Executive Summary

“ArtBridges is a survivor! They help us all feel good about our work. They help us all feel that what we do matters. Pretty amazing stuff…” – Community Partner

Introduction

Founded in 2008, ArtBridges is a hub and forum for connection for anyone interested in or active in community-engaged arts and arts for social change in Canada. ArtBridges informs people about and connects them with community-engaged arts initiatives. ArtBridges aims to improve access to arts and art-making for Canadians.

In December 2013, ArtBridges received a 3-year grant from the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation. Part of the grant funding was designated to conducting a comprehensive evaluation of ArtBridges. An external evaluator was contracted to conduct an evaluation in the summer of 2014. This report provides the results of the evaluation in Year Two, including recommendations for further actions that ArtBridges can explore.

Purpose of Evaluation
The purpose of the evaluation is to identify:

• The extent to which ArtBridges results in greater connections, knowledge and inspiration for identified initiatives and if community arts and arts for social change field is more connected and has a higher profile;
• The extent to which processes used contribute to the success of the initiative, including whether approaches taken are effective in terms of achieving intended results.

Data was gathered using a non-experimental post-test only mixed methods design. Data was gathered through output tracking, electronic surveys and qualitative data gathering. Data was analyzed using primarily exploratory approaches. Important limits to the evaluation are outlined in the body of the report. Data is not generalizable to all ArtBridges community partners or stakeholders.