Emergent Value: Capturing the unexpected value of arts experiences

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Understanding the value of the arts is vital at a time when arts funding is under threat. The challenge of how we capture arts experiences is particularly pressing in the context of government agendas that instrumentalise the arts within economic development and social impact agendas. This has lead to a situation where arts experiences are increasingly judged through metrics. Current frameworks for establishing value and capturing the impact of arts experiences take an instrumentalist approach: where a specific aim is set out beforehand and evaluation is targeted at capturing whether that specific aim has been achieved. Whilst this strategy is an important part of capturing the impact of arts experiences, it does not enable a full understanding of all the ways in which experiences become meaningful to participants. Instead, I propose 'Emergent Value' as a new and innovative way of understanding the unpredictable ways through which participants find meaning and value in their experiences. This meaning arises out of the specific connections between their lived experiences and the context and content of the work. Exploring how art becomes meaningful for individuals, and discovering what they value and how they value it, has great potential for participants and organisations alike. The project will re-centre the participant in the process of gathering complex information on experience and offer a deeper level appreciation of their experiences. For arts organisations Emergent Value offers important insights into the experiences of their audiences. At a broader level, such insights have the potential to make a persuasive case for the value of the arts and culture more broadly.Therefore, the main research question is: How can we understand and capture the Emergent Value of participation in the arts and embed this in impact frameworks? To address this question, the project will explore the process by which arts experiences becomes meaningful for individuals. It will reconceptualise evaluation as a process that is meaningful for both participants and those evaluating, which will enable the capturing of richer experiential data. The project will examine the following, interconnected areas:1. Explore the relationship between Emergent Value and participant reflection. This will be done by experimenting with different strategies for scaffolding reflection for participants before, during and after their experiences.2. Examine the role of facilitating spaces for participant meaning-making following events. This includes exploring how such spaces can enable Emergent Value to develop more consistently.3. Develop a range of creative and playful evaluation strategies able to capture Emergent Value. This will enable participants to express more of the complexity of their experiences.The project is a collaboration with two creative partners: Coney and Pudding, who each bring significant expertise in building experiences to engage audiences, holding space for reflection, and facilitating audience dialogue. In addition, we will work with further cultural organisations such as MAYK, Paraorchestra and Trinity Community Arts to test out and implement the engagement and evaluation strategies developed within the project. Alongside the research activities, we will host a series of conversations about the needs of various stakeholders for a robust and nuanced impact framework and associated evaluation strategies. These conversations will feed into the data analysis and shape the outcomes. The project will also support industry development and benefit audiences, cultural organisations and artists by embedding engagement with non-academic stakeholders and beneficiaries throughout.