This article looks at how people with disabilities experience arts centers. Based on a large visitor survey, it shows that while barriers still exist, cultural participation can be deeply rewarding. The study highlights what makes these experiences meaningful and suggests practical ways to make culture more inclusive for everyone.
Arts centers are meant to be places where everyone can learn, enjoy, and connect. Yet for people with disabilities, entering and enjoying these spaces is not always simple. This article explores not only the obstacles they face but also the value they find when those barriers are reduced. By focusing on their actual experiences as visitors, the undertaken research shows why making culture more inclusive is both necessary and rewarding.
Why Cultural Access Matters
For a long time, disability policies in Europe focused mostly on welfare and employment. Culture was not seen as essential. But in recent decades, attitudes have changed. Culture is now recognized as a key part of social life — a way to connect, to learn, and to feel included. Ignoring access to culture means excluding a large group of citizens from experiences that enrich everyone.
In Spain, nearly 9% of the population lives with some form of disability, and yet their participation in cultural or leisure activities is much lower than average. Watching television is the most common activity, but only a tiny fraction attends cultural events. Why? Because barriers — whether physical or psychological — keep many people away. Still, some do attend, and their experiences offer valuable insights into what works and what needs to change.
How the Study Was Done
To better understand these experiences, we carried out a large survey[1] at the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània (CCCC) in Valencia, Spain. Over 1,400 visitors were surveyed in 2022 and 2023. The online questionnaire asked about cultural attendance habits, motivations, experiences, and satisfaction. It also allowed comparisons between people with and without disabilities.
Importantly, around 7% of participants reported having a disability, including visual, hearing, or mobility-related conditions. While this group was smaller in number, their voices revealed important differences.
What Brings People to Arts Centers
Most visitors, regardless of ability, went to see exhibitions — especially visual arts shows. Many came more than once a year, but about a third were first-timers. Surprisingly, whether a person had a disability or not did not influence how often they attended or which activities they chose.
When asked why they came, the top reasons were: to enjoy art, for personal enrichment, to share an experience, and to relax. Social reasons, like meeting people, or political ones, like supporting a cause, mattered less. Regarding the desire to “feel emotions”, here, non-disabled visitors gave this motive slightly higher importance than those with disabilities.
Making Sense of the Visit Experience
Visitors rated their experience very positively. The strongest points were:
- Learning and knowledge: Many felt the visit taught them something new and made them think.
- A sense of uniqueness: They described the visit as something out of the ordinary, different from daily life.
- Sensory activation: Visitors said the experience was stimulating, moving, and emotionally refreshing.
For visitors with physical disabilities, these feelings were often even stronger. They reported higher sensory and emotional impact, as well as a stronger sense of uniqueness. At the same time, they were more likely to notice distractions such as noise or poor lighting.
Satisfaction levels were high across the board. Most said the visit met or exceeded expectations, and this was equally true for people with and without disabilities.
Types of Visitors
The study also grouped visitors into five profiles based on their motivations:
- Enthusiasts – Interested in everything: art, learning, experiences, and socializing.
- Artistic – Focused on the artworks, but also open to cultural diversity and social causes.
- Experiential – Seek emotional and social experiences more than the art itself.
- Social – Attend mainly to meet others, but are less satisfied overall. This group included the highest proportion of people with disabilities.
- Aficionados – Passionate about both art and the experience, often highly satisfied and likely to return.
This segmentation shows that not all visitors — including those with disabilities — want the same thing. Some are drawn by the art, others by the chance to socialize, and others by the emotional journey. For arts centers, recognizing these differences is crucial to designing better experiences.
What the Findings Tell Us About Inclusion
The findings carry an important message: people with disabilities can and do enjoy cultural activities, but only if barriers are reduced. When they are included, they often report even stronger emotional and sensory responses than others. Yet, the existence of a “Social” visitor profile with higher disability representation and lower satisfaction signals that more effort is needed.
For arts centers, this means:
- Making physical spaces more accessible (ramps, signs, lighting, seating).
- Training staff to avoid stereotypes and foster a welcoming environment.
- Using technology creatively (for example, audio guides for the blind, subtitles or sign language for the deaf).
- Designing events that consider different motivations — from art lovers to social seekers.
Final Thoughts
This research fills an important gap. While many studies focus on tourism or transport, fewer look at the everyday cultural experiences of people with disabilities. By combining theory with real visitor data, the study shows both the challenges and the opportunities.
Inclusion is not just about removing barriers; it’s about creating spaces where everyone can learn, feel, and connect. Arts centers have a powerful role to play in shaping that future.
[1] The survey was conducted through the collaboration between the Universitat de València and the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània (CCCC), under the direction of José Luis Pérez Pont (collaboration agreement Ref: OTR2023-23558SERVI).
About the article
Cuadrado-García, M., Palma-Martos, M. L., & Montoro-Pons, J. D. (2025). Participación y diversidad funcional en el contexto de los centros culturales. Ekonomiaz: Revista Vasca de Economía, (107), 230-251.
About the authors
Manuel Cuadrado-García, Professor of Marketing, Universitat de València, Spain.
María-Luisa Palma-Martos, Associate Professor of Economics and Economic History, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain.
Juan D. Montoro-Pons, Professor of Applied Economics, Universitat de València, Spain.
About the image
The image is by the author Manuel Cuadrado. It’s a picture of an exhibition at the CCCC while the research was taking place.
