Minnesota's Diverse Communities Survey: Arts and Culture
Beginning in top left and moving clockwise: 1. Jingle Dress dancers circle the Grand Casino Hinckley powwow grounds during the grand entry at the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Grand Celebration Powwow in Hinckley, Minn. (June 14, 2019); 2. South High School teacher speaks with two students about a mural her class is working on to commemorate the year since the murder of George Floyd, Minneapolis (May 26, 2021); 3. People from the Twin Cities’ Oromo community gather in Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis to sing and dance to Hachalu Hundessa’s music at a vigil honoring the musician and activist who was killed in Ethiopia on June 29, 2020 (July 2, 2020); 4. A musician wearing traditional Hmong dress plays a qeej, a free-reed musical instrument, during the parade leading to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Xiang Jiang Pavilion at St. Paul’s Phalen Regional Park (July 13, 2019) . Photos 1-3 by Evan Frost and photo 4 by John Nguyen | MPR News
DOCUMENTATION
BLOG: The what, why and how of the Minnesota’s Diverse Communities survey
REPORT: Detailed results related to Arts and Culture
METHODS: Transparency disclosures and methodology
RELATED
Art and Artists in MN: Diversity, data and discussion (MPR News)
MINNESOTA’S DIVERSE COMMUNITIES: All articles and reports
MOOD OF THE NATION: Most, but not all, Americans willing to help both Afghan refugees and Americans displaced by extreme weather
2017 GROUND LEVEL SURVEY: What is the one thing Minnesotans would change about the state?
by ALYSON CLARY | Feb. 1, 2022
Minnesota is known for a robust arts and culture scene, and for residents who value the place of arts and culture in their life. According to Census Bureau data, 57% of Minnesota residents attended arts and culture events in 2020, far above the national average. As part of the Minnesota Diverse Communities Survey, we wanted to dig deeper and determine how the experience of arts and culture in Minnesota differs among the state’s diverse communities.
Overall, the survey results show that many Minnesotans are appreciative of—and actively engaged with—the artistic and cultural offerings available in the state. Nearly three-quarters of all Minnesotans rate the state’s cultural amenities positively and one-quarter of Minnesota adults take advantage of them at least once a month. But when looking at the results by race and ethnicity, the picture becomes far more complex.
These results are discussed in greater detail in the sections that follow:
Minnesotans rate the quality the state’s cultural amenities
A strong majority of both White and BIPOC Minnesotans (Black, Indigenous and people of color) rate Minnesota’s cultural amenities—such as museums, theaters, arts and music—either “excellent” or “good.”
White Minnesotans, however, are significantly more likely than Black (64%) and Indigenous Minnesotans (58%) to rate the state’s cultural amenities either “excellent” or “good.” This difference is largely driven by White women in Minnesota (77%), who positively rate the state’s cultural amenities at a significantly higher rate than BIPOC women overall (67%), and Black (60%) and Indigenous women (60%) in particular.
By a substantial margin, Indigenous Minnesotans (39%) are more likely than any other racial or ethnic group surveyed to rate Minnesota’s cultural amenities either “fair” or “poor.” They are followed by Black Minnesotans (27%) who negatively assess the cultural amenities in Minnesota at a significantly higher rate than non-Hmong Asian (14%) and White Minnesotans (18%). Immigrant Minnesotans (29%) also are more inclined than those born in the state (15%) to rate the state’s cultural amenities negatively.
Minnesotans living in the Twin Cities (78%) are somewhat more likely than those living in Greater Minnesota (67%) to rate the state’s cultural amenities positively, especially when it comes to rating them “excellent.” This same pattern holds true of Democrats (79%) and Republicans in Minnesota (65%).
Nearly one-third of all young adults (32%), ages 18-29, rate Minnesota’s cultural amenities negatively, the highest proportion across all age groups. While the proportions of younger adults from the Twin Cities and from Greater Minnesota who give a negative rating are comparable, BIPOC Minnesotans ages 18-29 (77%) are significantly more inclined to positively rate the state’s cultural amenities than White Minnesotans ages 18-29 (64%).
Frequency at which Minnesotans use the state’s cultural amenities
We also asked Minnesotans how often they spend their free time taking advantage of Minnesota’s cultural amenities. About 1 in 4 Minnesotans indicated that they take advantage of the state’s cultural amenities at least once per month. That proportion holds across both White and BIPOC Minnesotans, including a somewhat higher proportion among Latinx Minnesotans (36%). And 1 in 10 Black Minnesotans (12%) and Indigenous Minnesotans (10%) report taking advantage of the state’s cultural amenities at least once per week, compared to 5% of White Minnesotans.
Most commonly, however, Minnesotans report taking advantage of the state’s cultural amenities “a few times a year.” A plurality of between 30% and 40% of each racial and ethnic group indicated that they take advantage of Minnesota’s cultural amenities with this frequency. This is also the case for both immigrant (32%) and non-immigrant Minnesotans (33%).
Do Minnesota’s cultural amenities reflect the diverse heritages and cultures of the people who live here?
A strong majority, 72%, of Minnesotans indicate that the state’s cultural amenities reflect their heritage and culture either “very well” or “somewhat well.” Results vary significantly by race and ethnicity, however, with three-quarters of White Minnesotans (77%) indicating that the state’s cultural amenities reflect their heritage and culture well, compared with less than half of all BIPOC Minnesotans (46%).
Even though the majority of BIPOC Minnesotans say that Minnesota’s cultural amenities do not reflect their culture well, a strong majority of Hmong Minnesotans (71%) believe that the state’s cultural amenities reflect their heritage and culture either “very well” or “somewhat well.” Although, Hmong Minnesotans (29%) are somewhat more likely to give a negative answer than White Minnesotans (20%).
Among all groups surveyed, Black Minnesotans had the highest proportion who believe that Minnesota’s cultural amenities reflect their culture “not very well” or “not well at all.” Notably, Black women in Minnesota are significantly more likely to give a negative answer than their male counterparts (68% to 51%).
Moreover, a significant proportion of Black (18%), Indigenous (18%) and, especially, non-Hmong Asian Minnesotans (28%) say that Minnesota’s cultural amenities reflect their culture and heritage “not well at all,” along with 25% of immigrants in Minnesota.
Looking at the results by age and location reveals a striking distinction. Eighty-seven percent of young adults in Greater Minnesota, the highest proportion of all age ranges, say that their culture and heritage is reflected in the state’s cultural amenities very or somewhat well, compared to only 65% of their peers living in the Twin Cities.
This result is most likely because 90% of young adult respondents living in Greater Minnesota are White compared to only 60% of those in the Twin Cities. And 88% of White Minnesotans ages 18-29 believe the state’s cultural amenities reflect their heritage and culture very or somewhat well compared to only 41% of their BIPOC peers, this is the starkest difference among age groups when also cross-referenced by race.
In their own words: How arts and culture are positively impacting Minnesota’s diverse communities
We asked Minnesotans to identify the single most positive thing happening in their community in Minnesota right now. Respondents’ answers were recorded verbatim and coded for themes. Enough Minnesotans identified something that falls under arts and culture as the most positive thing happening in their community that those answers were able to be coded as a unique category, “cultural events and awareness.” Answers that referenced arts and culture could also be found across a handful of other categories, particularly “activities outside the home.”
Sixteen percent of Indigenous, 14% of Hmong and 10% of Latinx Minnesotans gave an answer that fell under the category of “cultural celebration and awareness.” This was the most popular answer for all three groups (although 14% of Hmong Minnesotans also gave an answer that fell under “community involvement”). By comparison, less than 1% of White Minnesotans gave an answer that fell under this category. (See a full breakdown of the different types of answers to this question in our report: Good news and good ideas from Minnesota’s diverse communities.)
Answers coded as “cultural celebration and awareness” frequently referenced specific cultural celebrations that communities were excited about. For example, many Indigenous Minnesotans referenced the return of powwows and ceremonies that had to be put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Latinx Minnesotans cited Cinco de Mayo and Hmong Minnesotans cited Hmong American Day (May 14, 2021) as the most positive things happening in their respective communities. Several Black Minnesotans also mentioned Juneteenth, which was made a federal and Minnesota state holiday for the first time in 2021. These events were happening in and around the window of survey collection (April 26 to June 14, 2020).
“Hispanic Heritage Month. I see more and more Latinx ppl in our community becoming aware and taking pride in it every year of all Latin American nationalities.”
A handful of people, especially from the Indigenous community, referenced growing cultural preservation, awareness and celebration within their respective communities. This appeared most prominently in Indigenous Minnesotans’ nod to language revitalization efforts.
“Dakota and Ojibwe language revitalization at the early childhood level.”
Indigenous Minnesotans also noted that other Minnesotans were starting to recognize their culture.
“More Native artists and authors being brought to the table as equals, not “native inspired” appropriation.”
Respondents, especially Hmong Minnesotans, highlighted a growing awareness of their culture among other Minnesotans, too.
“Increasing the exposure to our culture and ethnicity through art exhibits and presentations that explains who the Hmong people are and our importance in American history.”
“Collaborations of rising Hmong artists/talents/entrepreneurs/mental health practitioners exposing Hmong American culture through different channels (i.e. art shows, outdoor events, health days). ”
Eight percent of all Minnesotans also gave an answer that was coded as “recreation activities outside the home” and this included answers pertaining to the arts, among other types of activities. Answers that fell in the category of “recreation activities outside the home” mentioned the growing food scene, outdoor cultural events and concerts restarting after the winter and as COVID-19 restrictions began to ease, and outdoor sporting events and other activities, such as the fishing opener. The Capri Theater and Mixed Blood Theater, both in Minneapolis, were specifically mentioned by name.