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Message from the CCNC…
2011 Creative City Summit ~ London, Ontario ~ May 10-12, 2011
The Creative City Network of Canada, the City of London and the Creative City Summit Planning Committee have developed the 2011 Creative City Summit program to be more intimate and interactive to provide practitioners with a platform to exchange ideas and learn from your peers. You won't want to miss this exciting networking opportunity where representatives from municipalities, arts organizations, provincial and federal government agencies and others will meet to share ideas, connect, and work together to build vital infrastructure for arts and cultural development in Canada. The theme of the Summit, "The New Old: Culture as a Revitalizing Tool in your Community" features an exciting line up of inspirational speakers, educational workshops and networking opportunities that showcase London’s diverse culture and commitment to local cultural development. The full schedule, hotel/travel information, travel promotions and links to London are available here: www.creativecity.ca/in-person-meetings-mainmenu-146/2011-summit
For a list of featured "Things to Do" during your stay in London, visit: www.londontourism.ca/newsletter/?newsletter=42101373414B
Hope to see you there!
Coquitlam, BC: Who should pay for public art?
"Coquitlam needs more public art but who should pay for it? That’s the question city council is wrestling with as it considers an upcoming staff report on projects to beautify public spaces… two funding source ideas were presented to the city’s recreation committee by the arts and culture advisory group. The first suggestion is to use a portion of the revenues Coquitlam generates as host city to the Boulevard Casino on United Boulevard. The second — and more controversial — recommendation is to spend 1% of city land sale revenue to buy and maintain public art. Last year, city land sales totalled $3.5 million, meaning $35,000 would have been dedicated to public art had the policy been in place. Coun. Brent Asmundson bristled at the suggestion, saying council needs to be careful how it handles taxpayer dollars."
Janis Warren, The Tri-City News, April 7, 2011 | weblink
Surrey, BC: Fusion Festival wins 'Best Cultural Event In Canada' award
"The City of Surrey is pleased to announce that the 2010 Fusion Festival won a prestigious Star Award at the 2011 Canadian Event Industry Awards (CEIA) Gala Event in Toronto. The City was recognized in the category of Best Cultural Event for 2010. 'We’re very proud to have earned a National Award and recognition for this important event that showcases and celebrates diversity in the City,' said City of Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts. 'The Fusion Festival grows in popularity year after year and has broad-based community participation from multiple intercultural partners and associations.' Surrey Fusion Festival is presented by Coast Capital Savings and is BC’s largest multicultural celebration. The event was held at Surrey’s magnificent Holland Park on July 17 & 18, 2010. The Fusion Festival featured over 75 distinguished artists and headliners from around the world who performed on four stages. 30 cultural pavilions represented food and culture from different countries of origin. New this year, was a traditional First Nations Pow-wow with 30 vendors and exhibitors. The event was an incredible success, with attendance of nearly 90,000 people who took part in celebrating the City’s rich diversity with music, food and culture."
News Release, City of Surrey, April 1, 2011 | weblink
Kelowna, BC: Residents value local culture
"A new report by Bernard Momer, associate professor of geography at UBC Okanagan, has found that Kelowna residents value and support cultural opportunities in the city. The report, entitled Our City, Ourselves, provides valuable insight into Kelowna’s cultural status by using cultural indicators to measure progress and change. 'Our research looked at a variety of cultural indicators such as infrastructure, spending habits and the variety of cultural activities in Kelowna,' said Momer. 'We found that 64 per cent of residents believe that arts and cultural pursuits are important to the quality of life in Kelowna and, on average, Kelowna residents spend more than the provincial average on cultural pursuits.' According to the study, Kelowna citizens spend $1,066 per year on culture activities. The study also notes that the City of Kelowna provides more than $18 per capita annually to stimulate cultural pursuits and activities in the area. Kelowna is among the first B.C. communities to undertake a full assessment of the cultural landscape."
Kelowna Capital News, April 20, 2011 | weblink
Calgary, AB: Council asked to fund 'cultural capital' bid
"A Calgary alderman wants the city come up with $2 million to pursue a federal designation as a cultural capital in 2012. Organizers need the cash in order to get Calgary's bid ready, Ald. Brian Pincott said. Each year, the federal government recognizes several cities of different sizes as cultural capitals, allowing them to showcase their arts and culture sectors. 'Our culture goes beyond, you know, the Stampede. It goes beyond our arts and culture district. It goes to our multicultural communities, it goes to our aboriginal heritage, it goes all the way across the board. This is a celebration of who we are,' Pincott said. The project won't rest entirely on money from the city, he added."
CBC News, April 11, 2011 | weblink
Ottawa, ON: City of Ottawa is renewing its culture plan
"Ottawa’s Arts and Heritage Plan was adopted by City Council in 2003, within the broader context of the Ottawa 20/20 initiative. The basic premise of Ottawa 20/20 was to balance social, environmental, cultural and economic agendas so that Ottawa could grow in a way that served current residents while being responsible to future generations. The 2003 Arts and Heritage Plan included broad, 20-year strategic directions to guide Ottawa’s local cultural development and a first five-year action plan, now up for renewal. Working in partnership with Ottawa’s local cultural community, a process to guide the renewal was adopted, and a Steering Committee composed of cultural community representatives was formed. The renewal Steering Committee and team recently released a series of 11 discussion papers that present potential strategies and actions to be considered for inclusion in the second five-year action plan for culture.
The 11 discussion papers are: First Nations, Inuit and Métis Arts, Heritage and Culture; Emerging Cultural Voices; Francophone Arts, Heritage and Culture; Cultural Places and Spaces; Public Art and Commemoration; Cultural Leadership, Governance and Service; Culture and the Creative Economy; Get the Word Out About Local Culture; Cultural Tourism; Rural Arts, Heritage and Culture; Youth and Culture.
These papers have been created based on 75 interviews with community and cultural leaders, and various other consultative mechanisms and approaches. Artists, heritage experts, cultural workers, community leaders and the general public are now being invited to provide feedback on the strategies and actions presented in the discussion papers. The results of these consultations will inform the preparation of a draft action plan that will again be presented to the public for input." Find out more about the culture plan renewal process and read the discussion papers: http://ottawa.ca/residents/arts/news/plan_renewal/index_en.html
By Cultural Services, City of Ottawa, ON
Toronto, ON: Youth speak up at culture planning talks
"How can Toronto be a creative city if Mayor Rob Ford has launched a war on graffiti? How important can the arts be in Toronto’s future if its new culture plan has mostly been written before youth are asked for input? How vital can the arts be as an economic driver when many workers in the sector are poorly paid and possess little job security? These were among the concerns expressed by some of the more than 100 people who attended the Creative Capital Initiative consultation at Toronto City Hall on April 7. It was the last of 11 such public meetings, and the only one aimed specifically at youth. The consultations, to gather recommendations for the city’s new culture plan, started in early February."
Leah Sandals, OpenFile, April 11, 2011 | weblink
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Creativity summit coming to London
"Creative Londoners in local arts, culture and heritage communities will be ready to show off some of the Forest City's innovative ideas when the Creative Cities Summit comes to town in May. The two-and-a-half day conference, originally the brainchild of the Creative City Network of Canada, will bring together interested parties in municipal arts, culture and heritage from across the country and give involved Londoners a chance to network and share expertise… London's theme will be "The New Old: Culture as a Revitalizing Tool in Your Community" and will include an "un-conference" at Museum London to kick things off May 10."
Chris Montanini, Londoner, April 14, 2011 | weblink
Canada Prizes for the Arts still on hold: Moore
"A $25-million promise to Canada's arts community continues to be delayed, according to Heritage Minister James Moore. The Canada Prizes for the Arts and Creativity was part of the 2009 Conservative budget but not a single prize or a single penny has been handed out. Backed by the founders of Toronto's Luminato Festival, along with the National Ballet School's Jeff Melanson, the prizes were to be bestowed on top international artists in various disciplines at the Toronto festival. Outrage erupted in Quebec, where arts groups and politicians were already upset over $45 million in federal cuts to arts spending the year before — cuts that cost the Conservatives many votes in the province. As a result, the Harper government announced last spring the Canada Prizes would be administered by the Canada Council for the Arts. The government also set up an advisory committee to recommend how the prizes should be distributed and to whom. Moore received their recommendations in early September, but they've yet to be made public. A CBC Radio News investigation has discovered the $25-million endowment fund for the Canada Prizes has yet to be transferred to the Canada Council."
Margo Kelly, CBC News, April 17, 2011 | weblink
National Gallery grapples with art storage woes
"Lack of storage, a problem that plagues many Canadians, is also increasingly a concern for the National Gallery of Canada. The Ottawa gallery's permanent collection has now grown to nearly 80,000 pieces and staffers must find new ways to properly pack away valuable artworks not on display. An increase in art donations and bulky contemporary works have contributed to the storage woes, according to Greg Spurgeon, the National Gallery's chief of collections management. The gallery has collected art for 130 years and, although earlier holdings are often relatively slender paintings and drawings, the sheer volume of works is piling up."
CBC News, April 1, 2011 | weblink
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USA: Calling all artists, whoever you are
"It would be easier to count up all the squirrels in New York City than the artists who live here. But that's not stopping a new cultural think tank, the Institute for Culture in the Service of Community Sustainability, from trying. In 2008, the New York City Occupational Employment Statistics, provided to The Wall Street Journal by the state's Department of Labor, officially tallied 1,200 fine artists, 1,470 dancers and 5,820 actors. But these numbers, and others used by city policy makers, constitute a gross underestimation, according to the ICSCS. Does it matter if there are actually far more working artists than the city knows about? According to ICSCS Executive Director Paul Nagle, it does. Accurate data, he said, tells a different story about the economic impact of the arts and will help influence policy decisions more favorably in matters concerning health insurance, city planning, and small-business incentives. But, Mr. Nagle said, this isn't simply about getting more for artists. 'Urban competitiveness depends in part on the creative sector, so it's about how we can make the city stronger.' He noted that groups in other states, like Minnesota and Massachusetts, have initiated artist census projects."
Lizzie Simon, The Wall Street Journal, March 28, 2011 | weblink
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USA: Federal cultural-grants agencies to lose 11.2% of their funding under budget deal
"The three federal agencies devoted to making arts and cultural grants will take an 11.2% collective hit under the budget deal that institutes the largest spending cut in U.S. history. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services will be faced with reining in their grantmaking between now and Sept. 30, when the 2010-11 budget year ends. As for their spending in the coming fiscal year, that will depend on a budgeting process that is expected to turn into a titanic battle between Republicans who are calling for massive cuts and no tax increases, and the Obama administration and its Democratic allies in congress, who want a combination of cuts and higher tax payments for high-income earners. The NEA and NEH each will take a $12.5-million cut this year, from $167.5 million to $155 million -– a 7.5% reduction. Spending at the IMLS will decrease from $282.2 million to $237.9 million, a drop of 15.7%."
The Los Angeles Times, April 14, 2011 | weblink
Arts funding slashed in U.K.
"Hundreds of British arts organizations had their public funding slashed or eliminated [Mar. 30], the result of government spending cuts aimed at tackling the country's deficit. The government-funded Arts Council England must cut 15 percent from the amount it gives to art, music, theater, dance and literature groups by 2015 — which still leaves it with almost £1 billion ($1.6 billion) to hand out."
The Associated Press (CBC News), March 30, 2011 | weblink
Spain: The drain in Spain: the country's arts crisis
"'Spain is different,' the tourist board once touted. It is also complicated. Although a lot of energy, confidence and black money swirled around the Spanish art world over the past quarter of a century, today something is wrong. However lively Madrid or Barcelona might look, and a visit to any regional city greets you with a spanking new public art gallery, something is missing. For all the late dinners and cocaine nights, gleaming museums and prestigious international shows, there is an air of crisis. 'The party's over,' Manuel Borja-Villel, director of the Reina Sofía museum in Madrid told me. Previously director of Macba (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona), Borja-Villel is Spain's most influential museum director. He sees the current economic crisis as an opportunity, even if it is an unwelcome one. There is talk of cuts of up to 50% in the arts. How can art institutions compete with hospitals and education, whatever the talk of the necessity of culture?"
Adrian Serle, guardian.co.uk, March 27, 2011 | weblink
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May 10-12, 2011
2011 Creative City Summit
The New Old: Culture as a Revitalizing Tool in your Community
The Summit was designed to be more intimate and interactive to provide practitioners with a platform to exchange ideas and learn from their peers. Don't miss this exciting networking opportunity where representatives from municipalities, arts organizations, provincial and federal government agencies and others can meet to share ideas, connect, and work together to build vital infrastructure for arts and cultural development in Canada. Early Bird Deadline: March 31, 2011.
London, ON | website
June 3-6, 2011
FCM’s 74th Annual Conference and Municipal Expo
" FCM’s 2011 Annual Conference and Municipal Expo™ program is shaping up to be the best ever. This year’s event will be held at the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax. We will keep you informed as details are finalized. Please have a look at our study and companion tours – and be sure to register now, to take advantage of our early-bird fees. We hope you will join us in Halifax June 3-6. This is one event you won’t want to miss!"
Halifax, NS | website
June 10-11, 2011
Arts Summit 2011 (Alliance for Arts & Culture)
"Early Bird Registration is now open for Arts Summit 2011, Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11, in partnership with SFU Woodward’s at the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. The Alliance for Arts and Culture recently announced that artist and facilitator Vanessa Richards will be programming this year’s Arts Summit, and community organizer and event producer Andrea Curtis will be coordinating the event… 'At the core of all our work is the art and the artist,' says Vanessa. 'Metro Vancouver’s arts organizations, venues, educational institutes, policies and livelihoods extend outward from this primary resource, this central inspiration. This is our core.'"
Vancouver, BC | website
December 7-10, 2011
5th ELIA Leadership Symposium
"After previous conferences in London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Zurich, the 5th ELIA Leadership Symposium will take place in Vancouver, Canada from 7-10 December. 2011, hosted by Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Its theme is Locating Knowledge in the 21st Century."
Vancouver, BC | website
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Launch of a new journal: Cultural Policy Update (CPU):
An international e-journal of the Boekman Foundation
"Cultural Policy Update (CPU) is an international e-journal reflecting on recent development in cultural policies. CPU aims to stir up the worldwide debate about changes in art support systems due to globalization, economic crises, new market opportunities et cetera. It serves as a platform for new points of view and arguments. CPU contains essential reading for cultural policy makers, researchers, students, art lovers, cultural workers and professionals with an interest in arts and culture. It is published by the Boekman Foundation in Amsterdam, the Netherlands." All content of CPU 1 will be available online (free First edition in pdf) on 29 March, 2011 at www.boekman.nl/EN/culturalpolicyupdate.html
Labour Market Information for Canada's Cultural Sector
The Cultural Human Resources Council, March 2011, Canada | weblink
The Labour Market Information (LMI) report is rich with the most complete set of tables and detailed statistics ever assembled on the cultural labour force. It documents the breadth and strength of the sector with its labour force of 539,000 employers and workers across the country, and its economic impact of $39 billion or 3.1% of GDP (IFACCA).
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Copyright 2011, Creative City Network of Canada. All Rights Reserved. Please post and/or distribute. When reprinting Creative City News, please give appropriate credit.
All content provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Information contained in this newsletter has been provided by external sources. Links are provided for convenience purposes only. The Creative City Network is not responsible for the accuracy or reliability of the information supplied.
Creative City News is published by the Creative City Network of Canada. The Creative City Network connects municipal cultural staff across Canada, enabling this community of practice to share information and expertise, to support one another, and to be more effective in nurturing the cultural development of our communities.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of all member municipalities.
Editor: Kelsey Hicks
For more information and list of Board of Directors: creativecity.ca
To send comments, questions, press releases and news items, please email:
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The newsletter is archived on our website at: /creative-city-news-mainmenu-326/e-newsletter-mainmenu-272
Please feel free to forward or sample from this publication – just let us know so that we can track our success! Email us here:
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ISSN 1710-1824
Next issue: May 2011
Creative City Network of Canada
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