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My Invisible Library

September 15th, 2011 by SaskCulture

Below is a blog entry by Paul Wilson, an active Culture Days Animateur in Saskatchewan. Paul is a writer and publisher, and has been engaging the public through an exercise of creating an “Invisible Library”.


I’ve been writing poetry since I was a baffled teen, about forty years. I have published four books of poetry and have just completed my fifth collection, “The Invisible Library”. I am also a culture worker, editor, and publisher (Hagios Press). Currently I have the best summer job ever as an Artist Animateur for SaskCulture promoting Culture Days, September 30, October 1 and 2, 2011. Culture Days is a celebration of arts and cultural involvement from coast to coast to coast in Canada. I’m proud to be one of its champions this year. for the last three years as I have worked on a poetry manuscript titled “The Invisible Library”. Invisible books have no substance beyond the context given in the books where they are mentioned. They are fragments of the imagination of the author, but yet somehow they light a flame in the imagination of the reader. What would that book be like?

Once aware of the invisible library I began to notice entries in books I was reading. It seemed a short leap from these discoveries to wanting to create entries in the invisible library myself. In this writing process I have been inspired by the invisible library but all the titles used in my poems are original and not borrowed from other sources. Soon the poems I was writing took on more imagistic and metaphoric weight. I found that the concept was leading me into fascinating thematic and psychological territory.

In June I began a term position as an Artist Animateur for SaskCulture in aid of supporting and promoting Culture Days, Canada’s celebration of arts and culture from coast to coast to coast. This summer I have acted as Poet in Residence (at the Invisible Library) at several events in southern Saskatchewan, where I have read poems from my book and engaged people in the creative act of writing their own “invisible” titles into a book I’ve carried with me. The response when I ask someone to participate is usually a smile or even a chuckle at the thought of them becoming an instant author. While the writer may want to pause and think it over, I encourage them to use the first good thought they have. Many of the participants use their own name but they are also allowed to sign a pseudonym that plays off the title.

Here are a few samples of the anonymous entries I’ve collected:

The creation of a book title, imaginary or or real requires a creative leap and writing the title of an invisible book one that resonates, requires employing one’s intuition. It’s fascinating to watch participants as they contemplate and then write their invisible book title. While many have not written a book, they all have read books and have perhaps entertained thoughts of writing one day. They may tap into a humorous idea or one that speaks to them personally and as they do they are also thinking about the the importance of books in their lives.

So far I have collected over seventy book titles in my Invisible Library, and welcome more via e-mail: wilsonhpaul@gmail.com. At the end of my term I will post the complete list of titles here on my blog and the “library” will be archived with SaskCulture. I look forward to seeing your entry into the world of invisible books.


Follow Paul on Twitter! @InvisiblePoet11

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Ragtime in Niagara Falls – an interview with Ennio Paola

September 14th, 2011 by Culture Days

Culture Days Project Assistant Reuben Finley recently spoke with Niagara Region’s award-winning composer and music educator Ennio Paola. Having introduced participants to pieces inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy at the City of Welland’s Public Library in 2010, this year Paola once again turned to municipal representatives in his search for a suitable venue. The Niagara Falls City Hall will be hosting his Culture Days 2011 activity, which will introduce participants to the history and melodic lines of Ragtime music. Click here to read Ennio Paola’s Sharing A Significant Music®™ activity description.

• What is your name and what do you do? What city and province are you in?

My name is Ennio A. Paola. I’m the Founder, Collaborative Composer, Artistic Curator and Director of Significant Music®™. I live in Pickering, Ontario.

• How did you first hear about Culture Days?

Initially, through an ad in the Toronto Star. A few days later, I responded to a Call for Artists published in the Welland Tribune to participate in the 2010 City of Welland Culture Days.

• What inspired you to get involved?

Immediately upon learning about Culture Days, I was drawn into the movement by a number of key factors, namely the quality of the project, its scope and the online support provided.  Culture Days is a multi-layered, cross-disciplinary, pan-Canadian cultural movement. It encourages self-mobilized grassroots and collaborative involvement by individuals and organizations of all sizes. At both the provincial and national levels, participants are provided with free tools made available via solid sponsors and supporters, who add further credibility to the project.

• What activity did you organize for Culture Days 2010 and what made it unique?

My Culture Days 2010 activity was titled Sharing a Significant Music®™ / SOUNDtracks: Deciphering the “Dante and Music” Code. It was presented at the Welland Public Library. That particular project was based on two original solo piano works of mine which were acknowledged in the scholarly text “Dante and Music: Musical Adaptations of the Commedia from the Sixteenth Century to the Present”  by Prof. Maria Ann Roglieri (Ashgate Press, Aldershot, UK).  Incidentally, a copy of that text was donated to the Welland Public Library a couple years ago and catalogued in the Library’s Local History Section… I suppose that means that through my compositions, I’m already recognized as a notable historical figure in my community! (laughs)

Since medieval times, a staggering number of visual works have been created in connection to a particular Cantica (Book) or Canto (Poem) within the “Divine Comedy” – Gustave Doré’s illustrations are well-known examples of this. Unfortunately, when it comes to music, examples have been few and far between. With “Dante and Music” however, there now exists a much needed, well respected resource on this topic. Aside from showcasing a fair number of noted composers such as Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti, Granados and Dallapiccola, Prof. Roglieri analyzes and presents a generous account of lesser known works, including my two contributions on this subject, “LUX IN TENEBRIS: La Commedia di Dante ~ Cantica I: Canto I (Lost In A Dark Wood) and Cantica III : Canto XXXIII (Dante Beholds the Universe)”.

For my Culture Days 2010 activity, a select number of musical excerpts by other composers opened my presentation, which was immediately followed by an examination of the creative process of musical composition. Amongst other things, participants were acquainted with the original alpha code I created for Cantica I: Canto I (Lost In A Dark Wood).

Illustration by Gustave Doré - Dante's Divine Comedy

• Are there any moments during the lead up to and during Culture Days weekend that really stand out in your mind?

Audience attendance, though small, was supported by a mix of on-site staff, young student walk-ins, and friends ranging from ones not seen in years to others who drove two hours to attend. Audience feedback was highly positive, with most finding this presentation to be a satisfying experience, which in retrospect could only happen as a result of Culture Days; Culture Days has the flexibility to encourage projects based more on artistic merit than financial gain.

• After your first experience with Culture Days in 2010, what longer-term benefits or lasting outcomes have you identified for continued annual participation? Challenges?

Awareness, inspiration and new connections were some of the main benefits. For me to have participated as one small voice within a larger artistic community was indeed an honour. I came away feeling “quasi-torn” that my own commitments, along with time and distance, would not allow me to attend and participate in a number of interesting Culture Days Weekend offerings taking place across Canada.

Experience causes me believe that connections established during Culture Days 2010 will encourage many towards a continued, annual, participation.  The Culture Days weekend is indeed a year-long “Days of Culture” endeavour — one that supports Canadian culture at home, and in a global arena. Culture Days’ success and long-term community benefits can only be measured as a year-round process in cultural engagement. It’s more than a three-day event – Culture Days promotes cultural awareness as a year-long endeavour. That last point cannot be stressed enough. Municipalities which have in that sense fully embraced Culture Days have designated and supported regional point persons, kept up to date with Culture Days Newsletters and participated in the regularly scheduled free Culture Days Tele-Info Sessions. Their success stories are an inspiration for communities across the country.

• What did you learn from your experience of Culture Days that would be useful for other activity organizers to know?

Visit the Culture Days Web Site often, sign up to receive Culture Days e-Newsletters, participate in as many Tele-Session Conference Calls as possible, keep in touch with Provincial and National Culture Days representatives to share your voice in the development of a Pan-Canadian artistic movement for all.

• Can you give us a hint as to what you are planning for your 2011 Culture Days activity?

For Culture Days 2011, “Sharing A Significant Music®™” is entering the first year of a four year commitment to celebrating the original Pan-American | Pan-Canadian Ragtime Era (1897-1917); the Ragtime Revival Period in Canada (1960’s-1980); including related music forms. A companion “Rag Times and Eclectic Related Music” catalogue of works will be used as a resource to discuss “Ragtime Music in Canada”, with emphasis placed on local-regional contributions to the genre.  Furthermore, a planned hands-on Rhythmic Activity will demonstrate steps involved in “ragging” a simple melodic line. Not to be missed!

Exerpt, "Hawkins' Hill Rag" - composed by E. Paola

• What do you feel is the impact of culture in your community?

Due to the limited access to concert halls, art galleries and theatres in the Welland-Niagara and West Durham regions, neighbouring communities take in a greater share of economical and non-economical benefits of arts and culture. In my opinion, the greatest impact of culture comes directly from arts instruction and through the contact students of all ages have with teachers when they study music, dance, visual arts, etc. I therefore truly believe initiatives such as Culture Days to be vital in providing best opportunity scenarios for artists and instructors of various arts disciplines, to advance the future directions culture will take within their own community — and beyond.

As a personal credo, I have found the following three ideals optimum, as handy reminders, on a regular basis: 1) when handed a lemon … make lemonade! 2) always move forward with a tradition of success! 3) never, ever, ever, give up … on Culture!

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days 2010, Culture Days stories, Ontario, about this blog, role of arts and culture | Tags: , , , ,

Culture Days Stories: Catherine – Kingston, ON (Part 3)

September 2nd, 2011 by Culture Days

“Ripple Effect” is the third installment in a series of blog posts that document Catherine’s (aka Kingston Through My Lens) experience and participation in Culture Days 2011.

Find out more by reading the first and second installments.

One of the greatest things that can happen when you embark on a journey to make change in your community is knowing that it has inspired change in other places as well. Through My Lens started off as an initiative in Kingston, and has now grown to include an event in Toronto as well as a second initiative to come in Kingston through the Kingston Frontenac Public Libraries. Here’s an excerpt from Jenn’s latest blog post about Toronto Through My Lens.

Over 100 photographers will be taking city inspired images for 10 days in Toronto. For added inspiration, we are leading 4 neighbourhood walking tours around Toronto. Their images and stories will be collected for our Nuit Blanche exhibit in Parkdale.  We are 1 of 18 rental truck installations in Leitmotif and 1 of 5 community based installations. Our truck installation is an interactive city building themed truck.

When you come to visit us on October 1, you are the curator of our exhibit. You will help us design our exhibit with hundreds of city images, then we will  layer your stories and build dialogue. Inside the truck you can participate in storytelling and a photo shoot with a cardboard city scape backdrop. We are looking to gain insight into what the community focuses on in the city and how we can inspire positive change.

Change can start anywhere and from the smallest of ideas. What can you do to inspire change in your community?

Click here to learn more about the Kingston Through My Lens project and follow Catherine’s Culture Days journey.

UPDATE: Click here to read Catherine’s summary blog post detailing her Culture Days weekend experience with Kingston Through My Lens.

If you have something to say about public participation and engagement in arts and culture, post it on the Culture Days blog! Submit your vision or post from your own blog via email at stories@culturedays.ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days stories, Ontario, Results and impact, for activity organizers, ways to get involved | Tags: , , , , ,

Culture Days Stories: Catherine – Kingston, ON (Part 2)

August 25th, 2011 by Culture Days

“Confessions of a First-Time Organizer” a great blog post written by Catherine (aka Kingston Through My Lens) and is the second installment in a series of posts that documents her experience and participation in Culture Days 2011.

Click here to read Catherine’s previous post.

Organizing Kingston Through My Lens has definitely been a whirlwind adventure. We’ve experienced many ups and downs, but already the results are amazing. We’ve inspired multiple other photography projects, and we’re looking forward to the start of the project. Thinking back, there are three things that I have gleaned from starting this initiative. They’re my three tips for successful community engagement practice if you will.

Be excited and spread the word

People need to know what you’re up to, and they need to see that you believe in the project. Bring other people on board who can share that excitement with you as well.

Dream big and be flexible, but never lose sight of your mission

You need to have a clear goal of what you hope to achieve from your project while being able to adapt to the circumstances. We all have the ability to be creative, so tap into that! It’s really important, though, to remember why you decided to start the project in the first place, and to make sure the end result is true to that original vision.

Use your connections and don’t be afraid to build new ones

Starting with the people you already know is a great way to go. Further to that, with technology and online media being what it is today, it’s even easier to send someone an email and let them know what you’re doing. You’ll be surprised with how willing people are to meet you and learn more about your project.

Click here to learn more about the Kingston Through My Lens project and follow Catherine’s Culture Days journey.

If you have something to say about public participation and engagement in arts and culture, post it on the Culture Days blog! Submit your vision or post from your own blog via email at stories@culturedays.ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.

View Comments | Posted in Community spotlight, Culture Days stories, Ontario, community organizers, for activity organizers, opinions, ways to get involved | Tags: , , , , , ,

Culture Days Stories: Catherine – Kingston, ON

August 11th, 2011 by Culture Days

Here’s a great blog post written by Catherine (aka Kingston Through My Lens) that documents her experience as a first-time activity organizer.

If you were to look in my desk, you would find a thick brown notebook filled with many of my hopeful community initiatives. The ideas in this notebook range from book swaps to transit reform, small art projects to large institutional changes. The majority of these ideas will remain just that – ideas. However, within those ideas are scattered a few creative seeds that do manage to take root, and will one day blossom into something bigger and better.

Near the beginning of this book, dated sometime in February, you will find scribblings from the start of my current project, Kingston Through My Lens. In a nutshell, Kingston Through My Lens is a 10-day, themed photo adventure that hopes to capture life in Kingston as is. It aims to allow the people of the community to see where their life intersects with the lives of others, and to bring everyone together to affect change within the city. Every day, participants will submit one photo, which will be added to a growing collection to be exhibited both online as well as in print during Kingston Culture Days. At the print exhibit, everyone will be able to experience the photographers’ stories and pictures, and they will get a chance to add their own stories to the collection. At its core, Kingston Through My Lens is about community creation, conversation, and transformation.

Over the last few months, I have been asked on multiple occasions to encapsulate the growing process of Kingston Through My Lens. The story you are about to read is my attempt at putting those thoughts down on paper, of documenting how this idea really came to be. This is a story of what happens when you give one idea a chance – a chance to grow, to develop, and to adapt to the world that it is born into.

For the past five years, I’ve had the privilege of living and learning in Kingston, Ontario. Kingston is a mid-sized town in Eastern Ontario with a lot of history and a bright future. Its claims to fame include being Canada’s first capital city and home to Queen’s University, where I recently graduated from the Faculty of Education. Kingston is no stranger to community events, and with its friendly atmosphere, it seemed the most suitable place for me to try my hand at organizing my own community initiative.

Something you need to know about me is that I am no professional photographer. Mostly, I use my point and shoot camera to capture the world around me. Despite my limited experience, one thing I know for sure is that a picture is worth a thousand words. And with prevalence of cameras being what it is today – phones, digital cameras, SLRs – I thought that photography would be a perfect vehicle for my first community project.

The first thing I needed to do was to get some people on board with my idea. After spending hours online looking at other projects, developing my own idea, and scoping out people who could help me, I decided to go out on a limb and email some of the people I found. The emails were simple – I told them who I was, what I wanted to do, and that I would really like to meet them. Through these emails, I ended up meeting two individuals who would both play a large role in getting Kingston Through My Lens off the ground. The very first person to respond to my emails was Greg Tilson, the program coordinator at the Kingston Arts Council. He was the one who introduced me to the Culture Days movement and who encouraged me to make this project happen right away. The second person I met was Jennifer Chan, the founder of a design thinking organization called Exhibit Change. She was someone that I had stumbled upon through Twitter, and who had a ton of experience in community building initiatives. She agreed to work with me on this project and together we started to hash out our ideas. We really liked the free, participatory, arts-driven mandate of Culture Days, so we decided to register for the movement. The project found itself the name “Through My Lens” and it was decided that Jenn would head up an exhibit in Toronto called Toronto Through My Lens, while I would continue with my vision for Kingston Through My Lens.

April was the month where we really started to get moving on the project. The Kingston Culture Days planning committee held its very first get-together, and I was invited to be part of the group. There, I met Aubrey, the Culture Days Ontario Manager, as well as some movers and shakers from the City of Kingston and other prominent local groups. It was at that first meeting that I really began to build partnerships with other organizations in Kingston who would be able to help me realize this idea.

From there, it has been a whirlwind adventure. The past few months have been full of both wonderful surprises like being given the chance to be featured in a local magazine and frustrating obstacles, such as struggling with how to print all the images. I’ve had to look into countless things, from the larger vision and how to secure sponsorships to individual logistics like how to set up the space on the day of and how many volunteers I’ll need. Days have been spent in front of the computer, setting up the website, starting up social media pages, and promoting the event. Through it all, I have relied on my supports to keep me afloat, and I often need to remind myself to share the workload and to ask for help. When in doubt, I am reminded to go back to the root of the project, which is to give people a chance to see their community in a new light, to document their everyday life, and to share it with others who live around them.

In the end, I know it will all be worth it. To be able to see people in a community enjoy themselves while getting to know their surroundings in a new and creative way – that is the greatest gift.

This post is the first in a series of blog posts that will follow Catherine’s experience and participation in Culture Days 2011.

Click here to learn more about the Kingston Through My Lens project and follow Catherine’s Culture Days journey.

If you have something to say about public participation and engagement in arts and culture, post it on the Culture Days blog! Submit your vision or post from your own blog via email at stories@culturedays.ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.

View Comments | Posted in Community spotlight, Culture Days stories, Ontario, community organizers, opinions, ways to get involved | Tags: , , ,

Culture Days Stories: Susana – Winnipeg, MB

July 28th, 2011 by Culture Days

As the Culture Days weekend approaches, some activity organizers have taken to the web to document their participation in the movement.

Here’s an excerpt from a great blog post written by Susana (aka Lemon Dear).

The key to keep up with all the happenings is to be informed. Recently, misinformation cost me not being able to attend Winnipeg’s very own Soca and Reggae festival, which I had been looking forward to for quite a while (I must keep my senses more open).

After Michelle encouraged me to participate in Culture Days, ideas starting flowing and since then, she has kindly helped me shape them into their current form, her input has inspired me so much and all of her suggestions have made my projects bloom, so this is, in the very core, a thank you note to her and Culture Days.

It is not easy being a newcomer, and being able to participate in this amazing event is a truly beautiful way of feeling welcomed and home at last.

I am developing a personal project (a comic book!), alongside with working on my Culture Days activities, and soon my tiny flat will be an explosion of thread, fabric, paper and super fine pens… actually, it already is!

Thankfully, there are some very kind people out there willing to inform us! I was blessed to meet one of those wonderful persons (Michelle Rosner) during a Freeze Frame workshop given by the great local photographer Dustin Leader in which I was one of his assistants.

It was a pleasant surprise and an honour to find out about Culture Days through Michelle, and when I say an honour, I truly mean it, since Culture Days is, to me, an open arms invitation for all the inhabitants of Canada, regardless of their country of origin, to participate and express themselves and release their creativity – and in my case, to do one of the things I aspire to with my art: to honour my roots.

Click here to read Susana’s blog post in its entirety.

If you have something to say about public participation and engagement in arts and culture, post it on the Culture Days blog! Submit your vision or post from your own blog via email at stories@culturedays.ca and Culture Days will share your story with the growing network.

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days stories, Manitoba, for activity organizers, opinions, ways to get involved | Tags: , , ,

Geocaching – Plans for Culture Days in Picturresque Bay Roberts, NL

July 21st, 2011 by Culture Days

The Bay Roberts Cultural Foundation shared recent developments in their plans for this year’s Culture Days celebrations with Newfoudland and Labrador Culture Days Coordinator Laura Bruijns (laurabruijns@culturedays.ca). Hiking, local culinary specialties, music, storytelling and prizes are in the works for this fun-filled, family-friendly weekend. For more details and contact information at the BRCF, click on the full activity descriptions here:

Plans for Culture Days 2011

Although we are still in mauzy May in Newfoundland and Labrador, we are excited about Culture Days this fall.   The Bay Roberts Cultural Foundation [BRCF] has planned three main events so far: Shoreline Heritage Walk Geocaching Weekend, a Mussel Boil with Traditional Music at the Three Sisters, and ‘A Feed for Foodies’ at the Visitor Information Centre.

Shoreline Heritage Walk Geocaching Weekend.

The 4km Shoreline Heritage Walk in Bay Roberts East winds through the earliest settled part of the community.  Until the mid 20th century, the area was home to a thriving community.

French's Cove, 1920 - Bay Roberts Heritage Society

At that time, people left the area, moving closer to transportation routes.  Today, along the walking trail it is possible to see cleared land where home once existed, root cellars, and rock walls built by our ancestors.

Participants will be given a Passport at the Visitor Information Centre.  They will have to answer a heritage question found in each geocache and stamp their passports.  On Sunday afternoon, they will return their Passports to the Visitor Information Centre and prizes will be awarded after a draw.

Here are photos which have taken by visitors to two of the geocaches with our disposable cameras:

Mussel Boil with Traditional Music at the Three Sisters

The Three Sisters is an amazing site which has been visited ever since early French setters in the 16th century, who named our town Baie de Robert , dried their fish on the flat beach rocks.  We have held mussel boils there before.

Mussel Boil at the Three Sisters

A ‘Feed’ for Foodies

The ‘Feed’ for Foodies will be a new event.  It will be held at the Bay Roberts Visitor Information Centre.  The event will feature local chefs preparing a variety of dishes which are based on traditional ingredients; however, each item will be prepared with a new twist.  Our taste buds are anxiously waiting to see how creative our chefs can be!

And… we are hoping to add an OLD TIME COMMUNITY CONCERT.

The Bay Roberts Cultural Foundation [BRCF] kicked off the 2011 season on May 25th with an Old Time Community Concert.  The Bay Roberts Concert was the final in a series of three, initiated by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in communities on the Baccalieu Trail.

The MC  was ‘Aunt Lizzie’ [Francie Barrett, who was featured in ‘A Time in Pigeon Inlet’ in 2010]  The mysterious Perrinina Bowers was a special guest, sporting a new hat from her recent visit to London for the Royal Wedding.

Storytellers included Dale Jarvis, who told a Fairy Story from Britannia on Random Island, Randy Smith of Bay Roberts who recited two stories, and Dennis Flynn of Colliers who told “yarns” about people in the community.

There were skits, and musical performances by fiddlers, accordion players, and soloists, including David Fitzpatrick, who concluded the show with the song Mad Rock from his new CD.  Mad Rock is a very well known feature on the Bay Roberts Shoreline Heritage Walk. The show was so successful, that we are now hoping to include an Old Time Community Concert as an event during Culture Days. We will be adding it to our events as plans progress.

Exercise Drill Featuring BRCF – Each letter had a verse

Dennis Flynn – His Memoires as a Child in Bay Roberts

David Fitzpatrick Performing “Mad Rock.”

Aunt Lizzie: MC. Fiddle Players – Danielle Bowering & Luke Welsh

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days stories, Newfoundland & Labrador, community organizers, provincial updates, uncategorized | Tags: , , ,

Share YOUR Vision

July 20th, 2011 by Culture Days

Here’s a great personal vision as to what Culture Days is about from Amir Ali Alibhai, executive director of the Alliance for Arts & Culture and active member of the Culture Days British Columbia Task Force.

Click here to read Amir’s blog post.

If you have something to say about public participation and engagement in arts and culture, post it on the Culture Days blog! Submit your vision or post from your own blog via email at stories@culturedays.ca and we’ll share your story with the growing Culture Days network.

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days stories, opinions, role of arts and culture | Tags: , ,

Robert McLaughlin Gallery – Durham County, ON

June 30th, 2011 by sbattle

Nazanin Shoja, the OAC Culture Days Ontario Animator/Coordinator spoke with Jacquie Severs, Manager, Communications & Social Media about what  the Robert McLaughlin Gallery offered the residents of Durham County, ON during Culture Days 2010.

Culture Days – Who are you and what do you do?

Jacquie Severs – We are the largest public art gallery in Durham Region with an important collection of modern and contemporary art.

CD – What made your 2010 Culture Days activity unique?

JS - For Culture Days last year we hosted an art opening and party, as well as a costumed life drawing event as well as offered tours in 6 languages. It was our first time participating in Culture Days and the first time offering the costume life drawing event as well. It was unique in that we partnered with the Durham Shoestring Performers, who took part as costumed models for this event.

CD – What inspired or surprised you about Culture Days?

JS – I was surprised at how quickly people got on board for Culture Days in the city of Oshawa. It was nice to see the excitement for a brand new event.

CD – What did you learn from your experience of Culture Days that would be useful for other activity organizers to know?

JS - There were many venues, which sometimes created competition. For this year, we would like to avoid that by timing things better. We also plan on collaborating with other organizers in terms of marketing and cross-advertising. A lot of attendees work in culture, so we would like to stagger the events, so that everyone has the opportunity to attend other events.

CD – What do you feel is the impact of culture in your community?

JS – Culture Days helped draw attention to the arts and culture community, which helps Oshawa in its transition from a manufacturing to a creative economy. The growth of arts and culture helps draw in new audiences, improving lifestyle and revitalizing the downtown core.

CD – Give us a hint of what you are planning for your 2011 Culture Days activity.

JS - We are planning a photography project workshop and activities linked to our historical collection of photographs from the Thomas Bouckley Collection. Activities may include flash mobs and a historical scavenger hunt.

View Comments | Posted in Community spotlight, Culture Days 2010, Culture Days stories, Ontario, community organizers, for activity organizers, uncategorized |

Communitrees in Huron County, ON

June 8th, 2011 by Reuben Finley

Communitrees – Huron County’s Rick Sickinger, interviewed by OAC Culture Days Animator/Coordinator Nazanin Shoja

CD - Who are you and what do you do?

RS – Rick Sickinger, Coordinator of Heritage and Culture Partnership, an arts service organization serving Huron County, Ontario.  Heritage and Culture partnership is a membership-based partnership of cultural sector individuals, organizations, and businesses.

CD – Why did you want to get involved in 2010? What opportunities did you identify for your organization/community’s participation?

RS – Promotion of culture and fostering growth in the arts and culture sector is our organization’s key mandate and that vision was completely in sync with the Culture Days message. We developed a project called “Communitrees”. Every community in the County was encouraged to participate by creating a work of art that symbolized what arts and culture meant to them using a living tree as their canvas.  We ended up having about 75 trees across the County. We supported the event by creating a website www.communitrees.ca that had a map of tree locations, photo gallery and a contest where members of the public could vote for their favourite trees.

CD – What was your approach with Culture Days? Who were some key people and organizations involved in organizing your community’s celebration of Culture Days?

RS – We had excellent support from Huron County Library, with nine branches across the County they were a great partner to disseminate information about the project through the branches and we also held community information sessions at various library branches so people in each community could come and hear and learn about the project. We had Horticultural Societies, BIAS and Chambers in a number of communities who acted as the local champions for the project and coordinated Communitrees in their town or village. We also had a number of schools in the County take part. Our local media outlets promoted the project in editorials and the County government provided in lieu services to create our project website. Altogether there were over 200 community volunteers involved in creating trees.

CD -  Are there any moments from the lead up to and during the Culture Days weekend that stand out in your mind?

RS – Certainly the level of buy-in from the community surprised me. I wasn’t sure how the idea of creating works using trees would be initially received. We got a lot of promotional support through the provincial Culture Days team and media sponsors. To get exposure on the Culture Days website and on CBC the weekend of Culture Days was a very big deal for our rural area – all of the participants felt very validated by that recognition.

CD – Has Culture Days produced any lasting outcomes for your organization and/or cultural community, or do you anticipate long-term benefits to come?

RS – We certainly weren’t motivated or looking for any benefits to our organization when we undertook our project in 2010. Having said that, we did see some benefits and positive outcomes from the project and Culture Days. First among those was just visibility for culture locally. There were trees up in every community in the County, people had to walk and drive past the trees for days and it reminded them every time of the depth of cultural assets that exist in our County. The event generated a lot of civic pride each community put their unique stamp on the project. It has also increased the level of interest in next year’s event. We anticipate having twice the number of trees in 2011.

CD – What advice do you have for others who are planning for Culture Days 2011? Was there anything you learned in 2010 that you’d count as a lesson for the future or a key success factor?

RS – I would say community outreach was key for us, talking about the project to as many partners as possible and getting those project champions in place was key to the success we had with our project.

CD – What do you have planned for Culture Days 2011?

RS – We will be doing the Communitrees project once again. I don’t think we have a choice not to, as demand and interest to do it again is still very strong. Along with that project we will be holding the Celebration of First Nations event on Culture Days weekend. A multitude of hands-on programming showcasing arts and culture of Canada’s First Nations people.

CD – Is there anything else about your experience of Culture Days that you’d like to share?

RS – I think Culture Days is a terrific initiative! We absolutely should celebrate the cultural assets in our local communities and across Canada. Bravo to the Culture Days organizers and everyone who took part.

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