April 04, 2011

Busy Time for Arts Advocacy in Canada

It is a busy time for arts advocacy in Canada. From conferences and summits to celebrations happening across the country, to the upcoming Federal Election prompting the arts sector to stand up and take action.

Pacific Contact - BC Touring Council

Pacific Contact - the annual west coast tradeshow and booking conference for the performing arts - was held April 1 - 3 in Burnaby. This conference is put on by the BC Touring Council (a sister organization to ArtStarts) and was established to serve presenters and touring professional artists in British Columbia. A few staff from ArtStarts attended the conference and met up with the new Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, Ida Chong, who spoke on Friday afternoon.

Minister Chong congratulated the arts sector for navigating through tough economic times. She recognized that arts and culture have a way of rising up during times of challenge and turmoil and help contribute to a nation's quality of life.

14th annual Canadian Arts Summit

The Canadian Arts Summit, held in Toronto this weekend, was centered around the theme of: What Can We Do to Strengthen the Place of the Arts in Canada? Discussions were focused around the following 5 questions:

1. How can we work with the media to more effectively tell our story? 
2. How can cities and their arts organizations collaborate to strengthen the entire community? 
3. How can we work with educational institutions to raise future arts lovers? 
4. How can architecturally innovative buildings improve access to the arts? 
5. How can we build on Culture Days and engage communities in the arts? 

Vancouver's Rebecca Bolwitt (aka Miss 604, pictured at left) was one of the speakers discussing how media can be used more effectively to strengthen understanding and appreciation of the arts and interest in participating. 

Her recent blog states, "Having recently spent a few days in Toronto for the Canadian Arts Summit I’m even more determined to promote and highlight community arts events for all." Yay Rebecca!

2011 Arts Summit in Vancouver

The Alliance for Arts and Culture is gearing up for the 2011 Arts Summit to be held at SFU Woodward's June 10 - 11, 2011. Early bird online registration opens Thursday April 7th so stay tuned.

The Alliance for Arts and Culture ceates a unified voice for the arts sector in Metro Vancouver. Their website is chock full of interesting and relevant information, so it's one to check often. 

BC Arts & Culture Week

April 10 - 16, 2011 

Now in its 12th year, this event turns the spotlight on the vital contribution that Arts and Culture make in learning and in life. Music, film, media arts, dance, books, theatre and visual art are a part of daily life. They inspire us, challenge us, broaden our horizons and help us to become informed, aware and contributing members of society.

ArtStarts is hosting A&C Mashup on April 13, 2011. This free event brings a variety of voices representing Vancouver’s dynamic Arts and Culture scene to the stage to entertain, inform and inspire. This is an evening you don't want to miss. 

Culture Days

Sept 30, October 1 & 2, 2011

Culture Days is a collaborative pan-Canadian volunteer movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of all Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities. 

ArtStarts is part of the provincial task force and has offered the ArtStarts Gallery space at 808 Richards Street (at Robson) to activity organizers during this time. Details here. 

Federal Election

The Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) will be providing a weekly media monitoring report that provides news stories, resources and event listings that are relevant to the arts and culture sector during this campaign period.

When you’re tweeting and looking for election related tweets, use the following hashtags: #elxn41#cdnpoli #fed2011#artsvotecan

The Canadian Arts Coalition is currently working on five initiatives to strengthen the presence of the arts in Campaign 2011. 

To determine who's views are most like yours, join over 1,000,000 other Canadians and try the CBC's Vote Compass.