Arts marketing and education cuts

I just started reading "Arts Marketing Insights" by Joanne Scheff Bernstein. I'm finding a lot of interesting tidbits in addition to the larger picture presented by Bernstein, and I want to share some of these marketing tidbits and my thoughts on them over the future weeks as I read this book. Here's the first:

"The lack of arts education in the schools in recent decades has created at least one generation of young adults who feel that the arts are not for them, that the arts are elitist and something not easily accessed or appreciated." (page 13)

Educational program cuts seems to be an increasingly controversial topic, and here we find its consequence in the arts industry. Younger people don't feel like they can be a part of the arts because they don't spend as much time around the arts as they grow up. The media portrays the arts like opera as a high and mighty thing not to be shared with the casual, average people.

The problem presents arts marketers with new opportunities, however. It is our job to fill the gaps left by a lack of arts education. Thus, many arts organizations are offering new educational opportunities to parents, schools and their children. Some companies are also focusing on reaching out to the more casual person who would not dress up for a concert.

It's time to adapt.

How are you adapting to the modern trends? How can marketers educate and reach a younger audience?