Research

QPAC undertakes and supports research that informs its internal operations as well as engaging in research collaborations at a professional level. QPAC's strategic, programming and marketing operations are supported by research that covers fields such as: audience engagement and development; the library and museum sector; urban development; measurement and evaluation; social and cultural policy; more broadly, creative practice and innovation.

QPAC's Research Librarian utilises the resources of the QPAC Reference Library as well as the rich resources and services of the State Library of Queensland to assist staff with research and information requests. The Research Librarian and QPAC Museum provide research support to the general public, researchers, arts companies and educational institutions.

Sustaining Culture: The Role of Performing Arts Centres

Sustaining Culture: The Role of Performing Arts Centres is a joint research project with Griffith University, The Arts Centre, Sydney Opera House, The Adelaide Festival Centre and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.

What role do performing arts centres play in sustaining culture?

The research aims to develop and evaluate methods of identifying, describing and measuring the impacts of Performing Arts Centres' creative entrepreneurship. To this end the project will answer four main questions:

• How do performing arts centres foster creative innovation in programming, content and practice?
• How can the value of cultural participation, cultural goods and cultural institutions be measured?
• How are performing arts centres able to contribute to sustainable, tolerant creative communities / societies?
• How can the value of performing arts centres' contributions be communicated to governments, business, and the wider public?

Sustaining Culture successfully secured funding from the Australian Research Council in 2004. Research outcomes will be available in mid 2010.

TheatreSpace: accessing the cultural conversation

TheatreSpace is a four year, $3.3 million dollar research project investigating young people (14-24yrs) as audience for theatre in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. The research aims to discover what the factors are that encourage young people or prevent them from attending theatre.

The research is comprised of two parts: a major survey of over 1 000 young people in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales to obtain longitudinal data about theatre going amongst this age group. The second part involves case studies of young people's engagement with performances by Australia's major theatre companies such as Queensland Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare, Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company and Arena Theatre Company and in the major Performing Arts Centres on the east coast including QPAC, Brisbane Powerhouse, Sydney Opera House and Malthouse Theatre.

Chief Investigators from Griffith University and Melbourne and Sydney Universities will be investigating the impact of theatre on the lives of young people, ways to encourage and engage young people as audience, the extent to which live theatre is a part of their culture in relation to other entertainment choices and the ways in which theatre involves young people in the wider culture of the nation.

This is the largest Australian Research Council (ARC) research project ever undertaken in Australia in this field and will span 3 years(2008- 2011).

For more information about QPAC's research contact:

Rebecca Lamoin
Manager - Strategic Projects
Queensland Performing Arts Centre
rebecca.lamoin@qpac.com.au