Understanding the Creative Workforce:
A Study of Artists and Arts Practice

The understanding the creative workforce survey is a way for artists and researchers to collaborate from three cities: Vancouver, Canada; Perth, Australia; and Glasgow, Scotland. We are committed to bridging the gap between artists and creators and policy makers by developing a clearer picture of artists’ work and its critical role in communities.

Unlike studies done for the census or Cultural Human Resources Council, we want to gather stories and collective community information to better understand the creative economy today. Canada, unlike Scotland or Australia, does not endorse a coherent creative-economy cultural policy.

Why should I get involved?
Or, why should I spend an hour of my time contributing to this study?

We are a group of researchers who think art and artists make a difference in peoples' lives. The recent global economic downturn has impacted many people in different parts of the world. Artists have been hit especially hard, not only through government budget cuts, but also through decline of personal revenues.

This may or may not be true in your case. That’s why we would like to hear your story. In this survey, you will see a significant number of open-ended questions that allow you to express your experience in your own words rather than forcing you to simply select options from a pre-defined list. There are a number of close-ended questions as well that should speed up the process of completing this survey.

We know you are busy, but your experience is important. By downloading this survey, you can work on it at your own pace, saving it to your hard-drive to complete at any time. As a way of saying thank-you, we will enter all participants into a draw to win 10 chances at $50. As well, we will make available to you a report highlighting the survey findings, upon request.

Research background

This survey is the first step of a multi-phase study that seeks to increase understanding of artists’ careers. We define an artist or cultural/creative worker as someone who engages in a cultural occupation and self-defines as an artist, consistent with the indicators identified within leading creative-worker studies. The survey will gather stories about the impact and community value of the arts, and about the wide-ranging skills, knowledge and activities of artists.

The research will provide new insights into the working lives of specialist creative artists: What is the existing provision of creative artists? What do they do, and why? What barriers and opportunities impact their practice? How can they be supported to maximise their creative potential? How relevant is the current provision of education and training to the practice of artists? What strategies can be implemented to provide more affordable housing, access to creative work, rehearsal and other working space for cultural production?

What does participation involve?

Participation comprises completion of a questionnaire [ PDF ] which will take approximately fifty minutes. Participation is voluntary, and participants may withdraw from the study at any time.

Confidentiality

Your responses are completely confidential and anonymous. This means that that they cannot be traced back to you. Once we receive your completed PDF survey via email, we will move the PDF to a secure location and delete your original email, thus ensuring your anonymity.

Publication of results

The results of this study will be made available to participants and will be drawn upon for academic and non-academic publications and presentations. You can obtain the results from Dr. Dawn Bennett by contacting d.bennett@curtin.edu.au.

Questions?

Please direct general queries about this study to: Dr. Catherine Murray on murraye@sfu.ca. If you have questions or concerns regarding the manner in which this survey has been conducted please email the Director of the Office of Research Ethics at Simon Fraser University, Dr. Hal Weinberg, at hweinber@sfu.ca.

Send your completed survey as an email attachment to cmnsart@sfu.ca. Deadline is December 31, 2010.

Note: Right-click and choose Save As... to download the Interactive PDF survey to your hard-drive.

Send your completed survey as an email attachment to cmnsart@sfu.ca. Deadline is January 31, 2011.