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PRESIDENT
Ian Forsyth, City of North Vancouver, British Columbia
Ian Forsyth was born and raised in Vancouver, graduating from UBC with a BFA in Theatre. From 1986 to 1990 Ian ran the Vancouver TheatreSports League and in 1992, after working with the Arts Club, New Play Centre, Carousel Theatre and Pi Theatre, Ian accepted an opportunity to open and run the North Peace Cultural Centre in Fort St. John. Moving to Kelowna in August of 1998, he became the city's 1st Cultural Services Manager, working to develop Kelowna's Cultural District and Cultural Tourism Initiative.
In November of 2001, Ian moved to Burnaby to become the Arts Services Manager for the City, leaving in 2007 to become North Vancouver's first Director of Cultural Affairs. Ian is currently the Past President of the Alliance for Arts and Culture, a board member for the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, Theatre Under the Stars, President of the 605 Dance Collective, and President for the Creative City Network, and is the former Vice President of both the Magnetic North Theatre Festival and Capacoa, the Canadian Arts Presenter's association.
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VICE-PRESIDENT
Elena Bird, City of Toronto, Ontario
Elena Bird is dedicated to enhancing the cultural and creative life of the city. She is passionate about maps and involved in developing municipal cultural mapping as it relates to municipal cultural planning best practices and strategies.
Elena works as a Senior Policy Advisor, Economic Development & Culture, City of Toronto. Elena has worked for the City of Toronto since 2002 on cultural planning and cultural mapping projects including the Culture Plan for the Creative City, the follow-up Progress Report I and II and the Creative City Planning Framework and Placing Creativity, a partnership that explores mapping and the intersection of culture, economy and place.
Elena completed her M.A. in Cultural Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Before this she studied Economics at Ryerson University and Arts Management at the University of Toronto. Currently she is a member of the board of the Creative City Network of Canada (CCNC), and chair of the Municipal Cultural Planning Incorporated (MCPI) Municipal Cultural Mapping Guidelines Working Group. In the past she has served on the board of artist-run organizations YYZ Artists’ Outlet a centre for contemporary visual art, and Pleasure Dome a collective dedicated to the presentation of experimental film and video in Toronto.
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SECRETARY
Sheila McKinnon, City of Surrey, British Columbia
A career in the arts was destined when she began creating puppets and performing with them in an elementary school touring program. Then she expressed herself through choir, drama and a love of dance.
Sheila McKinnon graduated with an Honours Arts degree from York University and has worked in municipal government for over 30 years. As the Manager of Arts Services for the City of Surrey her career highlights include: establishing a Public Art Program, the Surrey Children's Festival, hosting the BC Festival of the Arts, the 2008 Cultural Capitals of Canada designation for the City of Surrey and participating in the 2010 Cultural Olympiad.
Sheila is the Chair of the Vancouver Region – Cultural Development Advisory Committee and was nominated Business Person of the Year for 2008 by the Surrey Board of Trade for their annual Business Excellence Awards. She enjoys the many benefits of community cultural development and working with creative people.
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TREASURER
Rebecca Cann, City of St. Catharines, Ontario
Rebecca Cann is Cultural Planning Supervisor for the City of St. Catharines, a position she initiated for the municipality in September 2000. Her work includes community relations, policy development, partnership and project development along with communications, cultural research and management of pubic art, cultural investment and the City's art collection.
Ms. Cann hails from Toronto where she spent 15 years working in the professional theatre field, with companies such as the Canadian Stage Company, Factory Theatre and the Bathurst Street Theatre. She operated her own theatre company, Jewel Productions, and has directed over twenty stage productions. Ms. Cann has a range of experience in professional theatre as producer, director and administrator, and has worked internationally with arts consulting firm Janis A. Barlow and Associates.
Ms. Cann is a graduate of the theatre program at York University, Toronto. In 2008 she was recognized for her contributions to the arts community of Niagara with the Niagara Artists Centre's Laura Sabia Award and the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award for Arts and Culture.
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PAST-PRESIDENT
Angela Watson, City of Fredericton, New Brunswick
Angela Watson has been cultural development officer for the City of Fredericton since 2005 when the position was created. Prior to that she was employed in the City's Tourism Division where she worked with many local cultural attractions and festivals. She was both challenged and rewarded by the task of developing this new position and credits the Creative City Network of Canada. "The Network allowed me to connect with colleagues across the county and tap into a tremendous amount of resources to establish projects and programs that fit my community." When Fredericton was designated a 2009 Cultural Capital of Canada, Angela was thrilled to oversee many of the cultural celebrations and legacy projects throughout the year. Although not artistically creative herself, Angela participates in the arts, and enjoys inspiring others to also experience the joys of arts and culture. Angela has attended each CCNC Conference and Summit since Trois-Rivières and has been on the CCNC Board since 2007.
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DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE
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Kay Anonsen, City of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Bio coming soon
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John Ariyo, City of Mississauga, Ontario
John Ariyo is the Supervisor, Research & Projects for the Culture Division at the City of Mississauga. A social scientist by training, his focus on Mississauga cultural development is designing and using research, data, surveys, focus groups, partnerships, project management and program evaluation as tools to lead or support a number of Culture Division’s projects, programs and initiatives. He is currently the project leader for the Mississauga Cultural Resource Mapping project and the Cultural Resource Partnership. He was part of the City’s separate project teams that completed the new 40-year Strategic Plan for the City and the Culture Master Plan for the Culture Division.
John is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Canadian Evaluation Society (CES). He holds a Master’s degree in International Development Studies and a Bachelor of Science degree with honours in Geography & Planning.
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Robin Armistead, City of London, Ontario
Bio coming soon
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Lois Harper, City of Grande Prairie, Alberta
Lois has been with the City of Grande Prairie Community Services department for 18 years and is currently Manager of Culture & Heritage. Prior, she spent 10 years in the public and post secondary education system working in both rural and urban environments. These experiences have provided her with opportunities, such as being at the forefront of in organizing and delivering major events in her community. Her responsibilities include contract management for the operation of the City's cultural facilities, and project management for the construction and development of several capital projects. She is married, and is a mother of two, and grandmother of five.
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Betty Anne Keller, City of Waterloo, Ontario
Motivated by the transformative power of human creativity and the arts, Betty Anne has worked in the cultural field all her working life. From teaching literature at high school, to live music promotion, to musician artist management - all work fulfilled this belief. She has been the Manager of Cultural Development at the City of Waterloo since 1999.
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Andrew MacGregor, Town of Amherst, Nova Scotia
My current position, which I started in September 2010, is Arts, Culture & Heritage Coordinator for the Town of Amherst. The position is new for the Town and I am responsible to putting an "Arts, Culture & Heritage Strategy" into action and developing the Town of Amherst as an Arts, Culture and Heritage hub for Cumberland County. This includes working with individuals and groups involved in arts, culture and heritage to make sure that their needs are being met, concerns being addressed and that their achievements are recognized.
My work history includes a background in the arts and culture industry as well as work as an individual musician and artist. I have worked for record labels, broadcast media, and freelanced as well as owned my own record store. My record store, Blackball Records was located in Nanaimo, BC and played host to and promoted many art openings, readings and other events. As a musician, I toured Europe and North America twice and also have releases on international labels.
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Caroline Obeid, City of Ottawa, Ontario
Caroline Obeid is the Portfolio Manager for the newly opened Shenkman Arts Centre, a local multidisciplinary arts centre in the east end of Ottawa. Previously, Caroline worked for the City of Ottawa Cultural Services Branch as the Project Coordinator working on cultural facility development, budget preparation and policy reports. Caroline holds a Masters in Arts Administration from Drexel University, Philadelphia. As an Ottawa native, Caroline is committed to facilitating local arts development.
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Alison Turner, City of Edmonton, Alberta
Alison is the Communications Director for the Edmonton Arts Council. A graduate of Grant MacEwan's Arts & Cultural Management Program, Alison also has a BA in Philosophy from the University of Alberta and BAA in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson University. Before joining the EAC, Alison was the Executive Director of the Film & Video Arts Society – Alberta.
Alison is interested in cultural policy and the role it plays in shaping communities as well as the lives of the people who make their living in the arts. She has volunteered on several arts boards and committees over the last ten years and is currently teaching the Arts Advocacy and Lobbying course in the Arts and Cultural Management program at Grant MacEwan University.
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| Frances Westlund, City of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Frances is the Arts and Grants Consultant with the City of Saskatoon, responsible for the implementation of the Civic Arts Policy and providing funding to the community. She has worked in a variety of cultural fields including libraries and museums. Presently Frances is part of the team developing a new Culture Plan for the City of Saskatoon.
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