A recent New York Times article reported on a study that followed over 11,000 students and 500 teachers to see if exposure to the visual arts through museum visits had any direct impact on the students.  Many of the students came from disadvantaged backgrounds and had never visited an art museum.  The results showed that students who visited were more likely to return and bring their family members.  Additionally students were tested to assess their post visit attitudes on a variety of issues.  Read more about these ground breaking results – NY Times.