Changing local artists' attitudes and activities towards community vitalization in relation to their communication with community members

The purpose of this paper is to investigate local artists' changes of attitudes and activities concerning community vitalization, on the basis of a concept that the changes have been induced through communication with other local artists and residents. A nationwide questionnaire survey was carried out for artists listed in two published directories. The questionnaire sought answers related to 1) personal attributes, 2) places and opportunities for communicating with other local artists and residents, and 3) community attachment and degree of self-disclosure to other local artists and residents. The major findings are: 1) Quite a few artists change their attitudes and activities regarding community vitalization. 2) Respondent category classification, based on the Hayashi’s Type III quantification method and the cluster analysis, clarified that the artists who positively change their attitudes and activities tend to practice self-disclosure towards other local artists and residents. 3) It was also clarified that the artists, a) who reside for 30-50 years in their communities and b) communicate with other residents at neighborhood associations or events held by artists, c) communicate with other local artists at events held by artists, have positive changes of attitudes and activities. The results of this paper reveal the availability of profound community vitalization from focusing on communication among local artists and other residents. The findings are also useful for vitalization management in connection with art/artists, which has been tried in many municipalities.