STRATHROY-CARADOC, ONTARIO

Creative Tourism Bolsters Cultural Community in Rural Ontario

The Story of Strathroy-Caradoc's Baskets & More Conference

Strathroy-Caradoc's Baskets & More Conference demonstrates that the ability to attract a wide range of craft enthusiasts to one's community has a range of impacts beyond the financial injection that 60 registrants will bring with them. In Strathroy-Caradoc's experience, the ability to directly communicate the value of Culture to the community leadership through the success of cultural ventures such as the Baskets & More Conference has a tangible impact on other local Cultural organizations.

CREATIVE TOURISM is a variation on traditional models of tourism, which appeals to tourists seeking the opportunity to have a hands-on cultural experience outside of the normal sightseeing opportunities.

By providing the opportunity for local cultural organizations to foster experiential tourism opportunities, municipalities are better able to advance a vibrant and healthy creative community.

The Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc has been actively supporting the arts and cultural community for several years but has recently had the opportunity to explore an innovative partnership to develop a truly unique Creative Tourism opportunity.

The Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc (pop.19,000) is an amalgamated community in rural South-Western Ontario. Currently there are 2.5 fulltime staff positions working directly to foster and support the Cultural Community. The opportunity to partner with a local artisan in the development of the annual South-western Ontario Basketry Conference has in a few short years blossomed into a unique tourism initiative.

Baskets & More in 2004 is the second annual Basketry Conference hosted at the Gemini Sportsplex in Strathroy, Ontario. The conference is the idea of local basketry expert, Alice Lingard; the conference grew from a gathering of expert basket makers in Ontario and New York where Lingard and others felt that a hands-on creative conference for experts and novices would be a unique offering.

The first conference Basket Spree in 2003 was a highly successful collaboration between Lingard's business' Heritage Baskets, the municipality and the local business community. In addition to logistical and financial support, the municipality committed to providing access to the recently built Gemini Sportsplex as a host site for the conference. Over 65 people attended the three days of workshops and attended the social activities held in the downtown core. Profits from the first conference were used to establish a basket maker's guild for South Western Ontario and to ensure the development of the conference in 2004.

One of the keys to the success of this project is that Lingard and her volunteers are keeping the budget under tight control. Expenses are budgeted at just over $5,000 for this year, with the Municipality providing more than $4,500 of in-kind support to ensure the success of this venture. With more than 60 registrants it is expected that the conference will net over $6,000 to be re-invested into the activities of the Guild and the conference in 2005.

The ability to attract a wide range of craft enthusiasts to our community has a range of impacts beyond the financial injection that 60 registrants will bring with them. In our experience, the ability to directly communicate the value of culture to the community leadership through the success of cultural ventures such as these has a tangible impact on other local cultural organizations. Successful cultural events provide a key learning opportunity for the community to better understand the integration of art, culture and heritage into everyday activities in the community.

The success of the basketry conference contributes to the density of cultural offerings within our municipality. As a whole, the impact of arts, culture and heritage tourism are having an impact on the future of the community. We are seeing an increase in interest in "Culture" as evidenced through an evolving Cultural Planning Process and more tangible impacts with the relocation of several well-established artists and crafts persons into our community.

More information on Baskets & More in 2004 can be found at http://arts-council.ca/southwestonbasket/. The Conference takes place in 2004 on August 20, 21 and 22, with a pre-conference workshop on August 18th and 19th.

For more information:
Southern Ontario Basketry Association website

Photo: Alice Lingard demonstrating basketry at a workshop. Baskets & More Archives.

Profile by: David Goode, edited Steven R. Dang (Creative City Network of Canada, 2004-2006).