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Culture Days Workshops Offered Across Ontario

April 22nd, 2012 by Aubrey Reeves

Culture Days (Ontario) is offering new skills development opportunities for artists, professional and volunteer-run cultural groups, libraries, museums, municipalities and anyone else wishing to present an activity during the pan-Canadian celebration of arts and culture next September 28-30. Aimed at helping participants increase the impact and success of their Culture Days activities, a variety of workshops will take place in communities from mid-April to early June.

“The growth of Culture Days since its launch in 2010 is truly remarkable representing a tremendous demand for exchange and collaboration within the burgeoning cultural network,” said Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.  “I am delighted to see Ontario’s talented artists and committed cultural workers seizing the opportunity to showcase their process and work to the public – helping to inform and inspire people across the province.”

2012 Culture Days Workshops in Ontario include:

  • On May 25, a one-day French-language symposium exploring topics related to community arts, outreach and arts education will be presented at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. This unique event is produced in partnership with Québec’s Culture pour tous (producers of Les Journées de la culture), the Fédération culturelle canadienne-français and the National Arts Centre.   
  • More than 25 Information sessions are taking place in communities across Ontario hosted by community arts councils and municipalities. Culture Days staff will share tools and resources available to participants while encouraging networking and collaboration in the community.

“These learning events will help local activity organizers create rewarding experiences during the Culture Days weekend and have a positive impact on the public’s engagement in arts and culture throughout the whole year,” said Warren Garrett, Chair of the volunteer task force for Ontario Culture Days.

EVENT DETAILS

 

Cultural Mediation Symposium

This one-day symposium will bring together stakeholders in the Franco-Ontarian community in the National Capital Region to discuss the concept of “la médiation culturelle” – an expression current in Québec that brings together ideas of community art practices, arts education, audience development and outreach strategies. The aim of the symposium is to present various positions on cultural mediation, and discuss initiatives undertaken by arts, community, and municipal groups. Attendance is free but requires pre-registration, please click here to RSVP.

Date Time City Location
May 25 8:30 am – 5pm Ottawa National Arts Centre

 

Information Sessions

Communities throughout the province are hosting Culture Days information sessions, where everyone is welcome to learn about tools, tips and resources available to Culture Days activity organizers. Early info sessions have already been held in London, Stratford and Cornwall attracting enthusiastic participants. Info sessions bring together artists, arts and cultural groups, municipal cultural staff, community arts councils, business improvement associations, local media and other people interested in forging collaborations to organize Culture Days 2012 activities. All info session are free to attend. The following information sessions have been scheduled:

Date Time City Location
April 23 7:30pm (bilingual) Cornwall Cornwall Regional Art Gallery
April 24 7pm Kitchener Waterloo Region Museum
April 25 7pm Mimico Lakeshore Arts
April 30 6pm Niagara MacBain Community Centre
May 2 6:30pm Hamilton Hamilton Public Library
May 3 6:30pm Brantford Brantford Public Library
May 7 5pm Barrie City Hall Rotunda
May 8 3:30pm (CDT) Red Lake Chukuni Communities Development Corporation (Webinar)
May 10 2pm Windsor Windsor and Region Arts Council
May 15 10am Durham Region The Regional Municipality Of Durham Headquarters
May 16 5pm Mississippi Mills Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
May 17 7pm Smiths Falls Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario
May 23 3pm (bilingual)5:30 (bilingual) Sudbury Art Gallery of SudburyTom Davies Square
May 24 2pm North Bay North Bay City Hall
May 24 2pm Ottawa Arts Court
May 28 3pm Etobicoke Arts Etobicoke
May 28 5:30 Mississsauga Mississauga Civic Centre
May 29 6:30 North York North York Civic Centre
May 30 1pm Peterborough County Douro Community Centre
May 31 2pm6:30pm Thunder Bay Thunder Bay Public Library – Mary J L Black BranchThunder Bay Art Gallery
June 4 12pm Trent Hills Trent Hills Public Library – Campbellford Branch
June 4 4pm Cobourg Northumberland County Economic Development & Tourism
June 5 6:30pm Guelph Guelph Arts Council
June 6 7:00pm Oakville Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre
June 7 4pm Kingston Kingston Art Council
TBC TBC Kenora TBC (Webinar)

 

ABOUT CULTURE DAYS

Culture Days invites everyone to explore, discover and participate in arts and culture in every community across the country. In 2011, the second annual Culture Days event took place in more than 800 Canadian cities and towns, with attendance topping 1.2 million Canadians. Last year, more than 1265 activities were presented across Ontario, a 36% increase over the first year’s participation levels.

 

This year’s Culture Days weekend will take place on September 28, 29 and 30, 2012. Once again, the event will feature free, hands-on, interactive activities that invite the public to participate “behind the scenes”—and to discover the world of artists, creators, historians, architects, curators, and designers at work in their community.

 

Early-registration continues until April 30. Individuals and organizations are invited to register one or more activity before April 30 to be featured in a national Globe and Mail advertisement. To register a Culture Days activity or to see who has already joined the movement, visit www.culturedays.ca

For more details about Ontario Culture Days announcements please visit: www.on.culturedays.ca.   Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.

Culture Days in Ontario is supported by the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Government of Ontario in recognition of Celebrate the Artist Weekend.

 

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For more information about Culture Days in Ontario:

Aubrey Reeves

Ontario Culture Days Manager

aubreyreeves@culturedays.ca

(416) 646-7469

1-800-387-0058 ext. 7469

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Stratford and Perth County-Perth Arts Connect host a Culture Days Information Session

April 17th, 2012 by Aubrey Reeves

Photo by Erin Samuell, Courtesy of Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Learn about tools and resources available to Culture Days participants at an information session hosted by Perth Arts Connect for Stratford and Perth County with Culture Days staff in attendance. Aimed at helping participants increase the impact and success of their Culture Days activities, this information session is open to artists, professional and volunteer-run cultural groups, libraries, museums, schools and anyone else wishing to participate in the third annual pan-Canadian celebration of arts and culture taking place on September 28-30, 2012.

EVENT DETAILS

DATE / TIME: April 18 at 3:30pm – 5pm

LOCATION: Stratford Public Library, Auditorium, 19 Saint Andrew Street, Stratford, ON

Ontario Culture Days staff will be in attendance to answer questions and facilitate. The information session is free and open to all.

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Toronto Public Library Hosts Artists for Culture Days

April 12th, 2012 by Culture Days

The Toronto Public Library, in collaboration with the Neighbourhood Arts Network and the Culture Days Ontario Task Force has launched Culture Days @ The Library for the second  consecutive year. A wonderful local collaboration to showcase artists in their neighbourhoods during Culture Days. The highly successful inaugural program in 2011 provided free space for  some 80 artists and cultural groups to present activities at 48 Toronto Public Library branches throughout the city. The 2012 call for applicants invites Toronto-area independent artists and cultural groups to apply for free space this year.

To  find out more and apply, click here.

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Tips For Writing A Culture Days Story

November 7th, 2011 by Culture Days

Storytelling is a great way to share your Culture Days experience! But sometimes it’s easier said than done, so Culture Days has compiled a few handy tips to get the creative ball rolling.

Sharing your story will undoubtedly inspire others to take action in their communities and support the arts and culture! Whether you were an activity organizer or member of the public who participated in the over 5,500 activities that took place throughout the country over the Culture Days 2011 weekend, your first-hand experience is distinct and insightful – so don’t be shy!

Because your story is uniquely yours, feel free to use the format in which you feel most comfortable (ie. short story, essay, question and answer, etc.) with a maximum length of 500 words.

Here are some questions to get the ball rolling and to help ward off that pesky writer’s block! Feel free to use them as a guide to help you document your experience.

For Activity Organizers
Who are you and what do you do?
Why did you want to get involved in Culture Days?
What opportunities did you identify for you/your organization/community’s participation?
What did you organize for the Culture Days weekend? Describe your activity and the goals you set out for your activity.
What made your Culture Days 2011 activity unique?
What kind of feedback did you get from those who attended your activity?
Are there any moments from the lead up to and during the weekend that stand out?
Any moments during the weekend that made an impression on you?
What were the keys to your success?
What did you learn from your experience of Culture Days overall?
Do you foresee any long-term benefits for you/your organization and/or cultural community?
Is there anything else about your Culture Days experience that you’d like to share?

For Public Participants
Who are you and where are you from?
How did you discover Culture Days?
Why did you want to participate in Culture Days 2011 activities in your community?
What activities did you participate in and what attracted you to them?
Did you participate alone, with your family or friends?
Are there any moments during the weekend that stand out in your mind?
What did you learn/take away from your experience of Culture Days?
Are you planning on participating in Culture Days again next year?
Is there anything else about your Culture Days experience that you’d like to share?

Please submit your story to Culture Days via email at stories@culturedays.ca and it may be included in an upcoming blog post or newsletter.

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days 2011, Results and impact, community organizers, for activity organizers, opinions, role of arts and culture, seen, uncategorized | Tags: , , ,

Tips on How to Maximize Your Culture Days 2011 Experience

October 11th, 2011 by Culture Days

Thanks to everyone who participated in and helped make Culture Days 2011 a weekend to remember! Your participation transformed September 30, October 1 & 2 into a wonderful celebration of arts and culture from coast to coast to coast.

Though Culture Days is an annual 3-day event, the movement continues to grow year-round! Here are some tips to help maximize your Culture Days experience:

Thank yous! If you had volunteers, friends and/or trusty aids help out, remember to thank them for all the hard work they poured into your activity. Simply acknowledging the important role they played in helping to make your activity a success is a great way to strengthen your bond and make planning your Culture Days 2012 activity(ies) a whole lot easier!

Stay connected! As suggested in the Checklist for Hosting an Activity, if you collected email addresses, business cards or even Twitter handles to form or grow a mailing list, now is the time to get in touch with participants you met during Culture Days weekend. Reach out and thank them for participating in your activity and take the opportunity to promote your upcoming and ongoing artistic and cultural endeavors!

Social Media! If you are active on social media channels, like Facebook or Twitter, continue your Culture Days conversation online and maintain interest in your activities! Speak to the masses with a simple click and build a network with the growing Canadian arts and culture community.

Share pictures and videos! Did you capture your Culture Days experience? Upload and share your photos and videos via the Culture Days Flickr pool and YouTube channel. Be sure to submit high-quality photos to Flickr and allow for downloads and re-distribution on YouTube as they could be featured in the 2011 Culture Days Highlight Reel!

If you made a video of your activity or weekend celebrations, upload it to YouTube and share the video URL with Culture Days (via email, Twitter or Facebook), so it can be featured on the Culture Days YouTube channel! Check out the free, downloadable video bumpers available for use in your videos here.

Share your anecdotes! Send in your Culture Days anecdotes or stories to stories[at]culturedays[dot]ca and your Culture Days 2011 experience could end up featured in an upcoming newsletter or blog post!

View Comments | Posted in Culture Days 2011, Local marketing & promotions, community organizers, for activity organizers, marketing & PR, uncategorized | Tags: , ,

Checklist for Hosting an Activity

September 27th, 2011 by Culture Days

Whether you are a first time activity organizer or you’re participating for the second year, Culture Days has created a checklist with suggestions to help you host your activity and maximize both your and your participants’ Culture Days experience!

Here are some things to keep in mind as you finalize preparations for your activity:

  • Everyone loves a friendly face! Your connection to participants begins by simply welcoming them to your activity, so don’t be shy! Introduce yourself and be sure to thank them for participating in your Culture Days activity. Who knows, this may be the beginning of a lovely friendship and/or collaboration!
  • Is the environment comfortable? If applicable, provide seating, ensure there is proper lighting in your space, accessible washroom facilities and, if you wish, refreshments!
  • The Culture Days weekend is a great opportunity to promote your artistic and cultural endeavors, so if you have promotional materials (i.e. business cards, flyers, signage…etc.) be sure to have some on hand.
  • Your activity is also a wonderful way to introduce your work to a new audience, so keep in touch! Have a notebook and pens on hand so people can sign up to receive more information from you via email about upcoming activities or events you may have lined up after the Culture Days weekend. Building a mailing list is a good way to stay connected with those interested in you and your practice or organization.
  • Is your activity location identifiable as a “Culture Days activity” ? Culture Days Bright Spots Venue Identifiers help ensure that the public will be able to find you! These FREE vinyl clings can be picked up at your local Sun Life Financial Center and are available everyday until September 29th, from 8:30am to 4:30pm, local time. Please consult the Culture Days blog to find the one closest to you!
  • Do you have volunteers or a team helping you host your activity? Be sure they are aware of the key messages you want to communicate. Messages such as: instructions on how to participate, your wish to connect with them after the Culture Days weekend or the promotion of an upcoming activity or event – or anything else you want to communicate.
  • Are you active on social media channels, like Facebook or Twitter? Social media is a great platform to build and maintain an interactive dialogue with the public. Tell participants that you’re on Twitter or Facebook and encourage them to follow or “like” you and don’t forget to connect with @CultureDays on Twitter and Facebook too!
  • Document or ask a friend to help capture your Culture Days experience by taking photos or shooting video of your activity. Don’t forget to upload and share your photos and videos via the Culture Days Flickr pool and YouTube channel! Be sure to submit high-quality photos to Flickr and allow for downloads and re-distribution on YouTube as your photos could be featured in a Culture Days ad in the Globe and Mail and your videos used in a 2011 video highlight reel! Be sure to include important information with your photo/video submissions such as the activity name, location, names of those captured in the images and photo credits. All this information can be included in the file name of your photo or with your video upload. Please contact Culture Days for more information if you are capturing photographs of minors.
  • Videos are a fun and innovative way to capture your Culture Days weekend! Check out the free, downloadable video bumpers available for all to use HERE. Once uploaded on YouTube, share the video URL with Culture Days via email, Twitter or Facebook, so it can be featured on the Culture Days YouTube channel!
  • Last, but not least; have FUN!
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Bright Spots Venue Identifiers Now Available for All Activity Organizers!

September 20th, 2011 by Culture Days

Thanks to the generous support of national Lead Founding Visionary Partner, Sun Life Financial, Bright Spots Venue Identifiers are now available to all Culture Days activity organizers!

These free, 1’ diameter round vinyl clings will serve as vital tools for organizers in helping to identify activities as “Culture Days activities,” and ensuring that the public will be able to find them. These clings can be affixed to windows, walls and almost any other surface to help identify the location of your activity. Be sure to place them in a highly visible location outside your venue!


Not only do these identifiers tell the public that they’ve found the right place but there’s also a “call to action” on them to encourage people to use social media platforms via their smart phones to publicize that they’re at your activity; helping to further promote you, your practice or organization.

The free Culture Days Bright Spots Venue Identifiers are now available and can be picked up at your local Sun Life Financial Center.

To find the Financial Centre closest to you, please click the link below that corresponds to your province and use the geo-location map on the Sun Life Financial Canada web site to locate the center nearest you:

British Columbia
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Ontario
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island
Newfoundland and Labrador

For those in the territories, please email Reuben Finley (reubenfinley[at]culturedays[dot]ca) for more information on how to obtain your free Culture Days Bright Spots Venue Identifier.

Bright Spots Venue Identifiers will be available at these centres from September 21st to September 29th, Monday to Friday, from 8:30am to 4:30pm, local time. Should you not be able to pick up your identifier at your local Sun Life Financial Centre, please contact your Provincial Representative for information about how you can obtain one.

A printable version of the Bright Spots Venue Identifier is also available for download via the Culture Days web site as part of the many free tools in the Culture Days Marketing Kit. You can download and print a colour version of the Bright Spots Identifier on an 8.5” x 11” or 11” x 17” sheet of paper.

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Culture Days Launches the “In Conversation” Video Series, Presented by Culture Days’ National Broadcast Partner CBC

September 7th, 2011 by Culture Days

Today marks the release of the “In Conversation” video series, presented by Culture Days’ National Broadcast Partner, CBC. The series showcases key leaders in the Canadian arts and culture sector and the organizations they represent. Highlighting the important role these organizations play in further galvanizing the relationship between arts and culture and the Canadian public, the series reveals the many and diverse ways in which Culture Days is helping to foster and grow this connection.

These short clips will be rolling out over the next weeks in the lead up to the Culture Days event weekend, starting with insights from:

Kirstine Stewart, Executive Vice-President of CBC English Television and member of the Culture Days Steering Committee
Kirstine, expresses how Culture Days is an opportunity for the CBC, celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, to connect and engage with communities whose families have welcomed the CBC into their homes since its inception, and envisions a time when Canadians will celebrate “Culture Day in Canada” along side Hockey Day in Canada.

Antoni Cimolino, General Director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and Chair of the Culture Days Steering Committee
Antoni recounts his experience of the “real magic of Culture Days” when artists in Stratford came together to plan an activity for the inaugural Culture Days event weekend in 2010 and how the culmination of their planning was expressed in a large street fair where over 3500 people came together to celebrate the arts, artists and the Stratford community itself.

Marc Mayer, Director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada
Marc describes how the National Gallery of Canada has built programs that serve the entire country and how its participation in Culture Days enables the formation of a deeper relationship between the public and the arts. This ultimately, Marc explains, helps the museum to further its goal of providing the public with access to the museum’s national collection and places Canadians’ visual culture within the greater context of art history.

Piers Handling, Director and CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival
Piers speaks of the impact Culture Days will create within communities and expresses how TIFF’s participation in Culture Days allows that organization to play a leadership role for other festivals and organizations by opening its doors and offering its resources to the public over the Culture Days event weekend.

Forthcoming “In Conversation” clips will feature interviews with:

Bruce Kuwabara, Founding Partner KPMB Architects
Zaib Shaikh Actor, Director & Producer
Martha Henry, CC, Leading Actor
Jeff Melanson, Executive Director & Co-CEO Canada’s National Ballet School
Louise Sicuro, CEO Culture pour tous
Andy Kenins, Chair Elect Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir
Luce Moreau, CEO Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal
James (Jim) Fleck, OC, Chairman, Business for the Arts
Janice Price, CEO Luminato Festival
Stuart Reid, Executive Director MacKenzie Art Gallery
Marie Lavigne, CEO La Société de la Place des Arts de Montréal
Sarah Iley, VP Programming The Banff Centre
Sal Ferreras, Academic Vice-President Vancouver Community College
Tom McCabe, President & CEO Theatre Calgary

The first videos in this series are now LIVE and available on the Culture Days YouTube channel! Be sure to check back as more videos will be added in the lead up to the Culture Days event weekend.

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How to Use the Culture Days Bright Spots Schedule

September 5th, 2011 by Culture Days

The Culture Days Bright Spots Schedule, made possible with the generous support of national Lead Founding Visionary Partner, Sun Life Financial, is a free, online scheduling tool that will help both Culture Days activity organizers and the public create a customized schedule of activities taking place over the Culture Days weekend (September 30, October 1 & 2). The Bright Spots Schedule will provide activity organizers with another tool to help promote and publicize their activities by creating a program guide and ensure that the public can better discover and plan their weekend in advance.

Accessing the Schedule and Adding to Your Schedule
The Culture Days Bright Spots Schedule is easy to use! Once you’ve created an account using the “My Culture Days” portal on culturedays.ca and are logged in, simply browse registered activities and select those you wish to add to your schedule using the yellow “Add to my Bright Spots Schedule” button (located on the top-left on each activity description page). Once an activity has been added to your schedule, that button will turn green and will read “In My Schedule”. The activities you’ve decided to “add to your schedule” will automatically appear in your customized 3-day schedule. If an activity is happening more than once over the Culture Days weekend, the activity will automatically appear in your schedule on each day and at each time it’s scheduled to take place.

Viewing Your Schedule
To view your schedule, simply click on the “In My Schedule” button and you’ll be directed to the “My Schedule” page. You can also access your schedule via the “My Culture Days” section. Once you’ve logged in, click the link at the top right that reads “My Schedule”.

Removing an Activity
To remove an activity, click the icon to the right of the activity you’d like to delete (the circle with a line through it) from your “My Schedule” page. A message window will pop up asking you to confirm that you want to remove the activity; click the “Remove” button and you’re done! One important thing to note is that if an activity is happening more than once over the Culture Days weekend, it will automatically appear in your schedule on each day and at each time it’s scheduled to take place, and if you choose to remove it from your schedule, it will remove all instances of that activity.

Exporting Your Schedule
You can export your customized schedule in a number of ways: by email, to popular calendar platforms (ie. Outlook, iCal, Google, etc.) and in PDF format, which can then be shared and printed. For individuals or organizers who want to create a program booklet, choose the “Print My Schedule” option where you also have the option to include an accompanying cover and customized title.

Activity Recommendations
In addition to these exciting features, there is also a “smart” referral engine that will make recommendations based on activities you’ve selected based on the geographic proximity of activities you’ve already selected or by category, based on the kinds of activities you’ve selected (i.e. dance, visual arts, music…etc.)

So, what are you waiting for? Plan your Culture Days weekend NOW!

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Riverdale Hub: Call for Artists!

September 2nd, 2011 by Aubrey Reeves

The Riverdale Immigrant Women Enterprises calls for dancers of any traditional style who would love to host a workshop/performance at their space.  The program runs from 2 pm till 8 pm, with available spots at:

2 -3:30 pm

5 – 6:30 pm

6:30 – 8 pm

As per Culture Days guidelines, the workshop/performance should be interactive.

They also invite visual artists who would like to use their ground and second floor as a gallery space.

Please send submission with the link to your video to:

Riverdale Hub contact Anna Plugina at anna.riwc@gmail.com.

The Riverdale Hub

Riverdale Immigrant Women Enterprises has conceptualized the Riverdale Hub: A Hub for Ideas, a centre for Change. The Hub will create a green colocation workspace, space for social entrepreneurship initiatives, a fair trade cafe, and a third floor events space with a community kitchen in place. The Farmer’s market will provide locally grown and healthy food alternatives.

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