally served arts groups and organizations.

"The Fairfax Regional Artist Survey is an important first step in better serving the independent artists who make Fairfax a vibrant place to live. We collaborated with artists to develop the survey and address how a more inclusive range of art makers can share their work within the communities they call home," said Stuart Holt, ArtsFairfax President & CEO.

To develop the survey, ArtsFairfax worked with research specialists AMS Analytics and received invaluable insight and recommendations from the ArtsFairfax Artist Advisory Group- Ken Avis, Sarah Berry, Shu-Chen Cuff, Brunilda Herring, Mike Maggio, Nancy Sausser, Caroline Weinroth, and Barbara Zamora. The artists were selected for the variety of their professional experiences and art forms, and for where they have lived and worked throughout the study region.

The Fairfax Regional Artist Survey is for artists who practice and present visual and performing arts, cultural traditions, design, or media, among other disciplines. Survey data will directly inform future ArtsFairfax services, programs, and advocacy efforts for individual artists, and therefore is intended for artists in the jurisdictions ArtsFairfax serves, which include Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax, and the City of Falls Church.

After submitting responses to the Fairfax Regional Artist Survey, participating artists will have the opportunity to promote and publicize their work in a new Artist Directory, created by ArtsFairfax, and immediately connect with fellow artists and professional networks through an online community, also hosted by the nonprofit.

Open now through December 31, 2024, the anonymous, 3-minute survey is available in English, Farsi, Hindi, Korean, and Spanish, and hosted by Qualtrics online at ArtsFairfax.org/ArtistSurvey.

The Fairfax Regional Artist Survey is made possible with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and a private foundation, with additional support from Fairfax County and the Virginia Commission for the Arts.