What Kind of Research Does Our Cultural Sector Need?

A recent Mass Culture gathering in Haileybury, Ontario. | massculture.ca

The BC Alliance has been asked to host a Mass Culture gathering in Vancouver in October. What is Mass Culture? 

Mass Culture is a new and developing network of artists, arts organizations and academic institutions across Canada, which will address and research cultural policy issues. Governmental representatives have indicated that they lack a central location for reliable policy information about the Canadian arts sector. Mass Culture aims to fill that role.

As host of one of many Mass Culture gatherings happening across the country, the BC Alliance is required to conceive of just one question that resonates with our community and requires an in-depth exploratory conversation, and ultimately in-depth research.

The question could pertain to arts education and socioeconomic status, or culture's impact on tourism economy, or even the impact of creativity beyond economics.  The idea is to determine existing knowledge gaps in our cultural policy.

We want to hear from you about what kind of research is needed in our cultural sector.  

If you have ideas about the kind of question you’d like the gathering to address, or if you want to be a part of this initiative, please get in touch with Brenda Leadlay (brenda@allianceforarts.com)

Incidentally, the need for Mass Culture has resulted from the decrease in activity of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, which had a long-established reputation for arts and cultural policy leadership. This year, Mass Culture intends to work with our sector to imagine what the organizational framework should include, identify cultural policy issues of common cause and develop coordinated strategies.