About the Study

The purpose of the Make Some Noise: Hidden Stories of Black Creatives in Canada study is to understand Black creative’s lived experience in navigating structural barriers and gaining access to support needed to advance their creative practice in Canada. The study aims to inform policymakers of the reforms needed to create an equitable landscape and create funding opportunities and other resources to support Black creatives. The study also investigates the feasibility of co-designing a “crowd-sourced” map of Black creatives in Canada.  

In phase one the study, co-design workshops with Black creatives in the visual arts and design are being scheduled with participants across Canada, using online collaboration tools. In phase 2, co-design workshops are planned for Black creatives in the performing arts and film. In each co-design session, workshop participants self-select how they identify their stage of practice (early-stage, sustaining, or established creative). They next participate in a facilitated discussion about barriers they have experienced in their creative practice and how they have been or could have been better supported in the group in which the participants self-identified. Participants also are asked to consider similarities or differences based on intersectional identities (e.g., Black + woman, Black + Queer, Black + Caribbean, etc.). Participants define what resources are required to advance their creative practice at each stage. Next, the groups reconvene to share key points from the small group discussions. Participants are asked to map their journey moving from early-stage creative to established creative and map the location of the structural barriers and facilitators they encountered in their journey.