Who we are
Established in 2025 and supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, TAIP is building a national network of 70+ researchers, 25+ Canadian partner organizations, and several international collaborators. Led in partnership with Mass Culture and located at Toronto Metropolitan University, our coalition aims to empower cultural workers by creating new impact frameworks that better represent the social impact of the arts.
Our goals are to:
● Build a national network that rethinks how we define and recognize arts’ impact on society.
● Co-create new impact frameworks that help artists, researchers, and arts organizations tell stories of transformation in four key areas:
○ Equity
○ Migration and Integration
○ Environmental Resilience
○ Health & Well-Being
● Develop open and ethical data systems that honour Indigenous data sovereignty (CARE principles) and make the arts’ civic contributions easier to find and share.
● Strengthen relationships between artists, researchers, students, and arts organizations to build a sustainable, community-driven data ecosystem.
What we are doing
TAIP will create:
● Impact frameworks and metadata tools
● Training modules and workshops
● Peer-reviewed publications and policy briefs
● Public events and community dialogues
● A national Arts Impact Data Summit to share our findings and advocate for systemic change.
What will come out of it
Phase 1: Defining what impact means (Years 1–2): We’ll start by reviewing existing research and talking with arts organizations to identify early ideas and indicators of impact.
Phase 2: Building shared understanding (Years 3–4): Working together, we’ll co-create shared language, concepts, and frameworks that reflect diverse perspectives and realities.
Phase 3: Testing and learning (Years 5–6): Teams of researchers, students, and arts partners will put these frameworks into practice, testing and refining them through real-world experiences.
Phase 4: Sharing and celebrating (Year 7): We’ll host community gatherings and a national Arts Impact Summit to share what we’ve learned and inspire lasting change in how impact is understood across the arts sector.