Three major research streams contributed to the Arts Impact Measurement Project, conducted for Arts Council Wood Buffalo (ACWB) in 2015 and 2016:

1. An online survey of the arts community in and around Fort McMurray
2. A telephone survey, representative of all local residents
3. Qualitative research into the importance of the arts in community resilience (following the wildfire in May 2016)

The results of the two surveys are summarized in a major report entitled Wood Buffalo’s Arts Community Viewed from Within and Without, which can be downloaded below. The arts community survey received 178 responses, a very high proportion of the overall local arts ecology. The survey of the broader community was a representative sample of 400 local residents.

In response to the wildfire, ACWB and Hill Strategies Research developed a strategy to analyze existing findings related to the arts and disaster recovery in a complimentary report entitled Creative resilience in Wood Buffalo (also available below). This report summarized research from other communities that experienced natural disasters and found a role for the arts in their recovery and rebuilding.

Finally, two infographics were produced to summarize the findings of the two surveys. The visual summaries of the surveys can be found here: artists infographic and infographic of survey of local residents.