Public funding for performing arts in rural areas: new study from EU-funded project
The Creative Europe project SPARSE Plus has commissioned a study on the territorial distribution of public cultural funding for professional performing arts across Europe. It highlights persistent disparities between rural and urban areas.
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The report shows that predominantly urban territories proportionally receive the largest share of recorded national funding, while predominantly rural areas capture the smallest.
Additionally, differences emerge between art forms in rural areas, raising concerns about the reduced diversity of professional offers. While music benefits from stronger funding and presence, theatre and dance are repeatedly underrepresented.
A core finding of the study is that rural disadvantage often stems from operability rather than from formal eligibility. Cultural organisations in rural and non-urban areas frequently face practical conditions that hinder funding accessibility, including insufficient staffing and time, administrative workload, and financial challenges.
After identifying and analysing existing territorial disparities, the study outlines practical recommendations for public funding bodies, cultural organisations, and research and knowledge actors, to improve access to professional performing arts in non-urban areas.
These include making territorial access an explicit objective in programme design, supporting delivery chains and rural touring networks, building routable partnerships and shared programming calendars across municipalities, and developing indicators and methods for territorial monitoring.
SPARSE Plus (Supporting and Promoting Arts in Rural Settlements Plus) is a project funded by Creative Europe which aims to strengthen rural touring networks and improve access to high-quality performing arts in rural communities.