The interviews are finished. The data has been obtained.
As I begin writing my report, one honest question has been in the back of mind: what is this all for? I’ve been research and advocating for the value of outdoor arts on people’s wellbeing – but where does it all go?
It’s a question I had at the end of my summer research project. And, I don’t mean it in an insulting way either.
I’m an active musician, and it’s very easy to see the effects that a good rehearsal or a performance can have on people’s moods. When I write down my findings and institutional recommendations in a policy brief on a Word document and watch the Times New Roman 11pt words stare back at me on a laptop screen, its harder to draw a direct impact.
In fact, it’s hard to whether it has an impact. Will a set of words truly convince someone to take action – to support the arts and culture? Or does it just sit into the abyss among the sea of other literature.
One thing that this LiA has taught me it the importance of storytelling – about conveying ideas and arguments n to the layman. It doesn’t matter how much placemaking and community theory you know, it won’t convince someone to take your side if they don’t understand what you’re saying. This is especially true with an organisation like the Toronto Arts Council: when it is the taxpayer footing the bill for these initiatives, it is in their interest to know how these things benefit them.
It’s hard to follow this as someone who writes about dense abstract topics in the form of constant tutorial essays. It is why I found constructing a one page A4 policy brief the hardest part of the task. However, we can’t be upset at people for not taking action against a societal problem if we don’t even make the efforts for them to understand it.
The other interns in the office have been working on an amazing map that shows the pockets of inequality in Toronto measured through the amount of arts programming in different wards. During their presentation, someone asked ‘what is the purpose or this?’, questioning whether the maps imply the council should deprioritise downtown Toronto in favour of local neighbourhoods? There is no right answer, but the research – when accessible – helps to generate conversation.
All these outputs of just one node in a massive network of tools that spark conversation. Whether it ultimately leads to a change is contestable, but at least research can provide the groundwork to know what questions we should be asking.