From the Audience to the Studio: How Calgary's Relationship with the Arts Is Changing

Calgary's relationship with the arts is evolving. The 2025 Calgary Citizen Engagement Survey, conducted by Stone-Olafson in partnership with Calgary Arts Development, surveyed 1,000 Calgarians and offers the most up-to-date picture of how residents engage with arts and culture in the city. The findings are encouraging in many ways, but they also point to tensions that will need to be addressed if Calgary wants to build a more arts-engaged community.

The headline finding is a strong recovery from the pandemic. All three forms of arts engagement – observing and listening, attending, and creating – are up since 2022. Nearly nine in ten Calgarians are now connected to the arts in at least one way, and 35% are fully immersed, meaning they engage across all different types of arts.  Attendance in particular has bounced back strongly, with most cultural activities returning to pre-pandemic levels.

But the recovery isn't uniform. Participation in moviegoing, live music, and museum visits has yet to return to 2018 levels. And the average amount Calgarians spend attending arts events has dropped 19% since 2018. What's filling the gap is creation. In 2025, 73% of Calgarians reported participating in some kind of creative activity or hobby, up from 64% in 2022. Spending on creating art increased 28% over the same period. Self-directed creative activities, such as photography, crafting, music, took off during the pandemic and haven't slowed down, driven in part by accessibility, affordability, and the mental health benefits they offer.

Cost is the single biggest barrier to deeper engagement. Forty-three percent of respondents cited the price of arts activities as a barrier (a 9-point increase from 2022) and 28% said a change in income has further limited what they can afford. With 57% of Albertans reporting reduced household spending capacity over the past two years, arts activities need to clearly demonstrate their value to compete for discretionary dollars.

The data also makes a compelling case for the social importance of the arts. Calgarians who are more engaged with the arts feel a significantly stronger sense of belonging in their city with 46% of arts-immersed individuals report a strong sense of belonging, compared to just 20% of those who are disengaged. Highly engaged residents are also more likely to volunteer, donate, and participate in community groups, suggesting that arts engagement and broader civic participation go hand in hand.

The overall picture is one of a city that values the arts deeply, but needs to work harder on affordability, relevance, and support for working artists if it wants that value to translate into deeper, broader participation.

Click here to download the full 2025 Calgary Citizen Engagement Survey report, or visit Calgary Arts Development's website to explore further.