In 2006, a group of artists’ associations and individuals came together in response to the growing awareness of the serious challenges facing Canada’s professional senior artists. With the intention of developing programs and services to respond to these challenges, they launched the Senior Artists Research Project (SARP) in 2009 to investigate the circumstances, situation, needs and interests of senior artists.

There were three components to the research:

• Relevant international models of support for senior artists were researched by Kelly Hill of Hill Strategies Research Inc.
• Research into the situation of Canadian senior artists, including a quantitative electronic and paper survey as well as focus groups meetings across Canada, was conducted by Kelly Hill.
• Services that currently exist for senior artists in Canada were researched and summarized by Joysanne Sidimus, SARP Project Director and Celine Marks, Project Administrator.