Arts Notes
Best wishes to outgoing board members
Rita Cox and Lynn Haight
In April, Lynn Haight and Rita Cox will come to the end of their second three-year board terms. Each of them has brought unique contributions to our board deliberations; their insights will be missed. Lynn played a rigorous and probing role on our board finance committee. Rita’s extensive involvement in Toronto’s Caribbean community ensured a depth of perspective when issues of cultural diversity came to the board table. Our thanks to them both.
Top
New report shows that one quarter of Canada’s artists live in small or rural municipalities
“
Artists in Small and Rural Municipalities in Canada ", a report in the
Statistical Insights on the Arts series by
Hill Strategies Research , provides an analysis of artists residing in small and rural municipalities in Canada. “Small and rural” municipalities are those with fewer than 50,000 residents.
The Statistical Insights on the Arts series is funded by the Ontario Arts Council, the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Top
New financial and statistical forms are available on the CADAC database
On February 3, 2010, a revised financial and statistical form was provided on the CADAC (Canadian Arts Data / Données sur les arts au Canada) website. The new form was implemented after months of negotiations between CADAC partners and non-partner arts councils.
The new financial and statistical form will be used for operating grant applications beginning in March 2010, and will require more detailed information than the previous form. The additional information will be used as comparative data to evaluate the activities and effects of arts and cultural organizations in Canada.
The CADAC Secretariat posted transition instructions on the CADAC website to help organizations understand what has changed, and where the data submitted in 2009 is now located. We encourage organizations to contact their program officer for information.
For organizations who never used the previous statistical form, the new form is available now for grant application deadlines beginning March 1, 2010.
About CADAC
CADAC is a web-based application dedicated to the collection, dissemination and analysis of financial and statistical information about Canadian arts organizations. CADAC began development in 2004 and was launched in 2008.
Since its launch, more than 1,300 organizations have registered and used CADAC’s financial and statistical forms. There are more than 7,000 financial and statistical forms—including historical data and projections currently in the database,.
For more information about CADAC, please contact:
Pat Bradley
CADAC Chair
Ontario Arts Council
416-969-7433 or 1-800-387-0058 ext. 7433
pbradley@arts.on.ca
CADACInfo@thecadac.ca
Top
Contact ontarois showcases francophone arts and culture
In January, hundreds of Franco-Ontarian presenters and performers came together in Ottawa for three intense, fun-filled days of francophone arts at Contact ontarois. Administered by Réseau Ontario, Contact ontarois is the province’s premier booking event for francophone performing artists, and much more. Part fair, part networking and part educational experience, it has been described as a “celebration of the francophone performing arts,” and showcases the excellent and innovative work emerging from Ontario’s francophone arts community and beyond.
Several workshops brought to the fore the cultural diversity and global reach present within this community. Some sessions were organized using the concept used in “speed dating” to give bookers and performers a more intimate chance to explore a potential “match.” Close to a hundred artists and agents ran booths and installations in Ottawa’s Marriott Hotel. Primary and secondary school kids—our future artists and audiences—were invited to enjoy youth-oriented activities.
Festival-goers were entertained by performances and awards at Contact’s closing gala. Performances included a playful ode to the OAC by Toronto’s female vocalists Les Chiclettes.
Top
Staff comings and goings
- We would like to thank Laurie McGauley, who left her position as Northeastern Consultant in December, for her valuable contribution linking artists in Sudbury and the surrounding region to OAC.
- Gouled Hassan is our new full-time Northeastern Consultant. For information in French or in English, contact Gouled Hassan at 705-665-4907 or 1-877-265-8842, or email him at ghassan@arts.on.ca . Check out
OAC's maps of Ontario regions
- OAC welcomes Vlasta Uljarevic , who has been hired as Granting Process Manager. Vasta will be responsible for implementing best practices that will streamline our internal processes.
- OAC Executive Director John Brotman postpones retirement
John Brotman has decided to delay his retirement until 2012, to lead OAC through the fulfillment of the goals outlined in our strategic plan .
Top
Access to 151 Bloor St. West will be obstructed until summer 2010
Construction on the Bloor Street transformation project between Avenue Road and Bay Street, which began in January 2010, will continue into the summer of 2010. According to the Bloor-Yorkville Business Improvement Association (BIA), construction will not interrupt pedestrian access to businesses and properties. Construction barricades placed between the sidewalk and street may limit vehicle parking and access directly in front of our building at 151 Bloor Street West.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. For detailed information please visit http://www.bloor-yorkville.com/ or contact OAC reception at 416-961-1660.
Top
Celebrate Our Artists (spOtlight festival) pilot ends
After two years as a pilot project,
spOtlight has concluded. The
Ontario Arts Counci l (OAC) collaborated with the Ministry of Culture on the spOtlight initiative.
The spOtlight: Celebrate Our Artists! weekend in June was designed to encourage an appreciation of the arts and their significance to communities. The goal was to help artists and arts organizations connect to new audiences through public activities and events that shone a spotlight on the creative process.
Although the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and OAC will not be organizing a spOtlight festival in 2010, we are all committed to the spirit of spOtlight and will look for ways to promote an appreciation and understanding of the arts and celebrate the artists who live in our communities.
A national movement entitled Culture Days is set to launch across the country in September 2010. More information will be available in the coming months at www.culturedays.ca .
Background
In 2008 and in 2009, the communities of Cambridge, Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo and Stratford were selected as pilot sites for spOtlight , the first Celebrate Our Artists! weekend in June. spOtlight was funded by the provincial Ministry of Culture (now the Ministry of Tourism and Culture), and was produced by the Ontario Arts Council . It was loosely modelled on Quebec’s Journées de la culture .
If you have questions, please contact
Geneviève Vallerand
Communications Coordinator
Ontario Arts Council
416-969-7434 or 1-800-387-0058 ext. 7434
gvallerand@arts.on.ca
Top
OAC-funded hip-hop artist K’naan releases 2010 World Cup song
Toronto-based artist K’naan released a remixed version of Wavin' Flag , the track selected as the official theme song for the FIFA 2010 World Cup. The song will be played at World Cup events, on TV and in online commercials promoting the World Cup games.
Top
March 12, 2010: Deadline for applications to participate in CINARS 2010 performing arts showcase
Artists in multidisciplinary arts, dance, music and theatre are invited to submit applications to take part in the CINARS 2010 official programming.
CINARS (International Exchange for the Performing Arts / Conférence internationale des arts de la scène) was created to promote Canadian artists in the international market. The event brings together international delegates and representatives of different media who attend performance showcases. The event will take place in Montreal from November 15 to 21, 2010.
For more information, visit http://www.cinars.org/ .
Top
Arts in the News
Click on the links below for a selection of news articles about OAC-funded projects throughout the province.
Art collective trying to save the city with new grant funds
University of Windsor Daily News , 19 January, 2010
Interview with Claudette Jaiko, Franco-Ontarian Arts Officer , on TFO
Panorama, TFO. Available in French only.
Top