Data That Drives Impact:Transforming the Future of the Arts

by Lisa Mackay

Access to reliable and up-to-date data has long been a challenge in Canada’s arts and culture sector. For those working in Calgary’s arts sector, whether artists, arts administrators, funders, or researchers, questions around determining comparative financial benchmarks, impact measurement, or sectoral trends have led to a frustrating search across disconnected sources.

However, in late 2024, Mass Culture launched the Data Narratives for the Arts (DNA) Platform, a new digital tool that aims to centralize and streamline access to sector-wide data, bringing information from the Canada Revenue Agency, Statistics Canada, and Canadian Arts Data (CADAC) into a single, searchable interface. The platform draws on information from more than 4,000 arts organizations across Canada, covering financial data, geographic reach, artistic disciplines, and organizational scale.

For Calgary-based arts organizations, this means more accessible comparisons with similar organizations nationwide, helping with everything from strategy to advocacy to research.

The sector has often lacked a single, reliable place to access the kind of information needed for evidence-based decisions. While CADAC has served as a key data source for funders and some organizations, the platform wasn’t widely accessible or user-friendly for many cultural workers.

The DNA Platform addresses that gap by offering:

Up-to-date, easily accessible data for organizations of all sizes, including individual practitioners.

National trends and regional comparisons, allowing Calgary arts organizations to situate their work within broader sectoral movements.

Customizable tools to help users filter and interpret data in ways that are meaningful to their work.

An open-access interface, with an emphasis on transparency and collaboration, including opportunities for cultural workers and policymakers to engage with shared data sets.

The platform is designed to support both day-to-day operational work and longer-term strategic thinking. Some practical uses might include:

Benchmarking: See how your organization's finances or staffing compare to similar groups across Alberta or Canada.

Case-making: Use aggregated national data to strengthen arguments in funding applications or advocacy work.

Planning: Access insights that can inform program design, equity initiatives, or regional outreach.

Research: Track how different segments of the sector are recovering from the pandemic, or how organizational size correlates with funding sources.

One of the goals of the DNA initiative is to make data more approachable and relevant, even for those without a research background. Mass Culture has offered several online information sessions to walk organizations through different data approaches to help users better understand and articulate their role within the larger arts ecosystem, and is offering one-on-one training to a pilot cohort beginning this summer.

Mass Culture is still looking to expand the database and include more arts organizations across the country. You can check to see if your organization's data is already included by clicking a link on the DNA Platform website that says "Not sure if your organization is reflected in the dataset? Find Out."

If you are not included and would like to add your data, you have two options:

If your organization is in the CADAC database, you can complete a quick consent form, and it will provide Mass Culture with the information.

If you are not in CADAC, there is a DNA Simplified Form that can be filled out and sent to Mass Culture's Director of Programs and Research Robin Sokoloski at robin@massculture.ca.

If you have any questions or need assistance in filling out the form, you can reach out to Robin. Increased participation will help to improve data accessibility and enhance advocacy efforts within the arts community, and having many organizations from Alberta included will also help us be able to create benchmarks more locally. The DNA Project is a great way to help bring data into your organization's decision-making.