Hill Strategies Research on the Situation of Arts Organizations

Arts Research Monitor Vol. 13 No. 10

In the latest edition of Hill Strategies Research's Arts Research Monitor: An analysis of the situation of Canadian arts organizations, including a report on the impact of the recent economic crisis on arts organizations as well as surveys of heritage organizations, visual arts organizations, and orchestras.

Click the report title below to read the full version. 

The impact of the recent economic crisis on the arts
Presentation at the International Conference on Cultural Economics, June 2014
Authors: André Courchesne, Benjamin Boeuf, and Gabriel Zamfir

Based on data on 942 arts organizations from CADAC (Canadian Arts Database / Données sur les arts au Canada), this report highlights changes in the revenue streams, expenses, and net assets of arts organizations between 2007-08 and 2011-12.

Government of Canada Survey of Heritage Institutions: 2011
Department of Canadian Heritage, August 2014

Starting with the 2011 data year, the Department of Canadian Heritage has assumed responsibility for surveying Canada’s heritage institutions (formerly a Statistics Canada survey). In 2011, a total of 1,269 not-for-profit heritage institutions responded to the survey, representing approximately “45% of the entire heritage sector” and “the largest sample to be measured in over 12 years”.

The Visual Arts Landscape in Canada as Seen through CADAC, 2011-12
Canada Council for the Arts, March 2014

This report examines data on 243 visual arts organizations regarding their finances and activities, as reported by the organizations in their submissions to CADAC (Canadian Arts Database / Données sur les arts au Canada).

Balancing the Scores: The Financial Health of Canadian Symphony Orchestras
HEC Montréal, June 2014
Authors: Renaud Legoux, Tara McGrath, and Sylvain Sénécal

This presentation examines Canadian statistics related to “Baumol’s cost disease”, which states that expenses might rise prohibitively over time in labour intensive sectors, such as the arts, “where productivity gains are limited”. An American researcher recently examined the “perilous life of symphony orchestras” in the U.S., where expenses have indeed risen faster than revenues. The presentation concludes that “Canadian orchestras keep a better balance between revenues and expenses” and are also “more responsive to economic conditions” than American orchestras.