The Arts Research Monitor, created by Hill Strategies Research in 2002, provides synopses of qualitative and quantitative research findings in the arts and culture. The Monitor should be useful to artists, arts managers, funders, policy makers, researchers and others with an interest in learning more about the arts and culture. The Arts Research Monitor is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.
The Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) aims to deliver “a measure that provides a broader depth of understanding that, when partnered with [Gross Domestic Product], gives citizens and decision-makers a more comprehensive package of information they need to assess our progress as a society and make decisions based on evidence for a fair and sustainable future”. The CIW tracks sixty-four indicators related to eight domains, including “leisure and culture”.
This report examines all cultural building projects in the United States between 1994 and 2008 based on a number of research methods. Overall, the researchers identified 725 cultural building projects started between 1994 and 2008, with a total cost of nearly $16 billion. One-half of the cultural building projects were multi-use performing arts centres, 39% were museums, and 11% were theatre-only projects.
The authors of this article argue that, despite increasing attention to creative cities and cultural planning, “knowledge about what works at various urban and regional scales is sorely lacking”. The authors highlight the relative lack of research “evaluating the efficacy of specific cultural strategies” designed to improve local cultural development.
The report is based on four large-scale surveys of Canadians, Americans, and overseas visitors to Ontario, including basic information about travel (data from 2010) as well as travel motivations (2006). One of the key findings of the report is that the 9.5 million overnight cultural tourists have a substantial economic impact on Ontario’s Gross Domestic Product ($3.7 billion). This economic impact generated about 68,000 jobs and $1.7 billion in taxes for all levels of government.
Based on a survey of 1,244 American adults, this research article finds that there is “significant association between cultural activities and self-reported health (SRH)”, even controlling for demographic factors.