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KEYNOTE SPEAKER PRESENTATIONS & VIDEOS
Rob Bliss, The Art of Community Engagement
Rita Davies, Transforming Communities through Cultural Planning
Sans façon, What's art got to do with it?
CREATIVE PLACEMAKING PANEL PRESENTATIONS & VIDEO
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Pru Robey, Artscape: Lessons from 28 years of Creative Placemaking [PDF 6.3MB]
Jim Mountain, Working to Sustain Canada's Places [PDF 4.9MB]
Gabe Sawhney, [murmur] [PDF 6.4MB]
Creative Placemaking in Canada [Video]
FEATURE PRESENTATION BY KELLY HILL
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Kelly Hill, Artists and cultural workers in our communities [PDF]
*Both of our evening events are optional, but we do ask that you RSVP and pay for the Sunset Harbour Cruise in advance.
Pru Robey, Bio: Pru is a passionate advocate for the transformative impact the arts and culture have on the lives of individuals and communities. Throughout her career, the development of innovative, multi-sector approaches to support cultural sector development, creative economy activation and sustainable urban regeneration has been a centerpiece of her work. For over more than 25 years, Pru has been a consultant, researcher, manager, promoter, funder, policy maker and educator in the arts, culture and creative industries in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Jim Mountain, Bio: Jim has over twenty-five years of experience in the fields of heritage, culture and community renewal. With HCNT’s Main Street and Heritage Regions programs, he helped establish Main Street projects across the West, and “Regions” projects from Newfoundland and Labrador to Vancouver Island. Most recently, Jim served as Cultural Developer at the City of Ottawa, where he assisted in developing the City’s Renewed Action Plan for Arts, Heritage and Culture which received the City Manager’s Award of Excellence for Equity and Diversity. Prior to the City of Ottawa, Jim worked with Commonwealth Historic Resource Management Ltd. Since 1998, he has been a Sessional Lecturer with Carleton University’s Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism on the subjects of heritage conservation and urban and rural sustainability.
Gabe Sawhney, Bio: Gabe Sawhney is an experience designer, creative technologist and innovation strategist. Currently Senior Associate at Bridgeable, Gabe has over 15 years of experience using design and technology to address creative, community and business challenges. As an innovation strategist, Gabe helps organizations to discover emerging opportunities, build consensus, and navigate ambiguity. As a creative technologist, Gabe explores and tests ideas using functional prototypes (hardware & software), to imagine future use cases, assess user experience, and build buy-in. His career has focused strongly on the intersection between technology, community and place: he co-created [murmur] (a renowned site-specific oral storytelling mobile documentary), is the co-founder of Wireless Toronto (a community group which lights up public spaces with free Internet access), and has developed several location-aware mobile applications. He has served on the board of Heritage Toronto, and was on the founding steering committee of the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre (MEIC). Gabe has presented his work at conferences and festivals in Canada, the US, the UK, China, Australia and Brazil.
Jeff Erbach, Bio: Jeff Erbach is the Cultural Development Coordinator with the City of Regina, the most senior ranking cultural specialist position with the City. He leads cultural policy, planning, and capacity building initiatives for the city’s cultural community with specific attention to spaces, events, diversity and cultural heritage.
Liberty Brears, Bio: Liberty Brears is a Policy Analyst with the City of Regina’s Planning Department. Liberty leads the City of Regina heritage conservation program and works to ensure historic places contribute to the development of a great city.
Debra Soule, Bio: Debra Soule is the Arts, Culture and Heritage Development Officer with the City of Kawartha Lakes’ Economic Development Department. She is responsible for the development of an implementation plan that flows from the recently completed Cultural Master Plan and Heritage Master Plan. Cultural mapping is an important component of this work. Debra has worked in Cultural Development positions in Australia, the United States and Canada and is a passionate advocate of cultural mapping as a powerful multi-purpose, user-friendly tool. She has overseen the development of map series for tangible cultural assets and explored a variety of approaches for mapping intangibles. She holds a Bachelors degree in Social Psychology and a Master of Science degree in Consumer Studies from the University of Guelph and is currently a Doctoral candidate in the School of Environmental Studies at York University. Her current research focuses on building resilient local economic systems.
Michael Tunney, Bio: Michael Tunney is the Cultural Research Coordinator at the City of Mississauga. Since joining the Culture Division in 2011, he has been involved in the implementation and ongoing development of Mississauga’s cultural resource map and various strategic planning, research, data collection and public engagement initiatives. Michael holds a B.E.S. in Geography from the University of Waterloo and a post-graduate certificate in Museum Management from Fleming College. His passion for urban planning, tourism and the arts has resulted in previous professional experience in the municipal planning, museum and commercial art sectors.
John Ariyo, Bio: John Ariyo is the supervisor for cultural research and projects at the City of Mississauga. He was part of the City’s separate project teams that completed the 40-year Strategic Plan and the 5-year Culture Master Plan. He oversees the cultural research program at the Culture Division which includes data collection, cultural asset mapping, performance metrics reporting, strategic planning and project management practices. He enjoys community development initiatives and mentoring newcomers to Mississauga at various opportunities that foster integration and skill development. John is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies.
Jeff Evenson, Bio: For 13 years, Jeff Evenson has been advancing CUI’s cultural planning and public engagement practice. This work represents a number of major city building initiatives for clients including: Canada Lands Company, City of Kingston, City of London and City of Humboldt..jpg)
Deborah Dee, Bio: Deborah Dee is a City Councillor in Powell River, B.C. currently serving her second term. One of her portfolio responsibilities is Arts and Culture. Deborah holds a Bachelors degree in Music Therapy from Capilano University in BC and is the Executive Director of the Powell River Brain Injury Society. She is currently collaborating with the Mayor’s Task Force on Economic Development, as Phase One and Two of the Arts and Culture project reports have been added to the agenda of that committee. Deborah plans to run in the fall 2014 civic election and will continue to champion Arts and Culture in Powell River. 
Robyn Spencer, Bio: Robyn Spencer is a Registered Professional Planner and community economic development practitioner with experience in urban and rural communities throughout Canada and internationally. Her applied work includes tourism and economic development, governance, infrastructure planning, active transportation, sustainability and social enterprise development. Robyn has been working with the City of Powell River since 2012 to understand how the budding local creative economy can contribute to revitalization and resiliency. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Development Studies from McGill University and is currently completing a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) in Community Economic Development at Cape Breton University.
Greg Baeker, Bio: Greg Baeker is Director of Cultural Development for Millier Dickinson Blais. Greg is a nationally recognized leader in cultural development who brings more than 35 years of experience working in the senior leadership positions in the cultural sector in Canada.
Lucille Bish, Bio: Lucille Bish is the Director of Community Services for the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Waterloo Region (pop. 562,000) encompasses the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo as well as four rural townships, and is home to many well-known academic, high tech, manufacturing and insurance organizations including University of Waterloo, Blackberry, Toyota, and Manulife.
Victoria Angel, Bio: Victoria Angel is the Senior Heritage Planner at ERA Architects, where she works on the development of heritage conservation strategies and management plans for historic places and urban areas. Prior to joining ERA Architects, Victoria worked for Parks Canada, where she managed the development of the Canadian Register of Historic Places and subsequently served as the Manager of the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office. Victoria has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Art History and a Master of Arts in Heritage Conservation, both from Carleton University. She has taught heritage conservation at the University of Victoria and at Carleton University, where she is an Adjunct Professor. She is also a Faculty Associate at the Willowbank School of Restoration Arts in Queenston, Ontario.
Sonia Mrva, Bio: Sonia Mrva is the Curator, Heritage Policy and Projects at the City of Hamilton where she project manages cultural and heritage resources. Most recently she was project manager of the Downtown Built Heritage Inventory Project, a cross departmental initiative between the Heritage Resource Management section and Cultural Heritage Planning. Prior to her current role with the City of Hamilton, Sonia was Curator of Whitehern Historic House & Garden, National Historic Site, and Curatorial Assistant at Dundurn National Historic Site. She has a Bachelor of Arts, History and post graduate work in Museum Studies and Cultural Management.
Paul Fesko, Bio: Paul Fesko, P.Eng is the Manager of Customer Service for the Utilities and Environmental Protection Department at The City of Calgary. Paul is a professional engineer with 38 years experience, 28 of them with The City of Calgary. He has a held a number of positions within The City's water utilities. Paul has a BASC in Civil Engineering from The University of Windsor and an MBA from the University of Calgary.
Eileen Gillette, Bio: With both an academic and practitioner background, Eileen Gillette MLIS has a wide range of experience in community cultural development, cultural planning, cultural policy and cultural sustainability. She worked as an assistant researcher at the Creative City Network of Canada focusing on cultural planning, creative cities and the importance of cultural spaces in communities and cities in Canada (2003-2006). In 2006, she was part of three-year national research project funded by Infrastructure Canada examining Cultural Infrastructure Development in Canada (2006-2009). She is currently a Divisional Manager of Public Services at Vancouver Island Regional Library and focusing on community partnerships and the development of innovative programs on Vancouver Island.
Dr. Gayle Broad, Bio: Dr. Gayle Broad is an Associate Professor of Community Economic and Social Development, and Research Director of NORDIK, a research institute affiliated with Algoma University. A lifelong resident of Northern Ontario, Gayle has spent over 20 years bringing together diverse groups of stakeholders, frequently multi sector and/or cross cultural to share, generate and mobilize knowledge in addressing a range of pressing community issues at the local, regional, national and/or international level. Her work has fostered new relationships within non-profit, private and institutional organizations within Indigenous and Non-Indigenous communities.
Alejandro Romero, Bio: Alejandro is an independent visual and interdisciplinary artist, curator and consultant in Arts and Culture. His leadership as an arts administrator include the renovation of an old theatre, public performances, lectures and public speaking. Currently, he is the Arts and Culture Consultant for the City of Saskatoon.
Joe Sellors, Bio: Joe D. Sellors, a trained stage performer (actor, singer, and dancer) later shifted his attention to behind to the scenes, getting a BFA/BAA degree from Ryerson Polytechnic University in Technical Production. Joe began his career at Paramount Canada's Wonderland where he worked his way up to Assistant Manager in the Technical & Events Services Department producing events such as Eruption, Electric Circus, and multiple large scale ethnic festivals. After developing a solid foundation of uniquely-based technical and production management skills, Joe joined Westbury National Show Systems as a Project Manager of Installations, where he learned to apply his technical and people based expertise on permanent solutions for the corporate and entertainment world installing systems at venues such as BMO Field and Chicago's Sears Center. In his spare time, Joe has always maintained an interest and firm foothold within the pyrotechnic and fireworks industry. He is government certified to lead and shoot large scale fireworks competitions such as Symphony of Fire. In 2007, Joe joined the City of Toronto as a Production Supervisor for Toronto Special Events, finally able to apply all of his creative and technical knowhow working with artists, bureaucrats, and other stakeholders to produce Toronto's all night contemporary art event, Nuit Blanche. Notable works include Forever Bicycles by Ai Weiwei, Later That Night At The Drive-In, Daniel Lanois, and Stereoscope by Project Blinkenlights. Joe recently founded Translate Installations Inc., a company specializing in working with artists to bring their artistic ideas to fruition. He currently resides in Mimico with his wife Laura, and four children Chase (8), Cole (6), Holly (4), and Tate (2). 
Jenn Goodwin, Bio: Jenn has worked as Programming Supervisor at The City of Toronto in Special Events for ten years. She has worked on Scotiabank Nuit Blanche since its inception in 2006. She has had the pleasure of working closely with hundreds of artists, creators, curators, sponsors and stakeholders over the years.
Lilie Zendel, Bio: Lilie Zendel has spent over 30 years translating vision into action in the arts, culture and entertainment sector. Prior to joining the Public Realm Section to launch StreetARToronto (StART), Lilie served as Senior Cultural Affairs Officer at the City of Toronto where she focussed on innovative strategies for cultural civic planning. For more than a decade, Lilie lived in New York City where she lead the Cultural Affairs section at the Canadian Consulate General. Lilie has been a tireless advocate for countless artists, festivals and organizations and has earned recognition for being the driving force behind many major arts initiatives, trade missions and cultural exchanges. With a background in theatre performance, Lilie began her career at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre where by producing over 150 events of the highest artistic standard including the International Children's Festival and the World Stage, helped grow Harbourfront into one of the country's most celebrated performing arts venues.
Margo Charlton, Bio: Margo has worked in professional and community arts for 30 years as an artist, facilitator, administrator and consultant. Her extensive experience and understanding of arts engagement was gained through on the ground work in urban, rural and northern communities.
David Ridley, Bio: David has worked on a number of innovative museum projects at the regional and national level, both as a cultural community researcher with the Central Alberta Regional Museums Network and the Royal Alberta Museum, and as a curator at Musée Heritage Museum in St. Albert, Alberta. He is a former secondary school teacher, community development worker and holds a graduate degree in theology and religious studies from St. Stephen’s College and completed the inaugural Museum Leadership Development program, Cultural Resource Management, at the University of Victoria.
Clayton Windatt, Bio: Born in St. Catharines, Clayton Windatt has lived in the Northern Ontario region for almost his entire life. He is a Métis arts administrator currently working as Director at the White Water Gallery in North Bay, Ontario. Clayton holds a BA in Fine Art from Nipissing University and received his Graphic Design certification from Canadore College. He works actively with several arts organizations locally, provincially and nationally on committees and boards of directors.
Kristian Clarke, Bio: An Art History graduate with an additional Certificate in Cultural Management from Humber College, Kristian has worked at Canadian Artists Representation/le front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC Ontario) www.carfacontario.ca for more than 13 years. Kristian sees himself as a Creative Visionary with particular interests in artist-run advocacy, proposal development, dispute resolution and policy development at municipal, provincial and federal levels. Kristian also serves on the Board for the Canadian Arts Resources Foundation of Ontario [(CARFO) recently rebranded as CANVAS] and Work In Culture, which supports the people who work in the cultural sector through life-long career development and business skills training. In his spare time, Kristian can be found engaging in performance-based art projects with his 8 year-old daughter named Phoibe at his cabin on Georgian Bay or listening to his wife, Krisztina Szabo, perform one of her many operatic roles.
Fynn Leitch, Bio: Fynn Leitch has an MA in Visual Culture from Queen's University (2006) where her work focused at the intersection of craft and protest. Since 2011 she has led the direction of ARTSPACE, including the development of an onsite Media Lab, and has renewed the centre's commitment to critical writing and publishing. Curator, writer, and artist, her work has appeared in catalogues, magazines, and galleries across the country. She also works as an advocate for the arts regionally and provincially.
