Data that’s true to art: TMU researcher launches partnership to support a data-driven understanding of the arts’ civic impact

In a world where data increasingly defines success, the true value of the arts is often overlooked or invisible. Natalie Álvarez, professor of theatre and performance studies and dean at Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) The Creative School, is leading a groundbreaking research project to build inclusive new data systems that capture the impact of the arts on civic life. These systems could help data reflect aspects of the arts that are community-situated, embodied and ephemeral.

The Arts Impact Partnership (TAIP) received a $2.5 million Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant, bringing together a breadth of arts-based researchers and organizations. The principal partnership between TMU and the national organization Mass Culture is creating a coalition of 67 researchers (11 from TMU) and 33 other partners across Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, including two national networks across Canada and the U.S. Professor Alvarez is joined by co-directors Sarah Bay-Cheng (University of Toronto), Owais Lightwala (TMU), Shawn Newman (Skills for Change) and Robin Sokoloski (Mass Culture), who represent a cross-sectoral leadership team. 

“Too often, artists and arts organizations have no choice but to rely on reductive metrics – ticket sales, jobs created, attendance – that say very little about the real, qualitative richness of their contributions to society,” said professor Álvarez. Moreover, she explained, metrics that only capture economic impact create inequities within the arts sector: “Current metrics systems aren’t just limited, they’re exclusionary and out of step with our commitments to equity, diversity and inclusion.”

Within the context of post-secondary institutions, TAIP recognizes that existing data analytics platforms are designed to capture traditional quantitative academic metrics like publication counts and citations. They don’t make room for the qualitative impacts of arts-based research. The result is a limited understanding, both within postsecondary institutions and the general public, about the profound contributions the arts and artistic research make to society and to knowledge.

Starting with the design of the project, artists and arts organizations have been active participants in the process. “Our partner organizations help define the key impact areas, shape the language and categories we use and guide the development of our frameworks, so they reflect creative sector realities rather than imposing external metrics,” said professor Álvarez.

TAIP has three main objectives over its seven-year timeline. First, it aims to create a new system that enhances the visibility of the impact of arts-based projects. Second, it looks to build impact data frameworks that improve our understanding of the contributions of the arts in key areas, including equity, migration and integration; environmental resilience; and health and well-being. And third, it will drive the development of findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) metadata applied to information across organizations.

“The Arts Impact Partnership is a bold and timely initiative that will reshape how we understand the value of the arts in our society. Through international collaboration, the Creative School is building global impact data frameworks that will advance equity, well-being and cultural understanding through the arts,” said Steven N. Liss, TMU’s vice-president, research and innovation.

Impact-defining data will reshape perception of creative work

“Through this project, artists, creative scholars and institutions will co-develop a process that ensures indicators and metadata reflect the lived realities of artistic practice and the diverse communities it engages,” professor Álvarez said. “By redefining the civic impact of the arts, the project will help demonstrate how the arts foster equity and inclusion, support migration and integration, imagine pathways for environmental resilience and promote health and well-being.”

Internationally, TAIP aims to elevate Canada’s position as a leader in the Responsible Research Assessment movement, offering other countries tested frameworks for artistic research and contributions that are rigorous, equitable and aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Among its many outcomes, TAIP intends to develop data impact frameworks that will be integrated into the established and accepted system for data collection and reporting among Canada’s public art funders, such as the Canadian Arts Data / Données sur les arts au Canada (CADAC), managed by the Canada Council for the Arts. This integration will improve the ability of CADAC to support holistic and qualitatively rich understandings of the impact of the arts.

Learn more about SSHRC Institutional Grants. (external link, opens in new window) 

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Learn more about UN Sustainable Development Goals. (external link, opens in new window)