The Creative City Network of Canada commissioned a series of reports on Developing and Revitalizing Rural Communities through Arts and Creativity. The summary overview of these reports sets the context: “As rural communities re-envision and reposition themselves, they are seeking to revitalize, diversity their economic base, enhance their quality of life, and reinvent themselves for new functions and roles.”
The literature review in the Creative City Network of Canada series of reports on Developing and Revitalizing Rural Communities through Arts and Creativity examines the nature of cultural activity in rural communities, the community context for arts development, the role of the arts in economic development, and governance strategies.
The primary finding of this report is that values, beliefs, aspirations and motivations are related to donations and to donation levels in the performing arts. Rather than relying only on past donation behaviour and the personal knowledge of development staff, information about values could help create “a fundamentally better way to market and fundraise for the arts”.
This presentation highlights findings regarding the broad social impacts of performing arts attendance for individuals. In addition, the presentation provides key data regarding performing arts attendance in 2005 and trends in attendance since 1992.
Two recent reports from Hill Strategies Research investigate the social impacts of cultural activities, including book reading. Overall, the reports show that Canadians who read are more likely to be socially active than Canadians who do not read.
This report “attempts to define and measure how audiences are transformed by a live performance”. Despite arguments to the contrary, the report finds that “intrinsic impacts can be measured”. Some of the potential intrinsic impacts examined in the report include “captivation, intellectual stimulation, emotional resonance, spiritual value, aesthetic growth and social bonding”.
This recent report investigates the broad social impacts of cultural activities for individuals. It examines the relationship between four cultural activities (reading books, attending live performances, visiting art galleries and attending movie theatres) and social phenomena such as volunteering, donating, neighbourhood connections, sense of belonging and quality of life.
In a presentation about Communicating Value, Alan S. Brown outlines the “benefits emanating from the arts experience”, including individual, interpersonal and community impacts. Alan S. Brown’s second resource available on the conference website is a presentation about Peer-to-Peer Marketing, including key concepts, implementation approaches and marketing practices.
This report highlights 19 case studies of dance organizations, events and activities in the U.K. that aim to provide physical, mental, personal, social and educational benefits.
The federal External Advisory Committee on Cities and Communities, led by former B.C. Premier Mike Harcourt, outlines four key dimensions in creating sustainable communities: economic, environmental, social and cultural.
