Canada shows no signs of slowing down… Registrations are happening so fast we can barely keep up! By the time the 3500 milestone was announced in a recent press release and newsletter, we were already climbing quickly toward 4000 activities country-wide.

One notable new community organizer is Bear River. Self-described as a “tidal village of 800,” Bear River has quickly listed about a dozen or more activities in just as many hours. Simone Wilson, a representative for Fall for Bear River, had such nice things to say about participating in Culture Days, I thought I should really share it on the blog:

“Working together to promote our arts and culture for Culture Days,” says Simone, “has brought our community together in ways it hasn’t seen in years. This wee village is bursting with excitement about the Culture Days weekend. So glad we got involved!”

If you’re in Atlantic Canada, be sure to help promote Bear River, Nova Scotia, one of the newest communities to have joined the movement!

Saskatchewan is running with the notion of Culture Days and hosting an entire week of cultural activities! From September 20-26, Saskatchewan is asking people to show us their culture with a series of creative activities that will get people in the spirit of Culture Days.

Show Us Your Culture!

Pick your favorite way to express yourself. Use photography (up to 5 stills), words (up to 500 words), photography, 1- 2 minute video or sound recordings to tell us about your culture. Finish the statement…”My culture is….” Whether it is something about your cultural heritage, your artistic discipline, your expression on history, or your favorite cultural places or spaces…show the rest of the country what your culture means to you! Your work could be selected for the Culture Days in Saskatchewan montage “A Day in the Life of Saskatchewan,” which will be broadcast online following Culture Days.

Upload your materials to SaskCulture’s Flickr page at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1464000@N25

All you need is your own free Flickr account. Sign up to Flickr and start uploading your photos at www.flickr.com.

Culture Days In The Wild

Have you spotted a Culture Days poster or promotion in your favorite cultural attraction, event, or while doing your favorite cultural activity? Take a photo and upload it to Flickr and tag it Culture Days Saskatchewan. Place a Culture Days poster
or postcard yourself and take the photo. Encourage others in your arts and cultural groups to do the same. It’s a great way to showcase your community and its vibrant arts and culture community.

Upload the photographs to Culture Days Flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1385275@N20 and don’t forget to tag your photos with “Culture Days Saskatchewan”.

Paper Clip Challenge

How creative can you get with a paperclip? Here’s our chance to show the rest of the country how creative Saskatchewan people can be. Gather your paperclips and create a unique sculpture, photograph it, name it and upload it to the Paper Clip Challenge site on www.culturedays.ca. Upload your photos to Culture Days Flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1385275@N20 and tag them “Culture Days Saskatchewan”.

Oldest Thing on the Farm/ Farm Art

Is the antique tractor sitting in your field become a work of art, or just an interesting show piece? Have you captured your farmland in pastels? Do you have an interesting story to tell about your farm or land? Share with the rest of the country.

Photograph your work, tell your story and upload to Culture Days Flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1385275@N20. Don’t forget to tag the photo as “Culture Days Saskatchewan Farm Art”.

Upload your creativity before September 24-26 and be part of the 2010 Culture Days virtual exhibition.

SHOW OFF!

Show Off! is a special one-hour CBC television event and online campaign which will celebrate the inaugural year of Culture Days. Through compelling personal stories of the artists, musicians, and craftspeople that yearn to make a difference in Canada and abroad, CBC will connect Canadians to the behind-the-scenes world of arts and culture in Canada – and ‘show off’ your creativity!

Do you sing? Do you tell stories? Do you dance? Do you teach piano? Do you paint landscapes? Do you excel at some form of craft? Show us! Send CBC a high-quality video demonstrating how you celebrate arts and culture in your life. Show us and tell us: ‘I show off by…’ The most creative and innovative videos could be either incorporated into the nationally broadcast special airing September 23rd, 2010, or be shown at one of many CBC events from coast to coast to coast! And, of course, all videos that meet our guidelines will be available here on the CBC web site.

For more information visit: http://www.cbc.ca/culturedays/videos.htm

Thank you for being a part of the Culture Days movement! ­­If you run a cultural organization and will not be organizing an activity this year, please consider supporting the movement in these simple, easy ways.

If you have 1 hour:

1. Send an e-newsletter, or post a note to your blog or Facebook group showing your support of Culture Days and highlighting some activities of interest. Invite your readers to share their recommendations and discuss their picks. Encourage the public to explore – lead by example! Demonstrate your adventuresome, culturally-curious spirit.

For example:

• “Friends of the ABC Festival are organizing activities for Culture Days. We’re looking forward to attending these events, and we hope you are too!” List activities briefly.
• Feature a list of Best Bets curated by your feature artist, curator, artistic director or other spokesperson. “This is the first time that the massive Canada-wide weekend-long celebration known as Culture Days will take place. I’ll be going to activities to learn more about art forms, artists and community groups that are unfamiliar to me. On my list of Must Do, are the following… Please post your recommendations on our Facebook page; I’d love to compare notes with you.”
• Get creative! Try using a fictitious character from an upcoming production to make witty or interesting commentary about Culture Days activities. A great subtle way of promoting your programming and increasing your readership’s engagement.

If you have 30 minutes:

1. Consider re-packaging that newsletter for a media release. Or write a media release congratulating the thousands of organizers that are producing the 3500 free activities being offered to the public, highlighting some friends (artists, former or current staff) involved in the movement. Again, a great subtle way of promoting your work and raising the profile of your organization indirectly.

If you have 15 minutes:

1. Take 5 minutes two or three times a week to tweet or post a message on Facebook. Just visit the Celebration Schedule at www.culturedays.ca, look for one or two activities and use the social media buttons available right on that page to comment on why this activity interests you. Ask a question, praise the photo or activity idea, or simply recommend it!

Tip: If you don’t already, try using CoTweet or HootSuite or a similar program, so you can just schedule your tweets or Facebook posts in advance. No need to remember to do it again later.

If you have 5 minutes:

1. Forward a Culture Days newsletter to your mailing list with a personal note of recommendation. Get a PDF copy or web link to our newsletters from here: http://culturedays.ca/en/about-culture-days/newsletters

If you have any time off:

1. Get out during Culture Days! Get the family together or go off and treat yourself to a blissful cultural adventure for a weekend, a day, an afternoon or an hour. Free family fun. Cheap but cool date. Great time to reconnect with friends who may be turning into strangers, including the artist in you!

Background

Culture Days is a grassroots, volunteer-driven movement that aims to promote greater public participation in arts and culture. Founding supporters include artists, civil society leaders, and cultural organizations, including The Canadian Arts Summit, Canada Council for the Arts, Culture pour tous and The Banff Centre. The movement culminates annually in an event comprised of thousands of intimate, one-to-one interactions between cultural creators and the public, taking place in every province and territory over the course of one weekend. 2010 is the first year that Culture Days will take place Canada-wide. The idea for a pan-Canadian Culture Days was inspired by Québec’s Journées de la culture event, which has taken place annually throughout the province since 1997.