The following articles, publications, links and materials are provided as tools for arts advocacy activities. Please feel free to contact the Alliance for Arts and Culture at advocacy@allianceforarts.com if you require further information.

Please also consider joining our ACC Advocacy Alerts listserv, which allows you to exchange information with members of BC's arts and culture community by email.

Find your local elected officials

British Columbia Members of the Legislative Assembly
Canadian Members of Parliament

Research, briefs and statistics

Campaign for increased investment in the BC Arts Council

Under the banner of Arts Future BC, the Alliance has been working with Pro Arts (Victoria), the Assembly of BC Arts Councils, the BC Touring Council, and many individuals representing many organizations, constituencies and regions of the province, to ensure an increased investment in the BC Arts Council is part of the next provincial budget. Arts Future BC has prepared a brief for the provincial finance committee to make the case for the investment and this is now available for public distribution.

To open a PDF version of the brief to the Standing Committee on Finance, click here.
To view and download the public advocacy piece prepared by Arts Future BC, click here.

2006 Arts Future BC brief

The Alliance for Arts and Culture has been working with many of the other service organizations across the province, under the banner Arts Future BC, to ensure an increased investment in the BC Arts Council is part of the next provincial budget. The Arts Future BC brief is a document prepared for the provincial finance committee to make the case for the investment.

2006 Provincial Arts Summit report

A summary report of the Provincial Arts and Culture Summit held on April 11, 2006 in Vancouver. The report, Building From Strength, was prepared by the summit moderator, Max Wyman and it is available online at http://www.tsa.gov.bc.ca/csb/summit.htm.

Guidelines Guidelines for Measuring Tourism Economic Impact at Gated Events and Festivals
Guidelines to enable organizers of small and medium sized fairs, festivals and events to produce credible and consistent inputs for estimating tourism economic impact.

Estimating the Economic Impact of Festivals, Fairs and Events
A coherent and consistent set of principles for the capture and estimation of tourism spending at gated and un-gated events such as festivals, sporting events, and fairs.

The Social Effects of Culture (PDF) from the Canadian Journal of Communication
Case studies demonstrating the importance of culture to the individual and to the health of the nation.

Vancouver's Vital Signs 2006
Created by the Vancouver Foundation, Vital Signs is a snapshot of the city’s wellness and livability.

Attitudes towards arts and culture
Highlights from an August 2000 survey reveal how people in Greater Vancouver feel about arts and culture.

Frequently asked questions about arts and culture
Should governments continue to invest in arts and culture?

Federal spending on arts and culture
In 1997-98, BC ranked ninth out of the ten provinces in federal arts spending. Includes tables showing the long-term underfunding of BC's arts and culture sector.

Imagine More
A publication from the Canadian Arts Coalition presenting statistical evidence and arguments in support of an increased investment for the Canada Council for the Arts.

Investing in culture: a direct look at BC's arts funding
(The Arts and Culture Advocate, Vol. 1 No. 1, December 1999)
The province's history of underfunding arts and culture is outlined in this summary, which includes a discipline-specific breakdown of funding and other tables.

Spotlight on arts and culture (revised November 2002)
Here's a snapshot of the arts and culture sector in Greater Vancouver. Includes economic and social benefits, as well as statistics on public participation.

Talking about arts and culture
Quotable quotes on the benefits of arts and culture.

Organizations

Appropriation Art

A coalition of art professional who have come together to express their concern over the state of copyright policy for artists and the future of ‘Appropriation Art’.

Assembly of British Columbia Arts Councils
A service, advocacy and education organization working with BC's community and regional arts councils and other community-based arts and cultural organizations to advance the role of arts and culture in community development.

Arts Council of England
Produces various publications and information sheets to illustrate the impact and benefits of arts and culture.

Americans for the Arts
A national nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With 45 years of service, the organization is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts.

Canadian Conference of the Arts
A non-partisan, non-profit cultural advocacy organization providing a national forum for debate on cultural policy and the leading national advocate for Canada's artists and cultural institutions and industries.

Creative Cities Network
An organization of people employed by municipalities across Canada working on arts, culture and heritage policy, planning, development and support. Provides a bi-weekly email bulletin and resource website containing documents relating to community development, community engagement, facilities, heritage, cultural indicators, cultural planning, cutlural tourism, festivals, grants programs, public art and articles on "making the case" for culture.

Making the Case for Culture from the Creative City Network is a series of six papers that detail the “how and why” culture is key.

Hill Strategies
A Canadian company that supplies qualitative and quantitative research for the arts; covering governemnt spending on the arts, culture, volunteer opportunities and more.

Statistics Canada
Provides various statistics from Canadian arts, culture and recreation studies.

Last Updated: Monday, December 10, 2007