Groundbreaking research into New Brunswick arts, culture, and heritage venues
An exciting research project is investigating the impacts and post-pandemic challenges of cultural venues in New Brunswick.
The goals of the project are to better understand venues’ contributions to the cultural community and all New Brunswickers, as well as their financial health and community engagement.
The research includes three completed elements, plus a forthcoming final report (fall of 2024):
- Analysis of census and other data on the arts and culture, including a statistical profile of the 2,700 professional artists in the province. Kelly Hill presented some key findings from this part of the study on January 31, 2024.
- A survey of cultural venues.
- Interviews with operators of cultural venues in June and November of 2023.
The research will produce results that will inform the province’s arts, culture, and heritage sector for the next decade, and there is no other thorough source regarding the current challenges and importance of New Brunswick’s cultural venues.
The project’s partners will use the survey results to further their information sharing, policy, and advocacy activities for the betterment of the sector as a whole. The partners are ArtsLink NB, Association acadienne des artistes professionel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick (AAAPNB), and the Owens Art Gallery at Mount Allison University. The project is steered by a committee including Julie Whitenect of ArtsLink NB, Carmen Gibbs and Laurence Dubuc of AAAPNB, Emily Falvey of the Owens Art Gallery, and artist Emma Hassencahl-Perley.
The project is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and The Government of New Brunswick.