READERS RESPOND !
Feedback from FAAM ' s Fourth Reader Survey
THANK YOU to everyone who completed our readers ’ survey ! If you haven ’ t done so , you can take our survey at firstamericanartmagazine . com / survey . We want to hear from you . FAAM provides a means for different communities within the Indigenous art world to be better aware of each other and share histories and current events . Knowing more about our audience demographics and passions helps our writers and editors tailor the material to your interests .
Based on our survey results so far , you , our audience , remain well-educated , with 100 percent having attended college : 11.7 percent hold bachelor ’ s degrees , 42 percent hold master ’ s degrees , and 24.6 percent hold doctoral degrees . The gender ratio of our readership has shifted toward more women in the last four years since our last survey . Now our readers are 71.7 percent women , 26.1 percent men , and 2.2 percent two-spirit , nonbinary , and more . This trend is in keeping with larger trends of magazine readership ; more adult women read magazines than use the top four websites combined .
Of our readers , 94.9 percent own art by Indigenous peoples of the Americas . I encourage the remaining 5.1 percent to invest . I hope this issue inspires you to seek out Native artwork since there are so many affordable options online or in person for beginning collectors ! In the upcoming year , 86.1 percent plan to travel to a Native art event while 13.9 percent do not . Of course , they might already live in a major center for Indigenous art .
For the first time , we asked what your roles within the Native art world are , and we discovered that many of you wear many hats , as many of us do here at FAAM : 60 percent are primarily collectors , 39 percent are educators , 26 percent are scholars , 21 percent are curators , 14 percent are museum professionals , 8 percent are arts administrators , 5 percent
You ’ re hitting a good word / image balance , and I appreciate the wide range of content coverage . Keep up the great work !
are gallerists / dealers , and 5 percent are newcomers to the Native art world . To those of your who are new , welcome ! Please feel free to ask any questions on our social media ( Facebook @ FirstAmericanart , Instagram @ FirstAmArt ) or via email (
info @ firstamericanartmagazine . com ). Other roles included archivist / librarian , philanthropist , appraiser , volunteer , ally , social media networker , anthropologist , retired , fan , art writer , appraiser , and interior designer .
Please don ’ t go to shorter articles . This mag should continue to be a resource for seriously focused subscribers .
The most avidly read sections of FAAM are , in order : artist profiles , feature articles , Spotlight , exhibition reviews , and Recent Developments . Spotlight , a column proposed by our late advisor James Bialac , is a deep dive into one specific artwork . We haven ’ t run one in a while , but we have one planned for the upcoming issue and will make sure Spotlight is included in future issues moving forward .
Staci Golar and I have been meeting with a publishing consultant who recommends moving the magazine toward a membership option . FAAM has always held educational events , from informal roundtable discussions to multiday symposia , so we want to organize these more strategically to serve the needs of our audience . We have an e-newsletter that we use sparingly ( since so many of us are drowning in emails ) to announce specific events or new content . When asked if you would like to connect with fellow readers via a periodic e-newsletter with art news , 47.4 percent said yes , 37.2 percent said maybe , and 15.3 percent said no . With that in mind , we will definitely make sure that such a service is offered as opt-in , with easy options to change or cancel a subscription . People were ambivalent about a membership program : 47.1 percent said maybe , 45.7 percent said yes , and 7.2 percent said no . We can grow our programs gradually while continuing to offer standalone magazine subscriptions . For member benefits , virtual events and access to archives were the most popular , followed by classes and in-person events .
When asked if you would like to improve any aspects of the magazine ’ s layouts , 54.5 percent said “ no ” or otherwise responded with praise . Your kind words are encouraging ! The inclusion of more images was requested by 16.4 percent of responders . Several people requested more blank space , and 7.3 percent requested shorter articles , while several people requested longer articles . The solution is to have feature articles of varying lengths and bite-sized inserts .
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